JAWS as a post-Keynesian theory

["g kohler" <kohlerg@xxxxxxxx>]

Re: Dropping GDP/population will make us richer. Henry C.K. Liu wrote 19
March 2003:

[quote]
The GDP:Pop ratio is a global measurement. It means the US GDP is five times
the global mean. For the US ratio to drop to 3:1 does not necessary mean US
GDP will drop in absolute terms, but that the GDP of other economies will
rise faster than the US economy, thus the world GDP as a whole will
increase. It is the smaller slice of a bigger pie syndrome.

The proposition is that the maldistribution is hindering global growth.
[end quote]

This theoretical idea could be developed in various ways, here are some: I
begin with a restatement, inserting "global" one more time (this is keeping
the meaning of Liu's sentence:)

"The proposition is that global maldistribution is hindering global growth"

There are five or more ways of elaborating that, namely:
(a) a la Rosa Luxemburg: the small volume of pre-capitalist production from
pre-capitalist zones of the world hinders the growth of output in advanced
capitalist zones of the world, leading to limits to aggregate global GDP
growth.

(b) a la Amin - Wallerstein: an important component of global GDP is from
superexploitation of the poor countries by the rich countries. The value of
superexploiation cannot grow, if the wages of the superexploited have
reached a bottom, leading to a limitation of global GDP growth.

(c) a la Henry Ford globalized: if we (the rich countries) do not pay them
(the poor countries) decently, they (the poor countries) cannot afford to
buy much of our (rich countries) output, leading to limits of aggregate
rich-country GDP growth, leading to limits to aggregate global GDP growth.

(d) a la Halevi - Shaikh: given the high degree of globally-vertically
integrated production, low wage payments to labour in the poor countries
leads to a low value of the globally aggregated output. Stagnating wages in
the poor countries limit the growth of the value of globally aggregated
GDP.

(e) a la Andre Gunder Frank - Kohler: the deflationary bias of global
neoliberal economics leads to stagnating development of global effective
demand, leading to limits of aggregate global GDP growth.

In Spielberg's film "Jaws", the local authorities discuss at the outset of
the film that the shark "Jaws" feeds on a rich supply of human flesh
available at the beach. It may be deduced that a lack of living things to
feed on will lead to a limitation of the growth of "Jaws" (the shark).
Globalizing this idea, it could be hypothesized that a global shortage of
edibles will lead to bad health of the sharks of the world (global "Jaws").

Gernot Köhler
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G. Köhler and A. Tausch, Global Keynesianism: Unequal Exchange and Global
Exploitation. Nova Science, USA, 2002.

G. Köhler and E.J. Chaves (eds), Globalization: Critical Perspectives. Nova
Science, USA, 2003 - with contributions by: Amin, Wallerstein, Chase-Dunn,
Kiljunen, Tausch, Bond, Haritatos, Frank, Gantman, Ross, Ünay, Hanappi,
Hanappi-Egger, Chaves, Köhler - to be released in June 2003.