Jim Devine wrote, >right. But as far as capitalism (and its policy elites) is concerned, >GDP-type accounting is enough, since it reflects the buying and selling of >commodities, which represent the core of capitalism. Of course, that's not >good enough for humanity or non-human Nature, but it's the capitalists who >have the power at this point... I should have specified that I'm talking about accounting discrepencies at the level of the firm/enterprise. If information about the relative costs of inputs and value of outputs is systematically distorted, the resulting resource allocation decisions will be sub-optimal (even 'pessimal' given a sufficiently vicious positive feedback loop) -- whether the system is capitalist, socialist or whatever and whether those costs are expressed as market prices or some other measure, such as units of energy consumption or hours of average labour power. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ #408 1035 Pacific St. Vancouver, B.C. V6E 4G7 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 669-3286 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
