I have a new book coming out in July, Manufacturing Discontent, which
might relate to Gene's question. Here are two short sections:
_Planned Obsolescence_
The economy dissipates enormous energy in creating a steady stream of
new products, most of which, like the finlets and
From: michael perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
... I should add that although material goods may not be a guarantee of
happiness, one particular type of commodity may be an exception in its
ability to ward off unhappiness -- at least consumers seem to think so.
In particular, many people turn to
for awhile, Winchell's Donuts used Homer Simpson as their poster boy,
saying Donuts made me what I am today.
JD
On 5/3/05, Carl Remick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
[Let's not neglect those who share Homer Simpson's pursuit of happiness:]
May 3, 2005
Kick the Doughnut Habit, and Make Your
From: Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]
for awhile, Winchell's Donuts used Homer Simpson as their poster boy,
saying Donuts made me what I am today.
[John Belushi got there first many years ago. From Saturday Night Live
transcripts:]
Little Chocolate Donuts
Anouncer.Marv Albert
[ open to John
On Tuesday, May 3, 2005 at 10:04:51 (-0700) michael perelman writes:
...
Hemlines rise and fall in order to make people dissatisfied with
last year's wardrobe. ...
Didn't hemlines become shorter and men's pants tighter during WWII to
conserve fabric?
Bill
One thing that the textbook blather about consumer sovereignty
typically forgets is that if there are economies of scale, individual
consumers have little say. Each item has to belong to one of a limited
number of styles. Truly individualized clothing (say) is pretty
costly.
Hemlines rise
On 5/3/05, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
for awhile, Winchell's Donuts used Homer Simpson as their poster boy,
saying Donuts made me what I am today.
JD
---
The Winchell's-Simpson connection is via Frank Zappa, who wrote and
sang about WDs in a couple of tunes
Consumption and habituation?
I'm reading Richard Layard on "Happiness." He talks about two sources
of people spending more and not being happier for it. One is
habituation -- and I think this is part of what I got from Marglin.
Layard says of habituation "As I ratchet up my standards, this
Jim only chose the word undertow because of his S. Cal. beach
influences. Lucky he didn't draw on youthful [i.e., Chicago (non-U) ]
influences or we would be hearing about wind :-)
I dunno. What's wrong with a mighty wind?
JD
Paul: as shareholders/bondholders/bankers shift power away from
management they take corporate profits away from re-investment and
towards capitalist consumption. This will also create an undertow -
albeit under-investment rather than underconsumption. But both forms
of undertow may come from a
Here Michael Jensen becomes relevant. He insisted that the corporate owners
could use the
proceeds better than corporate manangement. He wanted mangement to be strapped
for funds
so that they would have to hunt for efficiencies.
He later recanted much of what he wrote.
--
Michael Perelman
Once again, I start with appreciation for Paul's long answer to my query
about Marglin -- amazing summary.
And then, thanks to Jim, for getting to the part of Marglin I was
thinking about -- the consumption function stuff. I'd had a mimeo of
the Marglin and didn't remember that it was in two
Paul writes:Marglin points out ... that Corporate Management has a
higher propensity to invest profits than Corporate Ownership
(shareholders) who more favor distributing profits as dividends (hence
Capitalist Consumption as a simplification).
I don't know if Managers have a greater propensity to
This is probably just the problem of internet communication - I am saying
(or trying to say) nothing you haven't heard before. (Dumenil's last book
comes to mind.) I am just now laying it out differently so we can see the
contrast with Marglin. (At least I think this is what I am doing.)
1) A
paul wrote:In its ultimate form, Kaldor-Pasinetti speaks to income
distribution (driven by the difference in capitalist/worker savings
rates) but is silent on the causes of the difference in those saving
rates. This theorem was an evolution - before the Pasinetti Theorem,
Kaldor had workers
Jim D. writes:
luckily, it's Marglin's question that concerns me now.
I am not too sure what you mean...but what I was trying to say at the end
was that Marglin's question may be shaking the wrong end of the stick.
Paul
I sorta have an idea about why the income distribution is getting
worse worse (one-sided class war and all that), but my research is
focusing on the impact (underconsumption tendencies?)
I am not too sure what you mean...but what I was trying to say at the end
was that Marglin's question may
Now I follow you. Your work on what you have called the undertow from
reduced worker consumption that will pull down the neo-lib type boom has
been intriguing. Please keep us posted on whatever emerges.
And, coming back to the Marglin discussion for a second, as shareholders/
bondholders/bankers
Thanks for the encouragement.
Wow, that article is a 'blast from the past' - it has been quite a while
since I read it so I probably should pass on the question. But it is a
very thought provoking question (and with the intoxication of
encouragement)...so here goes.
If I recall correctly, one
I think Gene was refering to What do Bosses Do? (Part II) which has
a class consumption function in it. Thanks for the reminder.
Marglin does good work.
JD
On 4/26/05, Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Thanks for the encouragement.
Wow, that article is a 'blast from the past' - it has been quite
Paul,
Thanks for this -- very useful to me.
If you are familiar with Margolin's "What Do Bosses Do?", where
would you slot that in?
Gene Coyle
Paul wrote:
Since no one
else has replied, I'll try. I didn't know what you meant by
"best source", so I am assuming "authoritative".
Since no one else has replied, I'll try. I didn't know what you meant by
best source, so I am assuming authoritative.
Also, I think it is important to keep separate the Classical/Marxian and
the Left-Keynesian (although many do not) on this particular issue of
propensity to consume. To me, when
what's the best source (both theoretically and empirically) on the
classical/left-Keynesian/Marxian notion that workers have a higher
marginal propensity to consume than do property-owners?
--
Jim Devine
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine
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