Re: Temp market for labour (what to call it....)

[Ed Weick]

Harry Pollard > The economy is merely an analysis of how people interact with each other, > how they work an exchange with each other. So, it can hardly  tyrannize and > suffocate anything. > > The thing that can tyrannize and suffocate is politics. What is taught as > economics is really politics. What causes all the problems is politics. > > Concepts such as the GNP and the CPI and most of the other acronyms have > nothing to do with economics. They are calculated (poorly) for the benefits > of governments - for the benefit of politicians. > > Let's not demonize "economics". > Why not, Harry?  The link between economics and politics has always been extremely close.  The theorizing of the classical economists of the 19th century supported the laissez-faire politics of the emerging industrial state, just as Marxist theorizing supported radical movements which wanted to overthrow that state.  Politicians are, as Keynes reminded us, the slaves of defunct economists.  Now, however, politicians are no longer either left or right, but have all moved into the centre (though that has shifted to God know where) and economist have tended to follow them.  The centre does not require grand scale theorizing, so economists have stopped doing it.  They are now more interested in developing models that predict the value of derivatives just as politicians are interested in maintaining the illusion of rising wealth and well-being in a deeply flawed world. By all means demonize! Ed Visit my rebuilt website at: http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/