I think what's happening is right out of the pages of
Das Capital. Low wages/high productivity in industries
producing internationally-traded goods lowers the value
content of the average consumption basket, cet. par.
increasing relative surplus value world-wide. High
productivity sectors are based on high tech equipment. When
high tech equipment is installed, labor is intensified,
increasing absolute surplus value in particular firms (not
necessarily the system as a whole). In today's crisis,
labor is intensified both in the production and utilization
of high tech equipment and services. Japan pioneered this
after the 1973-1974 oil shock and shift to high tech. Marx
didn't have the other side: to win on the world market, you
have to have high Q/P products (quality/price). The
intensification of labor is thus linked to quality as well as
productivity, in ways that are a mystery to me. Anyone have an idea
about this that they'd care to respond with?
Jim O'Connor
