The government now regards software as capital & ketchup as a vegetable.
On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 10:42:47AM -0500, Forstater, Mathew wrote: > I've seen "natural assets" used. Would that accomplish the goal of > highlighting their importance without raising all the thorny problems of > using "capital"? > > Economists don't even know what "capital" is, without the problems of > applying the term to labor, natural resources, and social networks. On > the one hand, the word refers to money or finance capital, on the other > to industrial capital or capital goods. > > Great quote (Joan Robinson, of course): > > "Capital" is not what capital is called, it is what its name is called. > > I have my students mediate on that like a Buddhist koan. > > By the way, natural resources must be extracted and refined, and so are > "produced" just as tools and machines are. So some of this is due to > continued confusion. > > mat f. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
