Jim D. writes:
Marv Gandall wrote:
[...]
There is a need to boost mass purchasing power rather than to
drive down wages in order both to to revive the economy and to contain
mass
political pressure from below.
I disagree: in our brave new globalized world, boosting mass
purchasing power in one country does not necessarily benefit domestic
capitalist operations very much, since so much of the purchases go to
buy foreign goods. At the same, time it might hurt a country's
international competitiveness. If a significant number of capitalist
countries boost mass purchasing power power, it would be more likely
to work. If China's mass purchasing power is raised, that would help a
lot.
Further, the capitalist powers that be don't care that much about
domestic economies (e.g., that of the US) as much as they used to.
Their operations are diversified all over the world. So if wages are
stagnant or falling in the US, they don't worry about the domestic
market there. Instead, they see it as a potential source of
low-wage/high-productivity (i.e., high rate of surplus-value) labor.
======================================
I don't follow. Isn't a substantial part of the US stimulus package an
effort to revive US consumer spending, with a proviso favouring goods
produced in America rather than overseas? That doesn't mean it will have
that effect, but that's the intent.
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