I should have said productivity increase rather than technical change, but technical change is part of it.
Speedups show up as higher productivity. Alex Field's data show that productivity change was extremely rapid during the Great Depression. Net investment was non-existant, but the investment that came from depreciation funds. Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Devine Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011 9:58 AM To: Progressive Economics Subject: Re: [Pen-l] Capitalism's dismal future Michael, how do you know that there's been more technical change since the crash? Also, while depressions and recessions may promote competition in a market economy, they also restrict the ability of businesses to afford to implement technical innovations. Given the evidence that I've seen, it's quite possible that the last Depression pushed US business away from technical innovation and toward wage cuts, speed-ups, and stretch-outs as a way to deal with low profits and cash-flow. The weakness of workers' resistance when unemployment is high allows this strategy to work. ("Relative surplus-value extraction" is replaced by "absolute surplus-value extraction" when businesses are desperate.) This promotes underconsumption tendencies, which can make a depression persist. On Sat, Mar 26, 2011 at 9:38 AM, Perelman, Michael <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree with everything Jim D. said, but I would add one twist. Both > Keynesian policy and monetary stimulus also have the effect of reducing > competition. In effect, depressions and recessions are what promote > competition in a market economy. That is the reason that so much technical > change occurred since the market crash began. > > Lacking adequate competition, the market gets weaker. In a globalized > economy, part of result will be deindustrialization. > > Michael Perelman > Economics Department > California State University > Chico, CA > 95929 > > 530 898 5321 > fax 530 898 5901 > > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
