Marx was big on the innovative power of capitalism - both its
penchant for creating new technologies and new wants. It's not hard
to relate that to a theory of job creation, even though many Marxists
seem temperamentally inclined to emphasize destruction.
For a system of thought that thinks of itself as offering a better
understanding of capitalism than offered by bourgeois theory, it'd be
pretty odd not to have a theory of job creation. Schumpeter's
"creative destruction" has suffered from criminally excessive
quotation, but it is shorthand for a theory, and one that's entirely
consistent with Marx(ism).
Doug
On Mar 30, 2007, at 9:13 AM, Gernot Koehler wrote:
Jim wrote:
"Marx's theory in CAPITAL (volume 1) is mostly about job destruction.
This focuses on a representative industry, i.e., one that represents
the abstract general laws of accumulation. But there are also
processes of job creation in Marx: if aggregate accumulation is fast
enough, that increases aggregate employment (which may or may not
raise real wages enough to reduce the rate of surplus-value)."
Thanks. What I find a bit perplexing about that is that there is
little or
no difference between Marx’s and the mainstream view on job
creation. When
you replace “aggregate accumulation” in the above statement by “GDP
growth”
(which is a synonym), then you read Marx, Capital as saying: “if
GDP growth
is fast enough, that increases aggregate employment.” In other
words, Marx
and the mainstream agree on this point.
GK
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