[PEN-L:8281] Re: On Interest Rates and Finance Capital
I agree. Absolutely, but I wouldn't then want to go say this made finance epiphenomenal, or secondary, or parasitical, or euthanizable, or any of the other things that people sometimes say. Capitalist production is about the accumulation of money and the transformation of everything into monetary values. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:8280] Re: On Interest Rates and Finance Capital
At 6:04 PM 1/17/97, Michael Perelman wrote: I would go beyond what Doug says about the fuzzy boundary between finance and industry. Old time capitalists were more rooted in their industry. Today, everything is screened via ROI, everything is treated as if it is saleable, capable of being securitized Absolutely, but I wouldn't then want to go say this made finance epiphenomenal, or secondary, or parasitical, or euthanizable, or any of the other things that people sometimes say. Capitalist production is about the accumulation of money and the transformation of everything into monetary values. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html
[PEN-L:8279] On Interest Rates and Finance Capital
I would go beyond what Doug says about the fuzzy boundary between finance and industry. Old time capitalists were more rooted in their industry. Today, everything is screened via ROI, everything is treated as if it is saleable, capable of being securitized -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:8278] RE: Interest rates
At 3:08 PM 1/17/97, Paul Altesman wrote: But as Doug points out, one of the major changes of our times - in North America - is the breakdown of the arrangement that financial and industrial institutions would each stick to their historical sphere, limiting their struggle to the interface between them. The one ring circus in now a full fledged three ring circus. But its not clear to me where this struggle will lead. If I understand Doug's brief comment right, he sees intermarriage as the outcome. Already? And on whose terms? Not intermarriage; polyamory. 1) it may be that the industrial entities will shift so much of their funds into the "money as commodity" sphere that they be indistinguishable from the financial entities (Doug's and Blairs leanings) and disinvestment in productive capital accelerates. It's not so much that industry is shifting its surplus funds to finance; it's more like it's just shipping huge wads of cash to Wall Street. I don't remember the numbers exactly - buy my book - but over the last decade or so US nonfinancial corps have transferred (through MA, stock buybacks, and dividends) about as much money to shareholders - who have literally contributed less than nothing to finance their firms' inestments - as they invested tangibly. Though interest rates are down from the 1980s, rentiers still extract great piles of additional cash through the servicing of debt - which, for nonfinancial corps has been floated mainly to do MA and stock buybacks. At the same time, portfolio managers, especially those of public pension funds, have begun to intervene heavily in management, in the interest of higher stock prices. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html
[PEN-L:8276] Fwd: 15 arrested in ET (fwd)
From: (by way of Charles Scheiner [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Thursday, January 16, 1997 12:59 pm EST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Fifteen people have been arrested in East Timor in connection with a violent uprising that broke out during a gathering to welcome home Nobel Prize-winning Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo, police said Thursday. Police also identified and expected to arrest 12 additional suspects allegedly involved in the melee that left one soldier dead and 11 people injured, said East Timor's police chief, Col. Jusuf Mucharam. The violence broke out on Christmas Eve outside a cathedral where thousands of Timorese had gathered to welcome home Belo, who had been in Europe to accept the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. Belo was honored for his campaign for a peaceful settlement to Indonesia's struggle with pro-independence guerrillas in the former Portuguese colony that Indonesian forces invaded in 1975. It was not immediately clear what, if any, charges were being brought against the suspects. ) Copyright 1997 The Associated Press ôé®Á? é
[PEN-L:8277] Warning from George Soros
TOP CURRENCY TRADER PROCLAIMS DANGERS OF CAPITALISM NEW YORK -- When George Soros speaks, the world's markets listen. This time, though, they may not believe what they hear. Soros is proclaiming that capitalism and its system of speculative trading -- the same system that has brought him billions -- has supplanted Communism as the principle threat to freedom. It is a stunning conversion from a billionaire long viewed as the Midas of the currency markets. His extraordinary success was vividly demonstrated in 1992 when bets he made on the pound knocked Britain's currency out of the European exchange rate mechanism. The new Soros doctrine is laid out in a 7,000-word article in the magazine Atlantic Monthly. Entitled The Capitalist Threat, it argues that worship of "the magic of the marketplace" is undermining social values of morality and responsibility and risks giving rise to extremist political leaders. "The arch enemy of an open society is no longer the Communist threat but the capitalist one," Soros writes. "It is wrong to make 'survival of the fittest' a leading principle in a civilized society." He argues that inequality is rampant because "laissez-faire ideology has effectively banished income or wealth redistribution." "I have made a fortune on international financial markets, and yet now fear the untrammelled intensification of laissez-faire capitalism and the spread of market values into all areas of life is endangering our open and democratic society." Soros' own fortune is worth about $13.8 billion (Cdn.) but since 1979 he has been channelling part of his wealth to pro-democracy causes through his own Open Society Foundation. -- The Independent Reprinted in the Vancouver Sun, January 17, 1997
[PEN-L:8275] Re: Minority Business Survey
Professor Wainwright's message reminds me of an interesting event at the ASSA meetings. At the same time as the CPI forum, there was one on affirmative action. It had a number of interesting aspects: 1. Richard Posner was pathetic at playing an economist. He was filled with economic jargon to cover his most simplist position, which was the most reactionary of the lot -- June O'Neill was the other conservative. Among his arguments was the claim that the number of individuals harmed by affirmative action just equals the number helped. As another panelist, Jonathan Leonard, pointed out this assumes that there is no discrimination. 2. Glen Loury had a surprisingly strong defense of the general principle of affirmative action, though one might question the modest ways in which he supports its implementation. It would be a serious mistake to lump him with those opposed to affirmative action and, indeed, Francine Blau indicated that she had substantial points of agreement with his presentation. 3. Jonathan Leonard modestly defended the use of affirmative action in employment but made clear that he believes it has had only a small effect on hiring decisions. Most relevant to Professor Wainwright's concern, Leonard pointedly rejected set aside programs. He asserted that virtually all competent studies find that set asides have virtually no effect on the number of minority-owned businesses so that they should not be defended. 4. It was of interest that Francine Blau, rather than Barbara Bergmann, was selected as the female defender of affirmative action. I do not question her credentials. However, given that Bergmann is now playing a leading role in defense of affirmative action, this must indicate that the session's organizer, Finis Welsh, made a conscious decision not to have a strong defender who is unwilling to be completely colleagial on the panel. Robert Cherry
[PEN-L:8274] RE: Interest rates
At 06:26 PM 1/16/97 -0800, Doug Henwood wrote: At 6:05 PM 1/16/97, DICKENS, EDWIN (201)-408-3024 wrote: And to my mind the theory of interest rate determination is crucial to filling in that lacunae. OK, Tom - so what's the Dickens theory of interest rates? Doug I am sorry that this thread seems to be petering out (and that I missed some of it). I think we were touching on two important points. 1) Interest rates are determined by a struggle, not a "market" Since interest income derives from the division of surplus value (OK , profits for the so inclined), the interest rate emerges from the struggle between financial and "productive" (OK industrial, if you wish) capitals. This struggle is hardly the same as saying "supply and demand" in some sterile market context (not the way Marx thinks). The financial vs industrial face off is a starting point, not the ending point. I honestly don't see why Edwin Dickens chooses to see this point as a "nostrum" about supply and demand. Just because the starting point is simple does not make less profound. Marx is clear that the complex struggle that produces an interest rate can take place in three spheres: the money as a commodity sphere; the "productive" sphere, and most visibly in the interface between the first two (bank loans, etc). But whether its a three ring circus or not, this starting point does go directly directly to the "political" (socio-economic?) writings of Marx that Dickens says he wants to see linked . (In fact, Doug and Patrick illustrate the logical next step.) OK, Marx did not give general rules on how to link them. But that is simply because each socio-economic formation is specific and so there is no deterministic holy grail. While recognizing that these struggles are case specific, that in no way makes them less important or represents a lacunae. It is also true that Marx also didn't give many concrete examples in his own "political" writings - but so what. Thats what bright PhD students are for :) . 2) As Patrick Bond and Doug Henwood point out, maybe we used to be able to say that: the "financial circuit of capital vs. productive curcuit" was the same as saying in shorthand "Banks vs. Industry". The roles in the underlying economic process corresponded closely to the institutional entities. Hilferding's analysis (Banks structure Industry) may well have well been true in Germany *of his time*. Likewise, the analysis of the Japanese "overloan system" (large manufacturers raise money from the Bank of Japan through the city bank system, soldering open the financial/industrial circuit which then also permits enormous bubbles) today seems prescient. But as Doug points out, one of the major changes of our times - in North America - is the breakdown of the arrangement that financial and industrial institutions would each stick to their historical sphere, limiting their struggle to the interface between them. The one ring circus in now a full fledged three ring circus. But its not clear to me where this struggle will lead. If I understand Doug's brief comment right, he sees intermarriage as the outcome. Already? And on whose terms? Clearly the financial instructions have had the upper hand. It started with an increased share of surplus value from the "money as a commodity" sphere (going back to the petro-dollar days); was fed by larger and larger extractions of surplus value taken from the govt. sphere (per Doug on the bond mkt). The resultant political leverage has permitted them to: -have a preponderant voice in macro-policy, sustaining the advantage in the interface with the productive sphere. -gain a near stranglehold over intl eco policy (particularly for developing and ex-socialist countries) and exch. rate policy. -and to engage in breathtaking raids on the "productive" sphere, by commodifying control over industrial assets. Still, there are limits - i.e. I don't see too many financial institutions trying to get their funds into the actual curcuit of production with Hilferding like results. Doesn't this leave two possible outcomes (at this level of analysis; obviously there are many other possibilities when additional factors are considered: 1) it may be that the industrial entities will shift so much of their funds into the "money as commodity" sphere that they be indistinguishable from the financial entities (Doug's and Blairs leanings) and disinvestment in productive capital accelerates. 2) the cumulative effect of the effort in the productive sphere to restructure capital/wage relations in the productive curcuit really pays off and the financial/industrial pendulum swings the other way. Paul Altesman
[PEN-L:8273] Quote of the Day
"Few exercises in social argument are so obviously in defence of financial self-interest as those brought forward by the rich against their taxes. It always boils down to the slightly improbably case that the rich are not working because they have too little income, the poor because they have too much." J.K. Galbraith as quoted in THE GLOBE AND MAIL Jan 17 p. A21 Cheers, Ken Hanly
[PEN-L:8272] Re: Apologies, again, for posting to the world
PEN-L, I did it again: posted to the world, being in a hurry. I apologize and will _really_ try to slow down. Larry Shute
[PEN-L:8271] Feds to kill Survey of Minority Businesses (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 12:49:03 -0600 From: Jon Wainwright [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Feds to kill Survey of Minority Businesses Dear Sir: I am a professional economist affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin. For the past five years I have been actively involved assisting public agencies around the country in improving and defending their affirmative action programs for businesses owned by racial and ethnic minorities. I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the impending eradication of the federal government's Survey of Minority Owned Businesses. This survey has been conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce every five years, in conjunction with other elements of the Economic Censuses. With all the current debate regarding affirmative action in public contracting and procurement, the reliable and objective information provided by this survey regarding the structure and status of the minority business community in the United States is absolutely crucial, to both proponents and opponents alike. The Survey of Minority Owned Businesses was the cornerstone of a large number of disparity studies conducted throughout the country, including several in California. State and local governments throughout the U.S. have come to rely heavily on access to this statistical information so that they may insure that they are in compliance with the rigorous new standards for affirmative action laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Please pass this along to members of your list, and urge them to contact their congressional representatives and demand that this program be restored, and be restored immediately. Remeber how the Reagan administration solved the urban minority youth unemployment problem? They stopped the federal government from collecting statistics in this category. Presto! No more urban minority youth unemployment problem. It would be tragic if the same fate befalls minority business enterprise. Ask your readers to urge their representatives to do everything in their power to restore funding to this important statistical program. If their situation does not change immediately, they will be unable to carry out this survey in conjunction with the general data collection effort for the 1997 Economic Censuses that is scheduled to begin this month. If funding is restored at a later date, the survey will be reduced to a voluntary (rather than mandatory) data collection effort and its quality and reliability would be severely compromised. If anything, this particular survey program needs more funding, certainly not less. If it falls by the wayside, there will be no publicly available information on this important sector of the economic. Without such information, many of the existing minority business initiatives are doomed. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. * Jon Wainwright Department of Economics University of Texas at Austin Mailing Address : 1015 E. 43rd St. Austin, Texas 78751-4415 USA Voice: 512.454.8581 Telecopier: 512.454.2183 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
[PEN-L:8270] Re: inflation deflation
Jim Devine wrote: How can Passell say such things?? I often read Passell's columns. He's simply a mouthpiece for a sub-set of mainstream economists. He quotes and promotes the work of dishonest scholars like Dale Jorgeson and his ilk. I had read the column referred to by Lynn Turgeon and thought that it was not written by Passell but rather than somebody had written a parody of Passell. For example, he quotes the free market/free trader Bergsten as saying about the banking crisis: "There's never been a comprehensive program, complete with bailout money, to put the problems of the financial system behind them." And he writes that a long overdue deregulation might help. This for an economy that has for decades been praised for regulation as the basis of its success. The high savings rate, he says, plus the superbly disciplined work force, may no longer be enough to "... overcome sins ranging from corruption to obsessive conformity." What's the difference between a superbly disciplined work force and obsessive conformity. In a Boom discipline is good, while in a Bust conformity is bad? Then he goes on to write: "Few other democracies, one suspects, would allow an organization as blemished by scandal and incompetence as the Liberal Democratic Party to control its destiny." Yes, no doubt very few -- except the democracy controlled by the (single) party of Newt and Bill perhaps. And then the penultimate paragraph: "Another reason, though, is more benign. In America, six years of economic stagnation would have generated great suffering. In Japan, unemployment remains below 4 percent and outrageous social problems like homelessness and childhood poverty are nonexistent, or at least disguised." Is he writing that in America we don't have great suffering because of the competence of our political party? Or is he acknowledging outrageous social problems here during the great economic boom of the Ninties? As bad as Passell is, with his reliance on Jorgensen and others who will say anything, he surely is a victim here. Somebody broke into the NY Times computer and inserted this parody. For those taking a look at the NY Times for this column, a more interesting story the same day is the one about ADM, which is on the first page of the business section. Where are PEN-L's industrial org folks on the ADM story?
[PEN-L:8269] Re:
Dear Paul, Perhaps you didn't get my last message. I thought I was doing the one on John Maurice Clark (#83) and I also volunteered to do #75 on Social Control of Business since that dovetails with the Clark piece. In any case, I have been working on the Clark piece and would like to know if I should finish it or not. Thanks. Larry Shute === OMDear Pen-lers, As many of you know, there is in preparation the Encyclopaedia of Political Economy (EPE) under the general editorship of Phil Ohara at Curtin University in Perth Australia which involves quite a number on this list and also PKT. This major volume is to be published by Routledge. Unfortunately, (for various reasons) there are still a number of entries that do not have authors and as the publishing deadline is fast approaching, Phil is seeking writers and asked me to post the list of items wanting authors to this list. Now, from the discussion on this list, I know there are experts here that could write these entries in an evening, or who know who can. I appeal to them to e-mail Phil at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and offer your expertise. Paul Phillips 51. Entries in Need of Writers (as of 16 Jan 97) 53. 54. Business Cycles: Major Contemporary Themes [2000 words] 55. 56. Work, labor and Production: Major Contemporary Themes [2000 words] 57. Unions [1400 words] 58. 59. Increasing Returns to Scale [1500 words] 60. Verdoorn's Law [1200 words] 61. Okun's Law [1200 words] 62. Capital Reversing [1500 words] 63. Rate of Return Controversy [1000 words] 64. 65. Methodology: Major Contemporary Themes [2000 words] 66. Methodology: History of in PE [1700 words] PAUSE: 67. Foundationalism and Anti-Foundationalism in PE [1200] 68. International Network for Economic Methodology [400 words] 69. 70. Environmental Ecological PE: History Nature of [1700 words] 71. Environmental Accounting [1200 words] 72. Quality of Life [1 500 words] 73. 74. New Institutionalism [1400 words] 75. Social Control of Business [1200 words] 76. Centralised Private Sector Planning System [1400 words] 77. 78. Finance Capital [1000] 79. Financial Innovation [1500 words] 80. Crime [1500 words] 81. Justice [1400] 82. Rent Seeking and Vested Interests [1400 words] 83. Overhead Costs (J.M. Clark)[1200] 84. Conference of Socialist Economists [1000 words] 85. 86. Please do let me know if you are interested, or can suggest 87. possible writers. They would have to be written by mid-late 88. February at the latest. 89. PAUSE: 90. 91. 92. = 93. 94. Phillip O'Hara, Department of Economics 95. Curtin University of Technology 96. GPO Box U1987, Perth. 6001 Australia 97. email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 98. Fax: +61-9-351-3026 99. Tel: +61-9-351-7761 (work - message machine) 100.: 451-2618 (home) --SAA03881.853469290/pitbull.ecst.csuchico.edu-- Laurence Shute [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Economics Voice: 909.869.3850 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 3801 West Temple Avenue Pomona, CA 91768-4070 USA FAX: 909.869.6987
[PEN-L:8268] Oppose The Attacks Of The Brutal South Korean Regime On the Workers
Besides the draconian National Security Law, which makes it criminal to be a communist, engage in any activity deemed to be "pro-north", call for the reunification of Korea or have any contact with individuals or organizations in the north or deemed "pro-north", the latest law introduced by the south Korean regime attacks the rights of workers. On Dec. 26, at a secret pre-dawn session of the legislature, the Kim Young-sam regime passed a new labor bill making it easier for companies to lay off employees en masse and making it even more difficult for south Korean workers to organize. That same day, workers in the automobile industry and in the ports began strike actions. Hundreds of thousands of workers, joined by youth and students, have staged a series of rotating strikes, demonstrations and mass rallies to oppose the new law. This morning, the south Korean government deployed thousands of police and armed troops, including armored cars and helicopters, against the workers and youth. The Kim Young-sam government has threatened trade union leaders with jail if the strike actions are not called off. Over 6,000 students were already arrested this summer under the National Security Law for organizing protests calling for the reunification of north and south Korea and demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Korean Peninsula. A "Team Canada" delegation headed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and including nine of the ten provincial premiers just left south Korea, after signing trade deals with the south Korean regime. The hypocrisy of the Liberal government is abundantly clear. When it suits its interests, it parrots the line of the U.S. imperialists on "human rights" and supports actions such as the bombardment of Iraq or the boycott imposed on Iran. When it comes to their friends and is in the interests of the financial oligarchy, the Liberals leap all over themselves to pronounce that these are internal problems and of no concern to the Canadian people. All justice-loving peoples must oppose the brutal attacks against the working class and people in south Korea. OPPOSE THE BRUTALITY AGAINST THE STRIKING WORKERS IN SOUTH KOREA! REPEAL THE NEW ANTI-WORKER LABOR LEGISLATION! REPEAL THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW! FOREIGN TROOPS, OUT OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA! FOR THE PEACEFUL REUNIFICATION OF KOREA! Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:8267] Multiple Choice Quiz
1. Jack works 40 hours a week at a union job, where he earns a wage of $25 an hour and receives a package of fringe benefits (including paid time off) worth a total of $12 an hour. If Jack works two hour a week overtime, at time and a half, what is the approximate *ratio* of his net (after tax) pay and benefits per hour of overtime to his regular hourly net pay and benefits? a.) $37.50 b.) 150% c.) 75% d.) 100% Regards, Tom Walker ^^ knoW Ware Communications | Vancouver, B.C., CANADA | "Only in mediocre art [EMAIL PROTECTED] |does life unfold as fate." (604) 669-3286| ^^ The TimeWork Web: http://mindlink.net/knowware/worksite.htm
[PEN-L:8281] Re: On Interest Rates and Finance Capital
I agree. Absolutely, but I wouldn't then want to go say this made finance epiphenomenal, or secondary, or parasitical, or euthanizable, or any of the other things that people sometimes say. Capitalist production is about the accumulation of money and the transformation of everything into monetary values. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:8280] Re: On Interest Rates and Finance Capital
At 6:04 PM 1/17/97, Michael Perelman wrote: I would go beyond what Doug says about the fuzzy boundary between finance and industry. Old time capitalists were more rooted in their industry. Today, everything is screened via ROI, everything is treated as if it is saleable, capable of being securitized Absolutely, but I wouldn't then want to go say this made finance epiphenomenal, or secondary, or parasitical, or euthanizable, or any of the other things that people sometimes say. Capitalist production is about the accumulation of money and the transformation of everything into monetary values. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html
[PEN-L:8271] Feds to kill Survey of Minority Businesses (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 12:49:03 -0600 From: Jon Wainwright [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Feds to kill Survey of Minority Businesses Dear Sir: I am a professional economist affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin. For the past five years I have been actively involved assisting public agencies around the country in improving and defending their affirmative action programs for businesses owned by racial and ethnic minorities. I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the impending eradication of the federal government's Survey of Minority Owned Businesses. This survey has been conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce every five years, in conjunction with other elements of the Economic Censuses. With all the current debate regarding affirmative action in public contracting and procurement, the reliable and objective information provided by this survey regarding the structure and status of the minority business community in the United States is absolutely crucial, to both proponents and opponents alike. The Survey of Minority Owned Businesses was the cornerstone of a large number of disparity studies conducted throughout the country, including several in California. State and local governments throughout the U.S. have come to rely heavily on access to this statistical information so that they may insure that they are in compliance with the rigorous new standards for affirmative action laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Please pass this along to members of your list, and urge them to contact their congressional representatives and demand that this program be restored, and be restored immediately. Remeber how the Reagan administration solved the urban minority youth unemployment problem? They stopped the federal government from collecting statistics in this category. Presto! No more urban minority youth unemployment problem. It would be tragic if the same fate befalls minority business enterprise. Ask your readers to urge their representatives to do everything in their power to restore funding to this important statistical program. If their situation does not change immediately, they will be unable to carry out this survey in conjunction with the general data collection effort for the 1997 Economic Censuses that is scheduled to begin this month. If funding is restored at a later date, the survey will be reduced to a voluntary (rather than mandatory) data collection effort and its quality and reliability would be severely compromised. If anything, this particular survey program needs more funding, certainly not less. If it falls by the wayside, there will be no publicly available information on this important sector of the economic. Without such information, many of the existing minority business initiatives are doomed. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. * Jon Wainwright Department of Economics University of Texas at Austin Mailing Address : 1015 E. 43rd St. Austin, Texas 78751-4415 USA Voice: 512.454.8581 Telecopier: 512.454.2183 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
[PEN-L:8273] Quote of the Day
"Few exercises in social argument are so obviously in defence of financial self-interest as those brought forward by the rich against their taxes. It always boils down to the slightly improbably case that the rich are not working because they have too little income, the poor because they have too much." J.K. Galbraith as quoted in THE GLOBE AND MAIL Jan 17 p. A21 Cheers, Ken Hanly
[PEN-L:8270] Re: inflation deflation
Jim Devine wrote: How can Passell say such things?? I often read Passell's columns. He's simply a mouthpiece for a sub-set of mainstream economists. He quotes and promotes the work of dishonest scholars like Dale Jorgeson and his ilk. I had read the column referred to by Lynn Turgeon and thought that it was not written by Passell but rather than somebody had written a parody of Passell. For example, he quotes the free market/free trader Bergsten as saying about the banking crisis: "There's never been a comprehensive program, complete with bailout money, to put the problems of the financial system behind them." And he writes that a long overdue deregulation might help. This for an economy that has for decades been praised for regulation as the basis of its success. The high savings rate, he says, plus the superbly disciplined work force, may no longer be enough to "... overcome sins ranging from corruption to obsessive conformity." What's the difference between a superbly disciplined work force and obsessive conformity. In a Boom discipline is good, while in a Bust conformity is bad? Then he goes on to write: "Few other democracies, one suspects, would allow an organization as blemished by scandal and incompetence as the Liberal Democratic Party to control its destiny." Yes, no doubt very few -- except the democracy controlled by the (single) party of Newt and Bill perhaps. And then the penultimate paragraph: "Another reason, though, is more benign. In America, six years of economic stagnation would have generated great suffering. In Japan, unemployment remains below 4 percent and outrageous social problems like homelessness and childhood poverty are nonexistent, or at least disguised." Is he writing that in America we don't have great suffering because of the competence of our political party? Or is he acknowledging outrageous social problems here during the great economic boom of the Ninties? As bad as Passell is, with his reliance on Jorgensen and others who will say anything, he surely is a victim here. Somebody broke into the NY Times computer and inserted this parody. For those taking a look at the NY Times for this column, a more interesting story the same day is the one about ADM, which is on the first page of the business section. Where are PEN-L's industrial org folks on the ADM story?
[PEN-L:8268] Oppose The Attacks Of The Brutal South Korean Regime On the Workers
Besides the draconian National Security Law, which makes it criminal to be a communist, engage in any activity deemed to be "pro-north", call for the reunification of Korea or have any contact with individuals or organizations in the north or deemed "pro-north", the latest law introduced by the south Korean regime attacks the rights of workers. On Dec. 26, at a secret pre-dawn session of the legislature, the Kim Young-sam regime passed a new labor bill making it easier for companies to lay off employees en masse and making it even more difficult for south Korean workers to organize. That same day, workers in the automobile industry and in the ports began strike actions. Hundreds of thousands of workers, joined by youth and students, have staged a series of rotating strikes, demonstrations and mass rallies to oppose the new law. This morning, the south Korean government deployed thousands of police and armed troops, including armored cars and helicopters, against the workers and youth. The Kim Young-sam government has threatened trade union leaders with jail if the strike actions are not called off. Over 6,000 students were already arrested this summer under the National Security Law for organizing protests calling for the reunification of north and south Korea and demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Korean Peninsula. A "Team Canada" delegation headed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and including nine of the ten provincial premiers just left south Korea, after signing trade deals with the south Korean regime. The hypocrisy of the Liberal government is abundantly clear. When it suits its interests, it parrots the line of the U.S. imperialists on "human rights" and supports actions such as the bombardment of Iraq or the boycott imposed on Iran. When it comes to their friends and is in the interests of the financial oligarchy, the Liberals leap all over themselves to pronounce that these are internal problems and of no concern to the Canadian people. All justice-loving peoples must oppose the brutal attacks against the working class and people in south Korea. OPPOSE THE BRUTALITY AGAINST THE STRIKING WORKERS IN SOUTH KOREA! REPEAL THE NEW ANTI-WORKER LABOR LEGISLATION! REPEAL THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW! FOREIGN TROOPS, OUT OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA! FOR THE PEACEFUL REUNIFICATION OF KOREA! Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:8277] Warning from George Soros
TOP CURRENCY TRADER PROCLAIMS DANGERS OF CAPITALISM NEW YORK -- When George Soros speaks, the world's markets listen. This time, though, they may not believe what they hear. Soros is proclaiming that capitalism and its system of speculative trading -- the same system that has brought him billions -- has supplanted Communism as the principle threat to freedom. It is a stunning conversion from a billionaire long viewed as the Midas of the currency markets. His extraordinary success was vividly demonstrated in 1992 when bets he made on the pound knocked Britain's currency out of the European exchange rate mechanism. The new Soros doctrine is laid out in a 7,000-word article in the magazine Atlantic Monthly. Entitled The Capitalist Threat, it argues that worship of "the magic of the marketplace" is undermining social values of morality and responsibility and risks giving rise to extremist political leaders. "The arch enemy of an open society is no longer the Communist threat but the capitalist one," Soros writes. "It is wrong to make 'survival of the fittest' a leading principle in a civilized society." He argues that inequality is rampant because "laissez-faire ideology has effectively banished income or wealth redistribution." "I have made a fortune on international financial markets, and yet now fear the untrammelled intensification of laissez-faire capitalism and the spread of market values into all areas of life is endangering our open and democratic society." Soros' own fortune is worth about $13.8 billion (Cdn.) but since 1979 he has been channelling part of his wealth to pro-democracy causes through his own Open Society Foundation. -- The Independent Reprinted in the Vancouver Sun, January 17, 1997
[PEN-L:8272] Re: Apologies, again, for posting to the world
PEN-L, I did it again: posted to the world, being in a hurry. I apologize and will _really_ try to slow down. Larry Shute
[PEN-L:8276] Fwd: 15 arrested in ET (fwd)
From: (by way of Charles Scheiner [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Thursday, January 16, 1997 12:59 pm EST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Fifteen people have been arrested in East Timor in connection with a violent uprising that broke out during a gathering to welcome home Nobel Prize-winning Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo, police said Thursday. Police also identified and expected to arrest 12 additional suspects allegedly involved in the melee that left one soldier dead and 11 people injured, said East Timor's police chief, Col. Jusuf Mucharam. The violence broke out on Christmas Eve outside a cathedral where thousands of Timorese had gathered to welcome home Belo, who had been in Europe to accept the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. Belo was honored for his campaign for a peaceful settlement to Indonesia's struggle with pro-independence guerrillas in the former Portuguese colony that Indonesian forces invaded in 1975. It was not immediately clear what, if any, charges were being brought against the suspects. ) Copyright 1997 The Associated Press ôé®Á? é
[PEN-L:8275] Re: Minority Business Survey
Professor Wainwright's message reminds me of an interesting event at the ASSA meetings. At the same time as the CPI forum, there was one on affirmative action. It had a number of interesting aspects: 1. Richard Posner was pathetic at playing an economist. He was filled with economic jargon to cover his most simplist position, which was the most reactionary of the lot -- June O'Neill was the other conservative. Among his arguments was the claim that the number of individuals harmed by affirmative action just equals the number helped. As another panelist, Jonathan Leonard, pointed out this assumes that there is no discrimination. 2. Glen Loury had a surprisingly strong defense of the general principle of affirmative action, though one might question the modest ways in which he supports its implementation. It would be a serious mistake to lump him with those opposed to affirmative action and, indeed, Francine Blau indicated that she had substantial points of agreement with his presentation. 3. Jonathan Leonard modestly defended the use of affirmative action in employment but made clear that he believes it has had only a small effect on hiring decisions. Most relevant to Professor Wainwright's concern, Leonard pointedly rejected set aside programs. He asserted that virtually all competent studies find that set asides have virtually no effect on the number of minority-owned businesses so that they should not be defended. 4. It was of interest that Francine Blau, rather than Barbara Bergmann, was selected as the female defender of affirmative action. I do not question her credentials. However, given that Bergmann is now playing a leading role in defense of affirmative action, this must indicate that the session's organizer, Finis Welsh, made a conscious decision not to have a strong defender who is unwilling to be completely colleagial on the panel. Robert Cherry
[PEN-L:8279] On Interest Rates and Finance Capital
I would go beyond what Doug says about the fuzzy boundary between finance and industry. Old time capitalists were more rooted in their industry. Today, everything is screened via ROI, everything is treated as if it is saleable, capable of being securitized -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:8274] RE: Interest rates
At 06:26 PM 1/16/97 -0800, Doug Henwood wrote: At 6:05 PM 1/16/97, DICKENS, EDWIN (201)-408-3024 wrote: And to my mind the theory of interest rate determination is crucial to filling in that lacunae. OK, Tom - so what's the Dickens theory of interest rates? Doug I am sorry that this thread seems to be petering out (and that I missed some of it). I think we were touching on two important points. 1) Interest rates are determined by a struggle, not a "market" Since interest income derives from the division of surplus value (OK , profits for the so inclined), the interest rate emerges from the struggle between financial and "productive" (OK industrial, if you wish) capitals. This struggle is hardly the same as saying "supply and demand" in some sterile market context (not the way Marx thinks). The financial vs industrial face off is a starting point, not the ending point. I honestly don't see why Edwin Dickens chooses to see this point as a "nostrum" about supply and demand. Just because the starting point is simple does not make less profound. Marx is clear that the complex struggle that produces an interest rate can take place in three spheres: the money as a commodity sphere; the "productive" sphere, and most visibly in the interface between the first two (bank loans, etc). But whether its a three ring circus or not, this starting point does go directly directly to the "political" (socio-economic?) writings of Marx that Dickens says he wants to see linked . (In fact, Doug and Patrick illustrate the logical next step.) OK, Marx did not give general rules on how to link them. But that is simply because each socio-economic formation is specific and so there is no deterministic holy grail. While recognizing that these struggles are case specific, that in no way makes them less important or represents a lacunae. It is also true that Marx also didn't give many concrete examples in his own "political" writings - but so what. Thats what bright PhD students are for :) . 2) As Patrick Bond and Doug Henwood point out, maybe we used to be able to say that: the "financial circuit of capital vs. productive curcuit" was the same as saying in shorthand "Banks vs. Industry". The roles in the underlying economic process corresponded closely to the institutional entities. Hilferding's analysis (Banks structure Industry) may well have well been true in Germany *of his time*. Likewise, the analysis of the Japanese "overloan system" (large manufacturers raise money from the Bank of Japan through the city bank system, soldering open the financial/industrial circuit which then also permits enormous bubbles) today seems prescient. But as Doug points out, one of the major changes of our times - in North America - is the breakdown of the arrangement that financial and industrial institutions would each stick to their historical sphere, limiting their struggle to the interface between them. The one ring circus in now a full fledged three ring circus. But its not clear to me where this struggle will lead. If I understand Doug's brief comment right, he sees intermarriage as the outcome. Already? And on whose terms? Clearly the financial instructions have had the upper hand. It started with an increased share of surplus value from the "money as a commodity" sphere (going back to the petro-dollar days); was fed by larger and larger extractions of surplus value taken from the govt. sphere (per Doug on the bond mkt). The resultant political leverage has permitted them to: -have a preponderant voice in macro-policy, sustaining the advantage in the interface with the productive sphere. -gain a near stranglehold over intl eco policy (particularly for developing and ex-socialist countries) and exch. rate policy. -and to engage in breathtaking raids on the "productive" sphere, by commodifying control over industrial assets. Still, there are limits - i.e. I don't see too many financial institutions trying to get their funds into the actual curcuit of production with Hilferding like results. Doesn't this leave two possible outcomes (at this level of analysis; obviously there are many other possibilities when additional factors are considered: 1) it may be that the industrial entities will shift so much of their funds into the "money as commodity" sphere that they be indistinguishable from the financial entities (Doug's and Blairs leanings) and disinvestment in productive capital accelerates. 2) the cumulative effect of the effort in the productive sphere to restructure capital/wage relations in the productive curcuit really pays off and the financial/industrial pendulum swings the other way. Paul Altesman
[PEN-L:8278] RE: Interest rates
At 3:08 PM 1/17/97, Paul Altesman wrote: But as Doug points out, one of the major changes of our times - in North America - is the breakdown of the arrangement that financial and industrial institutions would each stick to their historical sphere, limiting their struggle to the interface between them. The one ring circus in now a full fledged three ring circus. But its not clear to me where this struggle will lead. If I understand Doug's brief comment right, he sees intermarriage as the outcome. Already? And on whose terms? Not intermarriage; polyamory. 1) it may be that the industrial entities will shift so much of their funds into the "money as commodity" sphere that they be indistinguishable from the financial entities (Doug's and Blairs leanings) and disinvestment in productive capital accelerates. It's not so much that industry is shifting its surplus funds to finance; it's more like it's just shipping huge wads of cash to Wall Street. I don't remember the numbers exactly - buy my book - but over the last decade or so US nonfinancial corps have transferred (through MA, stock buybacks, and dividends) about as much money to shareholders - who have literally contributed less than nothing to finance their firms' inestments - as they invested tangibly. Though interest rates are down from the 1980s, rentiers still extract great piles of additional cash through the servicing of debt - which, for nonfinancial corps has been floated mainly to do MA and stock buybacks. At the same time, portfolio managers, especially those of public pension funds, have begun to intervene heavily in management, in the interest of higher stock prices. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html
[PEN-L:8267] Multiple Choice Quiz
1. Jack works 40 hours a week at a union job, where he earns a wage of $25 an hour and receives a package of fringe benefits (including paid time off) worth a total of $12 an hour. If Jack works two hour a week overtime, at time and a half, what is the approximate *ratio* of his net (after tax) pay and benefits per hour of overtime to his regular hourly net pay and benefits? a.) $37.50 b.) 150% c.) 75% d.) 100% Regards, Tom Walker ^^ knoW Ware Communications | Vancouver, B.C., CANADA | "Only in mediocre art [EMAIL PROTECTED] |does life unfold as fate." (604) 669-3286| ^^ The TimeWork Web: http://mindlink.net/knowware/worksite.htm
[PEN-L:8269] Re:
Dear Paul, Perhaps you didn't get my last message. I thought I was doing the one on John Maurice Clark (#83) and I also volunteered to do #75 on Social Control of Business since that dovetails with the Clark piece. In any case, I have been working on the Clark piece and would like to know if I should finish it or not. Thanks. Larry Shute === OMDear Pen-lers, As many of you know, there is in preparation the Encyclopaedia of Political Economy (EPE) under the general editorship of Phil Ohara at Curtin University in Perth Australia which involves quite a number on this list and also PKT. This major volume is to be published by Routledge. Unfortunately, (for various reasons) there are still a number of entries that do not have authors and as the publishing deadline is fast approaching, Phil is seeking writers and asked me to post the list of items wanting authors to this list. Now, from the discussion on this list, I know there are experts here that could write these entries in an evening, or who know who can. I appeal to them to e-mail Phil at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and offer your expertise. Paul Phillips 51. Entries in Need of Writers (as of 16 Jan 97) 53. 54. Business Cycles: Major Contemporary Themes [2000 words] 55. 56. Work, labor and Production: Major Contemporary Themes [2000 words] 57. Unions [1400 words] 58. 59. Increasing Returns to Scale [1500 words] 60. Verdoorn's Law [1200 words] 61. Okun's Law [1200 words] 62. Capital Reversing [1500 words] 63. Rate of Return Controversy [1000 words] 64. 65. Methodology: Major Contemporary Themes [2000 words] 66. Methodology: History of in PE [1700 words] PAUSE: 67. Foundationalism and Anti-Foundationalism in PE [1200] 68. International Network for Economic Methodology [400 words] 69. 70. Environmental Ecological PE: History Nature of [1700 words] 71. Environmental Accounting [1200 words] 72. Quality of Life [1 500 words] 73. 74. New Institutionalism [1400 words] 75. Social Control of Business [1200 words] 76. Centralised Private Sector Planning System [1400 words] 77. 78. Finance Capital [1000] 79. Financial Innovation [1500 words] 80. Crime [1500 words] 81. Justice [1400] 82. Rent Seeking and Vested Interests [1400 words] 83. Overhead Costs (J.M. Clark)[1200] 84. Conference of Socialist Economists [1000 words] 85. 86. Please do let me know if you are interested, or can suggest 87. possible writers. They would have to be written by mid-late 88. February at the latest. 89. PAUSE: 90. 91. 92. = 93. 94. Phillip O'Hara, Department of Economics 95. Curtin University of Technology 96. GPO Box U1987, Perth. 6001 Australia 97. email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 98. Fax: +61-9-351-3026 99. Tel: +61-9-351-7761 (work - message machine) 100.: 451-2618 (home) --SAA03881.853469290/pitbull.ecst.csuchico.edu-- Laurence Shute [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Economics Voice: 909.869.3850 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 3801 West Temple Avenue Pomona, CA 91768-4070 USA FAX: 909.869.6987
