Ted Winslow writes:
Is Marx making an empirical point?
Yes. It's an empirical claim about the psychology dominant in
capitalism. The idea of greed' as an irrational passion is ancient.
As Marx points out in Capital, it can be found in Aristotle.
Aristotle opposes Oeconomic
greed describes an aspect of a personality, whereas rational profit maximization
is simply behavior. Economics can't deal with personality issues. It simply assumes
that people are sociopaths (without the charming personality) and leaves it at that.
Jim Devine [EMAIL
Regarding greed and capitalism, a couple of questions based upon the quotations from
Mr. Winslow:
Is Marx making an empirical point? Based upon observation, capitalists are motivated
by greed? Or is it a definitional point -- under capitalism, capitalists by
definition are motivated by greed
David Shemano wrote:
Is Marx making an empirical point?
Yes. It's an empirical claim about the psychology dominant in
capitalism. The idea of greed' as an irrational passion is ancient.
As Marx points out in Capital, it can be found in Aristotle.
Aristotle opposes Oeconomic to Chrematistic
David S. writes:
Is Marx making an empirical point? Based upon observation, capitalists
are motivated by greed? Or is it a definitional point -- under
capitalism, capitalists by definition are motivated by greed. For
instance, let's hypothesize a man who decides in his youth
results
vindicate and give a precise interpretation for Marx claim that it
doesn't
really matter what individual capitalists want to do--Capital wants
to
accrue profit (in Marxian terms, surplus value).
Greed in this context can't be translated into instrumentally
rational profit maximization. It's
Ted Winslow wrote:
Greed in this context can't be translated into instrumentally
rational profit maximization.
Ted, all this squishy talk makes economists nervous.
Doug
Gil Skillman wrote:
So to the extent that firm managers respond to the concerns
of equity holders, they will act as though greedy--that is,
operate the firm so as to maximize (the expected present value
of) profit.
I believe Gil meant expected present value of future cash flows/net
Bank loses £100m in two-minute frenzy
Jill Treanor and Neil Hume
Saturday September 21, 2002
The Guardian
More than £50bn was added to the stock market value of Britain's 100 biggest companies
yesterday in an unprecedented 20-minute burst of trading which left at least one big
City firm
please circulate widely
Call to Action!
September 25th - 29th in Washington, DC
STOP Infectious Corporate Greed!
CONFRONT Corporate Evil-doers at their CEO Summit!
QUARANTINE the World Bank and IMF on Saturday, September 28th
Get Plugged-in at www.globalizethis.com or call 202-452-5912
Title: greed
This rightwinger is right, i.e., that much of the revulsion is that of old wealth being repulsed by the grasping of the newly-wealthy and the wannabe wealthy. But there's also a revulsion from those laid off or who have lost their pensions or who lost due to inside trading
Devine, James wrote:
It seems to me that greed would be better defined as
self-aggrandizement unconstrained by any sense of morality.
As a technical term for use among marxists and semi-marxists I would
agree with this definition. (And in particular with your further point
-- below
Title: nfectious greed
[was: RE: [PEN-L:28127] Re: do recessions have a good side?]
And yet, in AG's latest quotable, the blame falls on
infectious greed.
poor old AG. How can he reconcile his Ayn Randite tradition -- which worships greed -- with his new disdain for it?
JD
poor old AG. How can he reconcile his Ayn Randite tradition
-- which worships greed -- with his new disdain for it?
JD
Actually, she doesn't worship greed. At bottom, she's a capitalist
stakhanovite: all her good characters are selfish but
workaholics. What she is incapable of acknowledging
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/17/02 15:29 PM
[was: RE: [PEN-L:28127] Re: do recessions have a good side?]
And yet, in AG's latest quotable, the blame falls on
infectious greed.
poor old AG. How can he reconcile his Ayn Randite tradition -- which
worships greed -- with his new disdain for it?
JD
from SLATE:
The [Washington POST] runs this comment from the attorney representing
Scott Waddle, the skipper of the Navy sub that surfaced into a Japanese
fishing boat killing nine of its crew, about a possible book or movie
deal for Waddle: It would be an appropriate way for Scott to be
- Original Message -
From: Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2001 2:12 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:11008] Greed Surfaces
from SLATE:
The [Washington POST] runs this comment from the attorney representing
Scott Waddle, the skipper of the Navy sub
Herald
CARL HIAASEN
Greed fuels the stampede to Hurricane
Alley
August marks another queasy anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, the
costliest natural disaster in the country's history.
If a storm of similar magnitude hammers the coast this year, the
results
forwarded by Michael Hoover
--
Published Sunday, August 6, 2000, in the Miami Herald
CARL HIAASEN
Greed fuels the stampede to Hurricane
Alley
August marks another queasy anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, the
costliest natural disaster in the country's history
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