Re: The Problem with Economics

"Bob Kolker" <nowhere@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:56vs31F2ah2avU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Trucker wrote:>
Perhaps the ridiculous notion of basing a "science" on something
as vague as "utility" is a mistake. IMHO this all stems from the
rejection of Adam Smith's Labor theory of value. If one recognizes
the inelasticity of natural resources then it becomes obvious that
labor is the only real variable in economics. All goods, including

No. Objective use of a commodity is a factor. It takes twice as much labor to
make a buggywhip as a pencil, but pencil sell and buggywhips don't. Labor is
not a sufficient variable to account for prices.

You fall into the trap of Marx (and even Ricardo). Adam Smith
never claimed that a buggy whip was worth the amount of labor
needed to make a buggy whip. He claimed that the whip was
worth whatever labor the buyer would trade for it. The buyer
may be the maker in which case he is trading his direct labor
for the whip. Or the buyer may be trading some store of value
(like some number of dollar bills that could be used to command
a pizza instead of a whip), but the value is still measured as labor.
No matter what you buy (a privatization) the thing bought is the
result of labor and you are trading your labor (or labor you could
command in some other way) for the object of your desires.
When you buy a thing you are commanding the labor of all persons
who participated in the creation of the thing.

Surplus value produced by labor is neither necessary nor sufficient to account
for prices.

I don't recall Smith talking about surplus value. That is a Marxian
thing.

--
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers
of society but the people themselves; and
if we think them not enlightened enough to
exercise their control with a wholesome
discretion, the remedy is not to take it from
them, but to inform their discretion by
education." - Thomas Jefferson
http://GreaterVoice.org


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