[p2p-research] Fwd: Launch of Abundance: The Journal of Post-Scarcity Studies, preliminary plans

[Christian Siefkes]

Michel Bauwens wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Joseph Jackson <joseph.jackson at gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 11:35 AM
> Subject: Launch of Abundance: The Journal of Post-Scarcity Studies,
> preliminary plans

> Our task is dauntingly difficult, as most of humanity has slumbered in a
> scarcity stupor for so long they cannot be easily awakened.  The goal is
> ambitious:  From 2009-2010 to lay out the central concepts and theoretical
> foundations of Abundance Studies.

Nice initiative!

> Vol I  Issue 2
> 
> The Theory of Value
> 
> Economics has no coherent Theory of Value and we must solve this problem if
> we are to establish the field of Abundance.  The Labor Theory of Value has
> advantages in that it is objective and normative?it states that price should
> tend toward the cost of production; it also allows us to determine what
> constitutes equitable exchange.

Actually, the Labor Theory of Value, as first formulated by Adam Smith and
Ricardo and later refined by Marx, is not normative, but descriptive: it
describes the basics of price formation in capitalism. Of course, the value
of goods is only their *average* price--actual prices will usually be
somewhat below or above the average because of fluctuations in supply and
demand etc.

Also, what Smith and Ricardo didn't know but Marx found out (described in
vol. 3 of Capital) that there is a further systematic distortion between
value and average price that assures that the average rate of profit will be
about the same in all sectors (assuming free competition). However, that's
only a modification (which follows from the fact the ratios in which
present, living labor -- performed by workers --, and past labor -- embodied
in machines and such are different in different sectors) of the price
building mechanism, which is still basically derived from the labor required
to produce different goods.

> Unfortunately, the LTV does not acknowledge
> that the amount of labor embodied in products is constantly diminishing with
> the advance of automation and improvements in capital.

On the contrary, the main reason that drives capitalistic competition is the
fact that you (as a capitalist/company) can outperform your competition by
reducing the value of your products, which allows you to sell at a lower
price (thus enlarging your market share) and still make a higher (or equally
high) profit per product. The LTV explains why capitalism relies so strongly
on automation and technical innovations that reduce the necessary labor.

This seems to be a useful, very detailed discussion of the LTV:
http://www.dreamscape.com/rvien/Economics/Essays/LTV-FAQ.html

Best regards
	Christian

-- 
|-------- Dr. Christian Siefkes --------- christian at siefkes.net ---------
|   Homepage: http://www.siefkes.net/   |   Blog: http://www.keimform.de/
|   Better Bayesian Analysis:           |   Peer Production Everywhere:
|   http://bart-project.com/            |   http://peerconomy.org/wiki/
|------------------------------------------ OpenPGP Key ID: 0x346452D8 --
Early to rise and early to bed,
makes a man healthy, wealthy and dead.

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