Peter Cooper — Productive and Unproductive Labor in a Macro Context

As is well known, Marx and the classical political economists before him made a distinction between productive and unproductive labor. Marx’s distinction is somewhat differed from Smith’s. For Marx, labor is productive when it is: (i) directly productive of surplus value; and (ii) exchanged directly against capital. I remain unsure how applicable the distinction is to a state money system. Some of my misgivings are explained in an earlier post. The uncertainty has held back an attempt to explore connections between Marx and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). To get around this, here I proceed on an as if basis, by assuming for the sake of argument that the distinction is meaningful....

heteconomist
Productive and Unproductive Labor in a Macro Context
Peter Cooper

David F. Ruccio — Marx ratio

First there was the Great Gatsby curve. Then there was the Proust index. Now, thanks to Neil Irwin, we have the Marx ratio.

Each, in their different way, attempts to capture the ravages of contemporary capitalism. But the Marx ratio is a bit different. It was published in the New York Times. Its aim is to capture one of the underlying determinants of the obscene levels of inequality in the United States today—not class mobility or the number of years of national income growth lost to the global financial crash. And, of course, it takes its name from that ruthless nineteenth-century critic of mainstream economics and capitalism itself....

Occasional Links & Commentary
Marx ratio
David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

See also

Putting aside this rich line-up of events, what has caught our attention is the equal proliferation of pieces celebrating Marx’s birthday, for the better or for the worse. From misleading and derogatory articles such as the Rulers of the world: read Karl Marx! published by The Economist to educational short pieces such as Cooper’s It’s time to normalize Karl Marx, it is difficult to not wonder about the reasons behind such opposing views. Similarly, it is difficult to resist the temptation to add a little contribution to the debate. So here we are.…

Developing Economics
Marx’s Birthday and the Dismal Science: A Few Observations

Carolina Alves and Ingrid H. Kvangraven