Robert Paul Wolff comments on something I have often said about the economic history: Economics begins with the transition from tribal subsistence to surplus societies, and both political and economic history is chiefly about the surplus. According to Wolff:
"A good deal of Theology, Philosophy, History, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, and of course Economics is devoted to answering ... three questions.
The three questions are:
Naked Keynesianism
- Who Gets the Surplus?
- How do the Surplus Getters get the Surplus? and
- What do the Surplus Getters do With the Surplus After They Get It?"
And Now for Something Completely Different (very short)
Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, University of Utah
I find it hard to distill things down any simpler than this... rsp,
ReplyDeleteWho gets the surplus? ans: Money hoarders via the resulting deflation.
ReplyDeleteThe monetary sovereign should NEVER run a surplus deliberately and should rectify an accidental one quickly.
But yea, good questions!