The question is, whence and how does capital arise to become separate from labor? The answer of Marx is that it arises from a monetary economy that enables M - C - M', that is, using existing money to make money by purchasing capital goods and the necessary inputs including labor offered for rent by those free to do so, that is those who are neither slaves nor land-bound serfs that toil for subsistence from their own produce for the landowners' benefit as rent. That is to say, capitalism has certain preconditions that make it possible.
The human capital debate that is now taking place on the blogs is based on Gary Becker's view that capital and labor are actually not separate. The other side is based on refuting this view. At bottom the issue is over economic rents.
Econospeak
What In Hell Is Capital?
Sandwichman
I don't understand that kind of thinking at all. Money has nothing essential to do with the accumulation of privately owned productive factors.
ReplyDelete"labor offered for rent by those free to do so, that is those who are neither slaves "
ReplyDeleteThese are important distinctions within mankind you bring up here Tom, we have our slaves and we have our freemen...
You have to know who you are dealing with... imo a lot of our current problems stem from these two sides not being able to recognize the other...
so when slaves get control (Venezuela, Germany...) you see them screwing the policy all up thinking everybody else should be slaves, and then when freemen get control (USA, UK, AUS...) they screw it up thinking everybody else should be freemen...
Some people are slaves and some freemen... We should tailor policy to accommodate BOTH archetypes within mankind imo ...