Unproductive Labour in Political Economy

Unproductive Labour in Political Economy

Author: Cosimo Perrotta

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-06-13

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1317218310

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Contemporary mainstream economists see social wealth as the sum of individual incomes, but for three centuries many economists saw wealth as consisting of the public and private resources of a nation. This led them to explore the idea of unproductive labour, which provides a nation with an individual income, but does not contribute to an increase in social wealth or help to foster development. This book analyses the evolution of ideas surrounding unproductive labour, offering an unprecedented history that guides readers from the work of Petty through to the present economic crisis. This volume explores the work of several key scholars, including Smith, Petty, Marx, Ricardo, Mill, Say and Schumpeter. This book is suitable for scholars and researchers with an interest in the history of economic thought, labour economics and economic philosophy. Winner of the 2019 Ernest Lluch Prize from the Spanish Association of Economic History


The Value of Marx

The Value of Marx

Author: Alfredo Saad Filho

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2001-11-29

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1134566972

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This book constitutes an overview of recent developments in political economy in general, and Marxist value theory in particular. The implications of value theory for bank credit, inflation and deflation are fully explored.


Measuring the Wealth of Nations

Measuring the Wealth of Nations

Author: Anwar M. Shaikh

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1996-11-28

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9780521564793

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This book provides an alternate foundation for the measurement of the production of nations, and applies it to the U.S. economy for the postwar period. The patterns that result are significantly different from those derived within conventional systems of national accounts. Conventional national accounts seriously distort basic economic aggregates, because they classify military, bureaucratic and financial activities as the creation of new wealth, when in fact they should be classified as forms of social consumption that, like personal consumption, actually use up social wealth in the performance of their functions.


Productive Labour and Effective Demand

Productive Labour and Effective Demand

Author: Sydney H. Coontz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-05

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1136507809

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The connection between productive labour and effective demand has often been ignored and disputed in political economy, even by giants like Ricardo and Marx. This book traces the historical development of theories, concentrating in particularly on those of Malthus, Marx and Keynes. Particular attention is also paid to the Great Depression in the UK and USA. * The Pre-Classical Approach * The Classical Economists * Socialists and Dissidents * Anti-Classical Theories in the Twentieth Century


Essays on Marx's Theory of Value

Essays on Marx's Theory of Value

Author: Isaak Ilʹich Rubin

Publisher:

Published: 1973

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780919618114

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Political economy, defined in the study of social relations and culture. Originally published in the former Soviet Union, was suppressed and after 1928 it was never re-issued. This is the first English-language edition. Includes an outstanding introductory essay on "Commodity Fetishism" by Freddy Perlman.


Capital as Power

Capital as Power

Author: Jonathan Nitzan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-06-02

Total Pages: 853

ISBN-13: 1134022298

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Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an ‘economic’ entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or ‘abstract labour’, respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most – the accumulation of capital. This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society. Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of ‘capital as power’ and a new history of the ‘capitalist mode of power’.


Grundrisse

Grundrisse

Author: Karl Marx

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-11-24

Total Pages: 1086

ISBN-13: 0141194030

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Written during the winter of 1857-8, the Grundrisse was considered by Marx to be the first scientific elaboration of communist theory. A collection of seven notebooks on capital and money, it both develops the arguments outlined in the Communist Manifesto (1848) and explores the themes and theses that were to dominate his great later work Capital. Here, for the first time, Marx set out his own version of Hegel's dialectics and developed his mature views on labour, surplus value and profit, offering many fresh insights into alienation, automation and the dangers of capitalist society. Yet while the theories in Grundrisse make it a vital precursor to Capital, it also provides invaluable descriptions of Marx's wider-ranging philosophy, making it a unique insight into his beliefs and hopes for the foundation of a communist state.


Work

Work

Author: Bruce Pietrykowski

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 150953086X

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Much of our life involves working, preparing for work, searching for work, or thinking and worrying about work. Whether paid or unpaid, free or coerced, full-time, part-time, or zero-hours, work defines us and helps shape our behavior both on and off the job. In this accessible book, leading labor economist Bruce Pietrykowski offers a highly engaging exploration of the history and contemporary organization of work under capitalism. His clear presentation of the theoretical debates is illustrated by real-world examples from across the globe and a skillful account of alternatives that point toward a post-capitalist future. Employing a progressive, worker-centered vision that goes beyond mainstream economics, he examines themes ranging from inequality, care work, and the gig economy to technological change and a universal basic income. His analysis emphasizes power, conflict, solidarity, and cooperation, interpreted through the lenses of class, race, gender, and place. This comprehensive and highly readable book will be of interest to students of economics, sociology, labor studies, and politics seeking to learn more about work and workers in the global economy, as well as interested general readers.