tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608702.post7746289487147996766..comments2023-10-25T08:46:20.242-05:00Comments on The Distributist Review: Chapter VI: Justice and the Political EconomyJohn Médaillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16463267750952578888noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608702.post-19347654209752557122008-07-06T08:49:00.000-05:002008-07-06T08:49:00.000-05:00Yet more brilliance! This chapter belongs on every...Yet more brilliance! This chapter belongs on every factory floor in America!Tom Laneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01811615310314303793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608702.post-57078238359484309682008-07-02T08:56:00.000-05:002008-07-02T08:56:00.000-05:00+AMDGI agree that this is a unique and compelling ...+AMDG<BR/><BR/>I agree that this is a unique and compelling argument that labor is not a commodity. In previous arguments I've always held to that in the papal encyclicals, that wages are what support a man and his family and thus labor can't be treated like apples or Big Macs. I'm pleased to have another arrow in my quiver on that point.Donald Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13039712724283289972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608702.post-67769875298087907582008-07-02T08:29:00.000-05:002008-07-02T08:29:00.000-05:00William, I hope that after reading this book, a lo...William, I hope that after reading this book, a lot of people will be able to enter the discussion in a way that confounds the Austrians, neoclassicals, Keynesians and Marxist socialists.<BR/><BR/>You are absolutely correct about the gap between use and exchange values. A price that exceeds the cost of production (which includes fair compensation to entrepreneurs and investors) is exactly what economic rent is, and is the exact measure of economic inefficiency. This is actually well-known in neoclassical economics; they just usually ignore it in practice.<BR/><BR/>Economic rent does have a short-term utility. When any particular commodity starts to collect a rent, then capital is attracted to that market, supply is increased, prices go down, and the rent disappears. Hence the rent is a signal that a particular market is underserved. But if rent persists, then either we are dealing with a fictitious commodity, or the market is dominated by power relationships rather than economic relationships.John Médaillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16463267750952578888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7608702.post-17557891852541113052008-07-02T06:44:00.000-05:002008-07-02T06:44:00.000-05:00This is a brilliant chapter. It actually presented...This is a brilliant chapter. It actually presented me with quite a shock; that of undermining the basis of neo-classical economics by showing why land, labour and capital are not 'commodities'. Unfortunately, I cannot enter into the discussion, as my knowledge of this is not very great.<BR/><BR/>The interesting thing is that one 'feels' that land, labour and capital (stored up labour) are not merely 'money exchanges', yet this is the basis of so much evil. <BR/><BR/>A question: does over-selling against the exchange value, filling in the gap between the use-value constitute 'economic rent', or usury? Is the failure to acknowledge distributive justice, say on capital constitute the same?William Peadenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08247080394032324152noreply@blogger.com