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Starbucks Obstructing First Union Vote
(G*rd*n) wrote
> > I don't the the pure subjectivity of value is an item of the
> > True Faith, inasmuch as the major prophet Adam Smith did not
> > profess it -- it is his labor theory of value which, supposedly,
> > underlies Marx's. I suspect it is something novel introduced
> > to exorcise any influence of the Devil (that is, the aforesaid
> > Marx).
:
> Your suspicion is wrong and you seem ignorant of the relevant
> economic history. As far as I know Galliani was the first to introduce
> a theory of value based on utility and scarcity -- he did it in 1751,
> before Adam Smith even published his work.
>
> Condillac published his work in the 18th century (I don't know
> whether with or without knowledge of Adam Smith), and he is worth
> quoting on this:
>
> "Value is not an attribute of matter, but represents our sense of
> its usefulness and this utility is relative to our need. It grows or
> diminishes according as our need expands or contracts. But since the
> value of things is based upon need, it is natural that a more keenly
> felt need should endow things with a greater value, while a less
> urgent need endows them with less. Value increases with scarcity and
> diminishes with plenty."
>
> The main factor in the overthrow of the labor theory of value came
> with the so called "marginalist revolution" usually dated in 1871-1874
> and it is attributed to Stanley Jevons, Carl Menger and Leon Walras.
> But this "revolution" had precursors in von Thunen and Gossen, which
> wrote in the 1850's.
>
> This "revolution" is the result of faults and inconsistencies in the
> classical labor theory of value -- not in any reaction to Marx. Marx
> simply failed to keep up with economic theory, building castles of
> cards on shaky foundations.
"Utility" is ambiguous, however. It is not necessarily
purely subjective. To claim that it is seems like some sort
of phobic reaction to me, as I say above.
--
(<><>) /*/
}"{ G*rd*n }"{ }"{
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