Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Measurements, philosophy: A) the problem of measuring is discussed in the context of interpretations of quantum mechanics. B) the comparison of D. Davidson's attribution of linguistic meanings to measurement is taken up in other theories._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Piero Sraffa on Measurements - Dictionary of Arguments
Harcourt I 175 Measurements/Sraffa/Harcourt: Sraffa (…) has suggested that the rate of profits may be related to the money rate of interest, or, sometimes, following Ricardo, he introduces the real wage which, however, reflects labour's share in the national income rather than the command of the money wage over subsistence goods. Thus, Sraffa [1960](1), pp. 8-11, takes the total annual labour of society as unity. The real-wage rate is then labour's share in the national income, which is, itself, the surplus of commodities over the means of production and the numeraire of the system. Method: Sraffa's procedure differs from the approach of both Adam Smith and the neoclassicals: see, for example, Hicks [1965](2), whereby the real wage is measured in terms of & numeraire of, say, corn, i.e. a subsistence standard. Income distribution: Sraffa's view reflects the proposition that the distribution of income is a matter of social conflict rather than a technical matter in which, in effect, 'the necessary subsistence of the workers' is not differentiated from 'the fuel for the engines or the feed for the cattle'. (p. 9)(1). Given either of the rate of profits or the wage rate and the technological conditions of production, the other factor price and relative prices may be determined. Harcourt I 178 Time/Sraffa: Sraffa's analysis starts at a level of abstraction which excludes the continuous change characteristic of actual economic systems. Or, we may regard the analysis as concerned with any actual economic system during one 'year', a 'year' being defined as the time taken to produce commodities and distribute them. The economic relationships examined, therefore, occur within, and are only true of, the period of time contained within Sraffa's 'year'. (Nevertheless, the author is not prevented from examining, for this period, many questions which are analysed within the context of the theory of economic growth - for example, the distribution of income, the value of capital and the choice of techniques.) Thus Sraffa does not find it necessary to assume constant returns, and the apparent 'changes' examined in the text (the varying proportions of basic equations, the sub-system analysis) are merely different ways of viewing the given, non-changing, basic data. Harcourt I 179 Marginal product/Sraffa: The author's point of view has the important consequence that by ruling out variations in scale and in 'factors', marginal product is ruled out as well - 'it just would not be there to be found' (preface, p. v). Harcourt: This is true. However, it should be noted that prices in the marginal theory of value are related to notional instantaneous rates of change which can be thought of as occurring at the margins of the levels of production of the actual economic systems examined here. In other words, there need not be an actual marginal product in order to have a determinate system of prices which is based on marginalist notions. >Marginal product/Sraffa. 1. Sraffa, Piero [1960] Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). 2. Hicks, J. R. [1965] Capital and Growth (Oxford: Clarendon Press)._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Sraffa I Piero Sraffa Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Cambridge 1960 Harcourt I Geoffrey C. Harcourt Some Cambridge controversies in the theory of capital Cambridge 1972 |
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