Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 19:28:59 -0500
From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood-AT-panix.com>
Subject: Re: M-TH: Fictitious capital and the fetishism of interest


Hugh Rodwell wrote:

>As I understand Marx, share capital etc is fictitious because it doesn't
>reflect the substantive value of capital assets, but rather a projected
>return on them. It's multiply fetishistic because it capitalizes guesses as
>to future results as if they were interest (the non-fixed kind), which is
>possibly the most fetishistic of the bourgeoisie's fundamental economic
>categories.

Speaking of the evolution of fictitious capital, when I was in California
over the summer I heard of one of the more extravagant examples of the
species that I've ever come across: options on shares that don't yet exist.
Small Silicon Valley companies who haven't been lucky enough to get off
their initial public offerings yet - which is saying a lot in this market -
have been keeping valued employees around with options on the potential
shares that may exist someday.

Doug





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