File spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1997/marxism-thaxis.9712, message 78


Date: Tue, 02 Dec 1997 22:52:19 +0000
From: Chris Burford <cburford-AT-gn.apc.org>
Subject: Re: M-TH: Steedmanism



I thank Justin for his note of 2nd, which helps to clarify the serious
academic issues.

I would comment however there is no "Steedman-Sraffa" critique of Marxian
value theory. I think this terminology is loaded, as there is no critique
by Sraffa of *Marx* in existence at all.

That we are pressed for time, is always wise to recognise, but I would
expect that if Steedman is more than an esoteric name to conjure with, and
I accept that Justin has read the maths, it should be possible in a couple
of sentences from memory to sum up in lay terms the essence of the
critique. It should not be necessary for Justin to have to spend time
searching the archives. Otherwise this really is an appeal to the esoteric.

For example I do not understand Einstein's maths, but I would expect
someone referring to him positively in an argument to indicate in what way
his thinking was significant.

Justin says he does not necessarily think that Steedman had a better value
theory but that it raised questions about the explanatory power of Marx's
value theory.

Which questions? If these cannot be remembered, I would need to be
convinced this is not  academic name-dropping.

Thanks for the reference (and to Rob too). I shall look out for these.

While wishing to continue to press Justin about his allusions to Steedman,
I particularly welcome his last paragraph. I do think it is compatible with
a marxist epistemology to say we are looking at models. By definition I
would argue, no model has a precise fit with concrete reality. The test is
how good is the fit. 

It is not necessary for marxists to say that the Marxian description of
crises is complete or that all the maths in volume 3 of Capital is clear,
for us to say that the general nature of the model, with exchange value as
a key variable, is good, and superior to models that leave it out. 

The concession I would make in supporting this position is that we are
talking at a high level of abstraction and generality. I do not think Marx
claimed more. 

Marxian value theory is valuable as a description of a living, complex, and
contradictory dynamic. Eppur si muove.

But it is not compulsory to believe it.

Chris Burford

London.


________________________________________________________



>Chris asks me to briegly restate the Steedman-Sraffa critique of Marxian
>value theory. I have done this in various archived discussions and haven't
>time to do it here. Exams are upon us. But a nice statement may be found
>in Howard & King, The Political Economy of Marx, 2d ed. It's not very
>formal. Anyone with elementary algebra can follow it. Like Howard and Kind
>I am not a Steedmanite who necessarilt thinks Steedman has a better value
>theory. I just think that the critique raises serious questions about the
>explanatory power of Marx's value theory.
>
>Why the view is not more widely known I would not care to speculate. It is
>widely known among those with a scholarly interest in value theory. Among
>other Marxists, perhaps the math is off-putting. Probably they haven't
>read Morishima, Desai, or Roemer either, even though Roemer at least has
>taken some pains to popularize his views.
>
>As to the problems with the models, sure, all mofdekls have unrealistic
>assumptions. But if you look at the details of the models that solve the
>transformation problem, the assumptions you need to make to make it work
>raise grave doubts about whether anyting like taht could be happening in
>the real world, where, for example, there are not constrant returns on
>capital. It's quite different, for example, from the assumptions
>underlying general equilibrium models (perfect information, etc.), which,
>while unrealistic, do plausibly model real pressures that help explain the
>behavior of markets. And, morever, in those cases the departures from the
>model help us identify observable market failures. 
>
>--Justin 
>
>
>
>
>
>     --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
>
>



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