Date: Tue, 19 Mar 96 00:21:15 EST
From: ikita-AT-st.rim.or.jp (Iwao Kitamura)
To: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu
Subject: Re: Tax


On Mon, 18 Mar 1996 14:05:14 GMT Will Brown wrote:

>Am I right in thinking that tax (even income tax) has to be 
>considered as surplus value since it is collected and 
>disposed of by the state which is an expression of the political
>will of the collective ruling class? And that even progressive
>state spending (such as childrens hospitals)
> must therefor be considered as the suplus value
>disposed of by the ruling class for its own ends? Im also
>hazy when it comes to the actions of the state when it borrows
>on the capital markets. What is going on here - is it about the
>relationship between different sections of the ruling class
>or about their domination over us?

Hi Will.

I believe there's no marxian economist who thinks tax in not
a form of distribution of surplus value. Marx would have treated 
this matter in his planned book 'State' if he could have lived
longer enough. In my understanding, in Capital, Marx concentrated
his arguments on capital general. Other specific theories were to
be developed in other books planned.

Borrowing from capital market by state is an expression of
excess of monetary capital. My hypothesis is that sum of outstandings
of world public debt plus world consumer debt (incl. housing)
equals to sum of existing excess of monetary capital in the world.

regards,

Iwao
------------------------------------
Iwao Kitamura
a member of theoretical study group
Japan Socialist Association
E-mail : ikita-AT-st.rim.or.jp
personal web: http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~ikita/


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