Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. To conclude our Marx treatment, we continue from part one, finally getting into his "Fragment on Machines" (1858). Shouldn't automating work free the workers? No! According to Marx, the (then-current) process of automation actually just makes labor conditions worse and certainly doesn't give Continue Reading …
Ep. 361: Marx on Machines (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Yet more time spent on Karl Marx finishes up our treatment of Capital, Ch. 1, and throws in the mix "Fragment on Machines" (1858), which we'll discuss explicitly in part two of this. You should probably listen to our Marx series first, starting with ep. 359. In Capital, we finally get to Continue Reading …
Ep. 361: Marx on Machines (Part Two for Supporters)
To conclude our Marx treatment, we continue from part one, finally getting into his "Fragment on Machines" (1858). Shouldn't automating work free the workers? No! According to Marx, the (then-current) process of automation actually just makes labor conditions worse and certainly doesn't give people more free time, as the capitalist inevitably takes all the gains from greater Continue Reading …
Ep. 361: Marx on Machines (Part One for Supporters)
Yet more time spent on Karl Marx finishes up our treatment of Capital, Ch. 1, and throws in the mix "Fragment on Machines" (1858), which we'll discuss explicitly in part two of this. You should probably listen to our Marx series first, starting with ep. 359. In Capital, we finally get to the little bit that Marx says about actual communism, where there are no commodities Continue Reading …
Ep. 360: Karl Marx on Economic Value (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Capital, Ch. 1 on commodities. We go into detail on his account of how money gets derived from the continued comparison of various commodities, how use value comes back into play when we compare the economic value of one commodity as compared to another, and Continue Reading …
Ep. 360: Karl Marx on Economic Value (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Capital (1867), Ch. 1, "The Commodity." This continues our discussion in our last episode introducing Marx's economic project. So how does one begin to explain a holistic system? Marx chooses to start with wealth, i.e. the thing Adam Smith was trying to explain in The Wealth of Nations, and Continue Reading …
Ep. 360: Karl Marx on Economic Value (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on Capital, Ch. 1 on commodities. We go into detail on his account of how money gets derived from the continued comparison of various commodities, how use value comes back into play when we compare the economic value of one commodity as compared to another, and finally, the details of commodity fetishism. Next time: We're adding a reading we actually Continue Reading …
Ep. 360: Karl Marx on Economic Value (Part One for Supporters)
On Capital (1867), Ch. 1, "The Commodity." This continues our discussion in our last episode introducing Marx's economic project. So how does one begin to explain a holistic system? Marx chooses to start with wealth, i.e. the thing Adam Smith was trying to explain in The Wealth of Nations, and wealth, for Marx, is represented in the commodity: stuff that we buy and sell. So Continue Reading …
Ep. 359: Karl Marx’s Project (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. We continue from part one on the introduction to the Grundrisse (1857), which is essentially a set of notes written in the composition of his major work, Capital, which we'll deal with explicitly in ep. 360. Sponsor: Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/pel. What exactly is Continue Reading …
Ep. 359: Karl Marx’s Project (Part Two for Supporters)
We continue from part one on the introduction to the Grundrisse (1857), which is essentially a set of notes written in the composition of his major work, Capital, which we'll deal with explicitly in ep. 360. What exactly is universal and natural about our economic patterns, and what is a matter of historical epoch? Marx claims we can't just see the distribution of goods and Continue Reading …
Ep. 359: Karl Marx’s Project (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On the introduction to Marx's Grundrisse, aka Foundations of a Critique of Political Economy (1857) with an appetizer of "Theses on Feuerbach" (1845). This is the first of three discussions we'll be having on Marx's "mature" work, and we were also assigned the first chapter (and introduction Continue Reading …
Ep. 359: Karl Marx’s Project (Part One for Supporters)
On the introduction to Marx's Grundrisse, aka Foundations of a Critique of Political Economy (1857) with an appetizer of "Theses on Feuerbach" (1845). This is the first of three discussions we'll be having on Marx's "mature" work, and we were also assigned the first chapter (and introduction and 2nd edition afterward) of his Capital (1867), though we're not going to get around Continue Reading …
Ep. 199: Guest Elizabeth Anderson on Private Government (Citizen Edition)
The U. of Michigan prof joins us to discuss Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It) (2017) and “What Is the Point of Equality?” (1999). This is really an episode and a half: a full discussion with Liz, then additional talk about the texts (mostly the 1999 article) among your four hosts Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan. What is government? Continue Reading …
Bitcoin and Value: A Labor Theory Perspective
The central thesis of François Quesnay’s 1758 Tableau Économique—generally held to be one of the first texts of classical political economy—is that agriculture is the primary source of wealth. This central insight was the foundational claim that gave rise to what is perhaps the first modern economic theory: physiocracy. The term, derived from the Greek terms physis and kratos, Continue Reading …
Episode 177: Guest Russ Roberts on Adam Smith and Libertarian Economics (Part Two)
Continuing with the Econtalk host on the moral aspects of economics, focused by Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Theory of Moral Sentiments. Should we sacrifice ourselves to the machine of the economy? Smith wasn't just all about monetary gain: how does his idea of virtue and talk of the "impartial spectator" line up with economic growth? If growth is the key to Continue Reading …
Episode 177: Guest Russ Roberts on Adam Smith and Libertarian Economics (Part One)
The host of Econtalk provides his take on our ep. 174 on The Wealth of Nations, and explores with us the idea of emergent economic order. As preparation, we all listened to a June 2017 episode of Econtalk that featured Russ, Mike Munger, and Don Boudreaux, so you should too! For a graphic introduction to this idea, see wonderfulloaf.org. Is the economy profitably thought of Continue Reading …
Ep. 177: Guest Russ Roberts on Adam Smith and Libertarian Economics (Citizen Edition)
The host of Econtalk provides his take on our ep. 174 on The Wealth of Nations, and explores with us the idea of emergent economic order. As preparation, we all listened to a June 2017 episode of Econtalk that featured Russ, Mike Munger, and Don Boudreaux, so you should too! For a graphic introduction to this idea, see wonderfulloaf.org. Is the economy profitably thought of Continue Reading …
Episode 174: Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” (Part Two)
Continuing on the foundational text of economics. Is Smith's position the equivalent of "greed is good?" (No.) What's the deal with the "invisible hand?" We talk about Smith's picture of the (sort of) self-regulating economy, and why he thinks we shouldn't have tariffs or guilds or other restrictions on the mobility of goods, workers, or capital. We rant a bit in ways that Continue Reading …
Episode 174: Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” (Part One)
On Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. We discuss the foundational text of modern economics, first published in 1776. How does the division of labor and our instinct to exchange lead to the growth of wealth? Is the economy sufficiently machine-like to enable us to manipulate its output, or at least to tell us how not to screw it Continue Reading …
Ep. 174: Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” (Citizen Edition)
On Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. We discuss the foundational text of modern economics, first published in 1776. How does the division of labor and our instinct to exchange lead to the growth of wealth? Is the economy sufficiently machine-like to enable us to manipulate its output, or at least to tell us how not to screw it Continue Reading …