No. 2014/02: Fix, ‘Rethinking Profit: How Redistribution Drives Growth’
April 7, 2014
Abstract
Using a combination of heterodox economics and biophysical analysis, this paper investigates the relationship between economic distribution and the growth of material throughput. Empirical results show that the growth of “useful work” correlates with redistribution towards profit. Furthermore, increases in energy consumption are correlated with increases in the largest corporations’ share of total employment. These results are synthesized to form a new theory linking profit, social hierarchy, and growth.
Citation
Rethinking Profit: How Redistribution Drives Growth
Fix, Blair. (2014). Working Papers on Capital as Power. No. 2014/02.
Very interesting, Blair. Lee here. A lot of people are starting to figure out that hierarchy is an issue. Have you seen this article?: – Crsipin Sartwell, “The Left-Right Political Spectrum Is Bogus”… and he talks of the coincidence of hierarchies which is also interesting. The problem with capital as a value, though, is that it’s trumped by so-called ‘sacred values’ (don’t offer money-type response/rewards to a committed terrorist — he’s willing to die for his value and your money offer enrages him and recommits him to his values and to dying for them). Scott Atran figured that out — and even showed with colleagues that moral values/reasoning and cost-benefit values/reasoning have different neural centres in the brain. Once a majority understands that their moral values for survival trump the economic values for profit, the world will change. Its starting to happen. I’ve tried to summarize the big-picture argument for this in “Curating Sex, Briefly” which was just published in Kindle Select overnight. Keep up the good work!