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1231 Is value transhistorical? -- rank: 1000

Further to my post of 08:15 AM 7/8/98 +0100, <snip> >I am going to take the first >substantive paragraph of a letter from Andrew to me summarising his position. > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >(1) I had commented that, near the end of the section on the >fetishism of the commodity, in _Capital I_, Ch. 1, Marx indicates >that value belongs to a social formation in which the process of >production has mastery over man, instead ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Thu Jul 9 15:53:08 PDT 1998

1232 Is value transhistorical? -- rank: 1000

Earlier on this list Andrew Kliman and I had an exchange about his thesis that Marx has an overarching theory of value, of which exchange value is a manifestation. (This is quite separate from use-value). Andrew confirmed this, but argued contrary to my assumptions, that this overarching concept of value was specific only to capitalism (or to commodity exchange - we can sharpen up on that). He gave references, which I checked out and I would still hold to my view. Rakesh has also expressed an in ...

Document Size:	11459
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Jul 8 00:15:48 PDT 1998

1233 Japanese banking reconstruction -- rank: 1000

I want to catch the moment, and ask for more informed comments, when Japan appears to have addressed the need a) to accept the destruction of large parts of its old capital and b) to use public finance to re-establish confidence in its banking system to allow trade to proceed. The announcement, coincidentally on the first anniversary of the Asian financial crisis (the devaluation of the Thai bhat - sp?) is of a bridging bank. I submit the announcement can be analysed in marxist terms. The BBC re ...

Document Size:	7280
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Jul 1 23:29:45 PDT 1998

1234 Hastert and Tobacco -- rank: 1000

At 17:53 30/12/98 -0500, Greg Nowell wrote: > www.ash.org is the source of the below Useful site. Good for other links as well. I had only found UK ASH so far. > >New House Speaker Supports Tobacco [12/24-4] > >>From Bill Godshall, > >I found a truly revealing videotape of the >presumed-to-be next Speaker of the US House of >Representatives Dennis Hastert (R-IL) berating then FDA >Commissioner David Kessler, and >repeatedly accusing Kessler of contempt of Con ...

Document Size:	5705
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Dec 30 23:45:54 PST 1998

1235 "Middle Class" now votes Labour -- rank: 1000

I am glad to be challenged by a correspondent as thoughtful as Jim Farmelant. BTW one technical problem: I see as he quotes my stuff there is no wrap around. Is this something I can correct or he can? At 01:43 PM 12/27/98 -0500, Jim wrote: > >On Sun, 27 Dec 1998 17:35:55 +0000 Chris Burford <cburford at gn.apc.org> >writes: <> >>My prejudices are that in marxist terms it is better that a left wing >>bourgeois party tries to unite the great majority of the working ...

Document Size:	22422
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon Dec 28 00:35:31 PST 1998

1236 tobacco -- rank: 1000

At 03:49 PM 12/23/98 Carrol Cox wrote: >This debate over the role of tobacco in u.s. politics would be (perhaps >is mostly) harmless fun, with not much riding on it, I think the piece entitled Crazy Tobacco about the activities of the BAT subsidiary in Brazil effectively deals with this condescending complacency. In fact I had to do a double take several times because I thought it was a spoof. But it isn't. I suppose it was obvious that tobacco would sooner rather than later be genetically ...

Document Size:	12384
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Dec 27 15:33:23 PST 1998

1237 Hutton on Labour splits -- rank: 1000

Will Hutton, one of the most influential left economic journalists, (apart from Doug of course) former Economics editor of the Guardian, and now editor of its Sunday sister, the Observer, published this extremely relevant article today about the future direction of the Labour government. His modesty and his fostering of the collective spirit among journalists in the Guardian/Observer group means it is not listed as the main editorial, but it is that in practice. Hutton has been very influential ...

Document Size:	13591
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Dec 27 11:58:40 PST 1998

1238 "Middle Class" now votes Labour -- rank: 1000

Below is an important survey of voting patterns among strata in Britain. Although the term "middle class" is highly unscientific it reflects a subjective division within layers of the working population. The question now arises whether the Labour party can retain its lead among the privileged more bourgeoisified workers. Whether it needs to make further New Labour type changes. Whether it requires further constitutional reform to enable a coalition of social-democrats and current suppo ...

Document Size:	10108
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun Dec 27 09:35:55 PST 1998

1239 Hong Kong social land management -- rank: 1000

At 09:42 PM 12/24/98 -0500, Michael Hoover wrote wrote: >discovered below in stored file: >> >> By having essentially no landed capital in Hong Kong, what the government >> gets is not a tax, it is actually the ground rent. Under either system it >> could be said that such charges raise property prices and production costs. >> I do not wish to prettify this, but to make a fundamental point about the >> tactical and strategic possibilities of left-wingers is ...

Document Size:	12619
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat Dec 26 15:34:10 PST 1998

1240 Hong Kong on 25th December -- rank: 1000

I will comment on Michael and Henry's more substantial questions tomorrow. But briefly the following seems relevant. To remind us that not all the world is today celebrating the 1992nd birthday of baby Jesus, the Christmas Day edition of Asiaweek is helping us to keep in touch with those healthy capitalist emotions, envy and schadenfreude, in a web page devoted to "If Only I Bought" Extracts: >Had you bought Hong Kong's Hang Seng index Aug. 13, when it closed at 6,660 points, you wo ...

Document Size:	5670
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Dec 25 01:00:56 PST 1998

1241 "Blair isolated" -- rank: 1000

Today's editorial by The Guardian Thursday December 24, 1998 A sudden departure Blair is left isolated Leader In the end he went, and he went quickly and with some dignity. In place of the previous day's blustering denials there was a quiet acceptance that he had behaved foolishly and should pay the ultimate price. Thus departed the architect of New Labour. But not just the architect: the builder, the thinker, the schemer, the weaver and the spinner. It is difficult to overstate the contribution ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Thu Dec 24 11:01:52 PST 1998

1242 Notting Hill Gate -- rank: 1000

Christmas came early for the Conservative Party: the fall of Tony Blair's right hand man, Mandelson. It is too early to work out whether he really will be able to return later, and whether his and Blair's New Labour approach to politics will capsize. If it does, I suspect it will be because of personal animosities between Brown, Blair and Mandelson, rather than because it is not the most efficient, scientific, populist way to manage capitalism. But lest anyone think I am ducking, for speed and ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Thu Dec 24 11:07:16 PST 1998

1243 tobacco and soft money -- rank: 1000

Greg wrote: >I also think the official contribution numbers are >probably the tip of the iceberg. The influence of capital on the apparently free bourgeois political system is a major class question about political power. Tobacco illustrates it. Because it maintains the status quo it is often largely invisible. No one need feel impelled to agree with the strenght of this argument if they do not wish to. BTW there is no reason to assume the tobacco capitalists are any more greedy than oth ...

Document Size:	7543
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Dec 23 15:46:56 PST 1998

1244 tobacco -- rank: 1000

At 10:52 AM 12/22/98 -0500, you wrote: >Chris Burford wrote: > >>This is similar to the ingenious argument from the industry about >>advertising. Advertising is not designed to attract more smokers, it is >>just a complex way of competing for market share that is already fixed. >>(Hence the even more ingenious counter-argument in the UK that the tobacco >>companies have to advertise cigarettes to make up for the tens of thousands >>of smokers who die eve ...

Document Size:	7506
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Tue Dec 22 23:42:52 PST 1998

1245 tobacco and Pinochet -- rank: 1000

From: http://www.gn.apc.org/www.labournet.org/1998/dec/chile3.html >RE: Pinochet and 1973. > >Currently British American Tobacco >(BAT) has a practical monopoly of >cigarette manufacture in Chile. In >1973 in their plant >in Valparaiso two weeks >after the coup, the >plant was surrounded by >the army and an >entire shift was taken off to a >concentration camp. > >Many of these >workers are still alive, but >never received >restitution from BAT. ...

Document Size:	6512
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon Dec 21 23:16:52 PST 1998