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Reply to Commentaries on ‘The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory’

Author

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  • David Ellerman

    (University of California at Riverside, USA, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Abstract

Jamie Morgan's commentary (Morgan, 2016) on my paper 'The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory' (Ellerman, 2016) and Ted Burczak's later comments (Burczak, 2016) raise a number of issues that surely will occur to other readers and that need to be addressed. I take the occasion to expand upon the arguments and to explore some related issues. In the narrative that unfolds, Frank H. Knight plays the role of the sophisticated defender of the system of renting, hiring and employing human beings. He was quite clear that the social role of economics is to develop an idealised model, the competitive free enterprise model, and then to frame the normative discussion in terms of that model. Knight would agree with the whole thread of heterodox 'criticism' that the actual economy falls far short of the ideal – which is why I largely eschewed the descriptive shortcomings of ideal model as a purported model of the actual economy. Instead my paper focused on developing a critique of the key part of the idealised model, the marginal productivity theory of distribution under competitive conditions. That critique is based on the usual juridical principle of imputing legal responsibility in accordance with factual responsibility – the principle whose property-theoretic application is the modern treatment of the labour theory of property. Historically, heterodox economics faced a fork in the road in the 19th century: whether to criticise 'the system' by developing the inchoate 'labour theory' as a theory of value or a theory of property. Marx and much of left-wing economics took the labour-theory-of-value road, whereas my paper is part of a modern attempt – Thomas Hodgskin (1832) being an earlier attempt – to take the labour-theory-of-property road. As we will see, much of the debate still revolves around these two roads. Read David Ellerman's original paper "The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory" › Read Jamie Morgan's commentary on David Ellerman's paper ›

Suggested Citation

  • David Ellerman, 2016. "Reply to Commentaries on ‘The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory’," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 44-61, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:5:y:2016:i:2:p:44
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    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/files/WEA-ET-5-2-Ellerman.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harcourt,G. C., 1972. "Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521096720, September.
    2. Bruno Jossa & Gaetano Cuomo, 1997. "The Economic Theory of Socialism and the Labour-managed Firm," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1091.
    3. Jeremy Adelman, 2013. "Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9935.
    4. David Ellerman, 2016. "The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Friedman, Milton, 2002. "Capitalism and Freedom," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226264202.
    6. Ellerman, David, 2010. "Marxism as a capitalist tool," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 696-700, December.
    7. David Ellerman, 2015. "On the Renting of Persons: The Neo-Abolitionist Case Against Today's Peculiar Institution," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Jamie Morgan, 2016. "Power, Property, the Law, and the Corporation – a Commentary on David Ellerman's paper: 'The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory'," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-37, March.
    9. Friedman, Milton, 2002. "Capitalism and Freedom," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226264219, Febrero.
    10. Bruno Jossa, 2012. "Cooperative Firms as a New Mode of Production," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 399-416, July.
    11. David Ellerman, 2014. "On Property Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 601-624.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Ellerman, 2017. "Comment on 'About Waged Labour: From Monetary Subordination to Exploitation'," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 6(2), pages 37-44, September.

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