Capital as power
by Jonathan Nitzan, Shimshon Bichler · first published 2009
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FROM THE BACK COVER: Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an 'economic' entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or 'abstract labour', respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most
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…played for leverage and advantage, rather than for strict financial gain. A lens which makes the MPAA/RIAA, copyright, patent, trade and immigration law, etc., far more understandable. Jonathen Nitzan's Capital as Power seems to have stumbled on this same insight: http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Power-Creorder-Political-Econo...
on “Lenovo CEO Gives His $3 Million Bonus to 10,000 Employees” ↗…sciences. I've also grown increasingly skeptical of significant portions of economics as well. Another author I've recently learned of, still need to start chewing into his work, is Jonathan Nitzan, whose Capital as Power is predicated on the notion that splitting Economics and Political Science apart was a mistake. I'd been leaning that way myself. Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture notes that much recent copyright wrangling…
on “UVA Computer Science professor resigns over incompetence of board” ↗…opportunities. There's a lot of money out there seeking return. * I'm shooting from the hip, based on my (potentially flawed) understanding of some reading I've done over the past few years on the body of Capital as Power (CasP) theory being built out by Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler among others. When they frame Capital as Power, one of the important implications is that it isn't an absolute quanta--it's a relative…
on “SoftBank Is Selling Wag Stake Back to Company” ↗