CHAPTFR ITT
43
86230
rt. i r of no Im por tance, here, whet.her t.he ahovft descrlbed perspftot.1 vft was rlght. or wrong. Tt. was widely shared among bot.h, enonoiifi expert.s and poHny makers. And sińce Rost. of t.he connt.rles, t.hen, accept.ed t.o have some Inf lation, thls Implies t.hat. pnlicy makers at.t.ached -t.hen- some pos1t.1ve valne to t.he rednct.lon of nnemp 1 oymen t.; ' t.hen' -not.lce- when t.he
nnempl oymen t. rat.e was much lower t.han now. Why should 1 t. have n o v a 1 n ea t. a 1 1 t.oday?
t h e _ o 1 a s s 1 o a 1_ _ s c h e m e
The point. is, 1n o nr opinlon, t.hat. we are present. ly st.rongly biased, froii a cni t. u rai point, of v1ew, by an linsound system of valnes whlch p1vot.s aronnd a dist.ort.ed way of looklng at. market. effldenoy and t.he compet. 1t. 1ve nggress1veness we have dealt. wlt.h in t.he oonrse of t.hls c h a p t. e r .
The onrrent. s1t.uat.1on, from t.he perspect. 1ve of t.he labo u r-force strnct.ure and coiipORlt. łon; can be bet ter 1nt.erpret.ed 1f weadopt. - t.hongh In a crl tleni way - some analyt.loal suggest. lons orlglnally developed by classlcal economlsts. We refer, In partie u lar, t.o t.he concept. s of prodnet. 1ve and unprodnct.1ve labo nr.
het us st.art. by expound1ng, very brlefly, what. Classical economlsts (Smith, Ricardo, but. ais o Marx) 1 nt. ended by 'prodnet. 1ve lahonr*. Tn hrlef, labo nr 1s prodnet. 1ve 1f 1t. 1 s employed by capi ta 1 and, In t.he process of belng employed, g1ves r1se t.o a profit., I.e. a monet.ary snrplns, a valne exceed1ng t.hat. whlch has been advanced hy t.he capit.allst. ent.reprenenrs to h1re lahonr It.aelf and t.o hny raw mat.erlals, machin es, etc. On t.he cont.rary, all la bo nr t.hat. does not. prodnee a profit, for 1t.s employers has t.o he regarded as ' n n pro dn c 1.1 ve ' (namely, unpr odne 1.1 ve of a profit.).
Tn t.hese dnf Inltlons, t.he qnal 1 t.at.1ve at.tr1hnt.es of t.he prodneed goods (and/or serv1ces) do not. play any role. Workers produclng t.he same goods can be prodnet. 1ve or nnprodnct. 1 ve. Tf t.hey work nnder capit.allst. rnles t.hey are prodnet. Ive .
Prom t.hls point, of v1ew, for classlcal economlsts, all workers whlch are employed hy t.he State are nnprodnct. i ve . Al t.hongh t.hey prodnee nsefnl and 1nd1spensable goods and serv1ces, t.hey do not. prodnee a profit, sińce t.he st.at.e 1s not. concerned wit.h obt.ainlng a profit, but. only wit.h ensnrlng an orderly fnnet. loning soclal system and wit.h prov1d1ng t.hose 1 nf ras t.ruc t.nr es whlch allow t.he sodet.y as a whole t.o reprodnee and grow. Unprodnet. 1 ve lahonr 1s nsefnl ( 11. prodnees naa-va1nes) hut. 1s not employed 1n v1ew of oht.alnlng a profit..
Classlcal economlsts, however, realized that. ' some qnal1f1cat. 1ons were reqn1 red. They 1 nt.rodnced , t.hongh not. expl1dt. ly, a t.hlrd klnd of lahonr whlch we may cali 1 1nd1rect.ly prodnet. 1ve' lahonr. Tndlrect.ly prodnct.1 ve workers