In this post we’ll follow our aspiring capitalist, Mr. C, as he sets out to hire employees for his new machine shop. Our goal is to learn something of the true nature of the capitalist relations of production. According to modern economic theory Mr. C is going to have to pay his employees the going […]
Robot Economics Part 6: Extended Robot Reproduction
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Robot Economics Part 5: Extended Reproduction
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Robot Economics Part 4: Robot Reproduction
Imagine two companies in fierce competition with each other. Both manufacture the same commodity and this commodity is in high demand. The first company retains an entirely human workforce. The second uses automation as extensively as possible. They have robots to load and unload the machines, transport the parts, inspect, assemble, and pack and ship. They […]
Robot Economics Part 3: Simple Reproduction
Now that we are familiar with the basic formula of a capitalist enterprise, c+v+s=w, we can begin to explore how this relates to the economy as a whole. Marx’s reproduction schemes, models of the economy moving through an economic cycle, derive from Quesnay’s tableau économique, and are subjected to a rigorous mathematical analysis in Michio […]
Robot Economics Part 2: The Basic Equations
What follows is a crash course for those unfamiliar with Marx’s economic formulas. Those of you already familiar with this nomenclature may prefer to skip over to the page explaining simple reproduction schemes here. For any capitalist enterprise the following formula applies: The Constant Capital (c) + the Variable Capital (v) + the Surplus Value (s) = […]
Robot Economics Part 1: Tugan-Baranovsky
Can capitalism survive without workers? This was the question posed by Russian economist Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky (1865-1919), best known for his history of economic crises in England, and for his influence on the development of modern business-cycle theory. His efforts to prove that underconsumption could never lead to an economic crisis led him to some startling conclusions. Writing in […]