- 著者
-
佐藤 良一
- 出版者
- 経済理論学会
- 雑誌
- 季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.50, no.3, pp.20-30, 2013-10-20 (Released:2017-04-25)
The difference of the idea in economics stems from the approach to the question: how to answer the mechanism of a market. The financial crisis in 2008 could be interpreted as the end of 'Market fundamentalism', however, the situations has been almost the same before the crisis. The 'market' is still the subject when businessmen talk about the economic problems. We have to tackle with the fundamental question: what is the core for ordinary people who sell labor-power for their subsistence. This paper consists as follows. In section I the argument of 'How market crowd out morals' by Sandel, the critics by Bowels and Gintis, and the reply to them are introduced. Needless to say, the fundamental unit, which organizes a society, should be a human being. The hypothesis on its behavior is indispensable for an economic theory. Neoclassical theory adopts the assumption of so-called homo-economicus. An alternative to this is 'Reciprocans', which is presented by US radicals. The distinction between these two is examined in the section II. When we try to present an alternative to the status quo from the viewpoint of 'a harmonious society', the development of the situation must be confirmed correctly. The recent change of the wage share in the US shows the severe conditions for working people. Assuming the capitalist way of management, the fundamental relations between capital and labor cannot be harmonious but conflict. As a Keynes model teaches us, the real wage rate must be reduced when the capitalist increase the employment. Profit maximization can be satisfied when the real wage rate is equal to the marginal product of labor. According to this condition, the inverse relation between an employment and real wage holds. Regrettably new prospects for an alternative won't be opened unless we could succeed in making some drastic change. If we pursue the harmony among people, the point is the feasibility of an alternative and the potential path to a 'new society'. For the present, we have to take a realist view of 'capitalist' economy. This means that we have to change the capitalist way of management step by step(section III).