tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post7445570438278464788..comments2023-08-29T01:27:13.772-07:00Comments on Magpie's Asymmetric Warfare: Ben Franklin, Paper Money and LTV.Magpiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-19810937312125835372013-01-28T09:40:13.309-08:002013-01-28T09:40:13.309-08:00True. Marx actually quotes Franklin favorably in a...True. Marx actually quotes Franklin favorably in a footnote early on in volume 1 of Capital(he uses a phrase to the effect, "one of the most esteemed economists following Petty"). Strangely enough, though, I don't think he ever mentions him in Theories of Surplus Value. I'd be curious whether he comes up in either the Grundrisse or Contributions to the Critique of Political Economy (I haven't read either). Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14943136764424893492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-49618475280353264862013-01-27T23:46:59.197-08:002013-01-27T23:46:59.197-08:00There is no doubt about that. Marx himself quoted ...There is no doubt about that. Marx himself quoted Petty and the Physiocrats favorably.<br /><br />What I found interesting is that Franklins support for paper money is emphasized, but his support for labour as the measure of value slips in the background.Magpiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-32846720718096829622013-01-27T13:53:56.309-08:002013-01-27T13:53:56.309-08:00From reading that article, I'd say Franklin fa...From reading that article, I'd say Franklin falls squarely in the tradition of inflationist/mercantilist writers, such as William Potter, John Law, and so on. Another piece of proof that there was vital debate on all the major economic questions years before The Wealth of Nations.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14943136764424893492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-75222235435711623072013-01-26T18:47:43.750-08:002013-01-26T18:47:43.750-08:00Check this out:
http://ralphanomics.blogspot.com/...Check this out:<br /><br />http://ralphanomics.blogspot.com/2012/05/benjamin-franklins-arguments-for.htmlMagpiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634628224045926034.post-84050283387906670472013-01-26T18:06:38.260-08:002013-01-26T18:06:38.260-08:00"it's curious that two rather controversi..."it's curious that two rather controversial aspects of Franklin's public life are much less mentioned"<br /><br />Yeah, just like it's curious that Einstein's socialism is never mentioned, that the Republican party relied on rhetoric highlighting the LTV in their early campaigns, that the LTV was an integral part of early libertarian worldviews (e.g., Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker), that Paul Samuelson never defined "value" in his famous textbook, that arguments debunking free trade are simply unknown to most economists, and so on. It's not in the interests of anybody but radicals to point these things out, so it doesn't happen much.<br /><br />I once defaced a $100 bill by drawing a cartoon bubble over Franklin's head, and then writing in it: "Read Marx!" I think it's reasonable to assume that if Franklin had lived another forty years, he would have become a socialist. He became more and more radical in his worldview over his lifetime. Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14943136764424893492noreply@blogger.com