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Oct 17, 2022Liked by John Quiggin

I'm glad someone else is as irritated by the misuse of "algorithm" as I am.

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A few thoughts:

1. I think Paul Mason of all people wrote something on the paradoxes of capitalism when production has zero marginal cost.

2. A lot of your thinking here seems like it echoes, but within a very different methodological set of assumptions, the work of the autonomist Marxists- relevant ideas include the social factory, the concept of the general intellect etc.

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Also worth noting how much is done, but not compensated. How much art, writing- and most importantly perhaps, free software and other forms of innovation, is produced, used by everyone from mum & pop to big corps, and simply never paid for.

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The role of Capital resources in the maintenance of capitalism is fundamental to its dominance. The invention of human capital does not hide the central role that fixed capital plays in the success of capitalism. Without fixed capital investment, there can be no real growth in a capitalist economy. Information technology may be the star performer for top capitalist countries but it is not the “bread and butter” performer. Efficiency demands low cost production. If this is not present then capitalist economies become infected with inflation and falling real

incomes.

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