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1、HistoryofPoliticalEconomy20:201988byDukeUniversityPressCCC0018-2702/88/$1.50Marx,Malthus,andwagesAllinCottrellandWilliamA.DarityJr.IDidMarxholdthatundermaturecapitalismthewagesofthemassoftheworkingclassmustbesubjecttoaseculardownwardtendency?Ifso,didhehavea
2、coherentbasisforthisclaim?WhenMarxattackedtheMalthu-siandoctrinethatrestrictionofthegrowthofpopulationwouldtendtoreducethe“reservearmy’’oflaborandimprovethelevelofwages,washeonfirmgroundintermsofhisowntheoryofcapitalistdevelopment?Weintendtoexaminethissetof
3、issueswithparticularreferencetotherecentcontributionsofBaumol1983,Hollander1984and1986,andRa-mirez1986.BaumolarguedthatMarxemphaticallydidnotsubscribetotheviewthatwagelevelsmustfalltowards“meresubsistence”underma-turecapitalism.’Hollander(1984),ontheotherha
4、nd,claimedthatMarxdidholdsuchaview.Hollanderthenwentontoarguethatthisviewde-pended,inawaythatMarxrefusedtoadmit,onthe“demographicvari-able”:Marx’sstricturesontheMalthusianswerethereforemisplaced.AccordingtoHollander,Marxdidnothaveaconvincingcasethatthedownw
5、ardtrendofwageswasindependentofpopulationgrowth,althoughthisiswhatMarxwishedtomaintain.Ramirez’scontributionwasintendedtoprovideadditionalsupportforBaumol’sposition-thatMarxrejectedanydoctrineofanecessarysecularfallinrealwages-whilesimultaneouslyattackingHo
6、llander’scaseonthe“demographicvariable”andreassertingMarx’sstanceontheindepen-denceofthegrowthofthereservearmy.Finally,Hollander1986offersarestatementofhisearlierpositionswithadditionaltextualsupport.Ourdiscussionoftheseissuesisorganizedasfollows.SectionI1o
7、ffersCorrespondencemaybeaddressedtoProfessorCottrell,Dept.ofEconomics,ElonCol-lege,ElonCollegeNC27244,ortoProfessorDarity,Dept.ofEconomics,UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHillNC27514.1.By“maturecapitalism”wemeancapitalismwhichhasreachedthestagewheretech-niq
8、uesofproductionarerevolutionizedviatheuseofmachinery.InMarx’sterminology,thisinvolvesashifttowardstheproductionofsurplusvaluein‘relative’ratherthan‘abso-lute’form.Thecourseofwagesunderearlycapitalism,i
