Hi comrades,

I think that some people might find interesting to discuss if capitalism
can manage efficiently an information economy, and consequently if the
increasing importance of information will affect negatively the
progressive character of capitalism. Any opinion, argument or suggestion
for further reading is welcome.

The main difficulty for a capitalist management of information is its
character as an unlimited resource, that is, the fact that everybody can
obtain it and use it, virtually at no cost. As a result capitalism puts
its own restrictions to the distribution and the use of information,
usually restrictions of technical and legal character. Let me give some
examples.
A scientific database used only by those who paid the subscription fee,
while it could be used by everybody at no additional cost. A free access
could even lower the cost as the administration becomes simpler.
A digital TV broadcast for the 100% of the population would cost less
than now, because it just drops the coding-decoding process.
The patents of drugs deprive of cure many people who could have it with
minimal additional cost.

Let me also add some remarks.
The main 'argument' from the point of view of a capitalist is that the
cost of research and development must somehow be paid back together with
a profit for the investment. This argument shifts the focus from the
management of information, which is an unlimited resource, to the
management of the labour power that produces information, which is a
limited resource. The point is that capitalism can claim, especially at
at non-crisis periods, a relatively efficient management of naturally
limited resources, although still we can, and we must, criticise this
management as unjust and with no respect for the nature and the human
nature.
Another remark is that we can also see the above from the opposite end.
For example, how the failures or the shortcomings of the mechanisms for
the control of the distribution of information affect the profits, e.g.
patent infringement, distribution of music by the Internet, freeware,
etc.
Also, I think that in the less developed countries the constraint of the
forces of production because of the inefficiency of capitalism to manage
rationally an unlimited resource like information, is far more obvious
than in the developed world.
As a final remark let me say that, in my opinion, the Marxist critique
of the capitalist management of information neglects economics in favour
of a rather socio-political approach.

Ioannis Ivrissimtzis





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