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Is a "fully automated" capitalism possible? According to Marx's labor theory of value (LTV) and the theory of surplus-value derived from it, a fully automated economy cannot be profitable. To refute the theory, critics have put forth various thought experiments claiming to show that a fully automated but profitable capitalist economy is conceivable. I argue that the thought experiments fail to demonstrate conceivability, because they misunderstand the role of labor in a commodity economy. In the latter, labor is a means for acquiring the property of others, and so it cannot be eliminated so long as the economy is based on the commodity form. Quite apart from issues of technical feasibility, then, the idea of a fully automated commodity economy is conceptually incoherent. The ineliminability of labor under the commodity form reflects the limits to the socialization of production this form imposes.

This item has been retyped from the original and pagination will differ from the original. ; I FEEL it an honour and a pleasure to have been asked by your Society to deliver this inaugural address after that the Rules of the Society have been definitively approved by the General Council of the University. It is an honour because the objects the Society has in mind, as stated in the rules themselves, are of raising the standard of University Students and to place them in a position ready to prepare themselves befittingly for the hard struggle of life after that they shall have finished their university career. It is a pleasure, because it reminds me of the good old days when I was a University student and this gathering recalls to my mind the ancieties of school life to which, once they are over, I look with satisfaction. Indeed, University life represents the happy periods of one's life, when one does not realize the heavy responsibilities of office and of manhood in general. ; N/A

Most companies establish customer service policies which are then uniformly applied to all customers with the possible exception of providing superior service to the few largest customers. In this article the service provided by the major suppliers in the scientific instrument and supplies industry in Australia is examined. This is contrasted to the service requirements of their customers in toto and by segment. Considerable differences were found between the service provided and the service required. Also service requirements differed significantly between customer segments. Competitive advantage can be obtained by the supplier providing differential service levels by customer segment.