Underdevelopment by Design: The Metrics of Unequal Exchange

Having covered unequal exchange before, we consider in this video whether the phenomenon can be measured using real data. Following the seminal work of Andrea Ricci, it is clear that a substantial amount of value leaves the developing world every year.
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Narration, script, and editing by M.
Animated intro by Jack, co-host of the Auxiliary Statements podcast @AuxStatements on Twitter.
Intro music by Charles Tristan:
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Patreon:
Twitter:
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Reference:
Andrea Ricci's "Value and Unequal Exchange in International Trade" (2019).

00:00 - 01:23 Background
01:24 - 01:37 Intro
01:38 - 04:11 Unequal Exchange Recap
04:12 - 06:24 Value as a Social Algorithm
06:25 - 08:36 The Model in Brief
08:37 - 10:57 Highlights of the Findings
10:58 - 12:27 Conclusion

[natemarx]

This channel makes my notifications smile. Long live the revolution, brothers!

[John-wlpg]

I'm literally doing a PhD thesis where there's a section I use this as a theoretical tool but information is skant and confusing to say the least. You've done a terrific job.

[VolokArtyom]

i'm Brazilian and the unequal exchange question hurts, especially when including interest payments, it's crazy how much of our budget goes to paying interests on loans we've paid several times over at this point, not to mention how the capitalist core countries use the instability they create to try to push things such as "internationalizing" the amazon so they can exploit it more directly, and if we vote for a left-winger or even just a centrist who's ok with the left we might just get couped, happened as recently as 2016, and went on with operation carwash and the political arrest of lula.

[skapunkkid]

I HAVE TO WAIT FOR SO LONG I LOVE IT WHEN YOU POST A NEW

[di-li]

Продолжайте! Теоретическая работа должна идти вперёд.

[crazymarxistguy]

Amazing content honestly! I was doing a reading list for a class conscious friend and I recommended him to consult your channel in parallel for clarity. This is just how good you are! Thanks for your work! Long live the revolution, comrades!

[JosephJohnston]

Great video! This is a fascinating and under discussed topic. And rarer still is the overwhelming good-faith critique in the comments!

I keep circling back to idea that unequal exchange is a “feature, not a bug.” I question how intentional this feature is.

Before neo-colonialism (or whatever, I’m not much of a scholar) made everything impossible to discern, it’s easy to imagine that a system of wealth transfer was an active decision made by a small group.

However, nowadays, willful ignorance seems to have taken over. Sure, the ruling class is going to rig things to benefit themselves, but I’ve talked to these people. And, lord forgive them, for they know not what they do. (They also don’t care. But they really don’t know. [I also don't know these things, which is why I appreciate videos like this so much!]) And with how abstract this all is, and with how bad economics/business education is, I also question the level to which their ignorance is willful.

If, in spite of the decentralized, scrambled, and private (privatized) nature of the plunder, there were any specific schools of thought or historical decision points which set the stage for this setup, I’d love to hear that story. I’d also very much appreciate being pointed in the right direction! Thanks!

EDIT: changed wording to no longer imply that I might be involved in orchestrating systems of unequal exchange

[thoughtraindrops]

Wow that's scarier than I thought...

[nkryb_]

Very good and interesting video. Easy to listen and understand, thank you!

[PC]

Have you ever read Cockshott’s counterpoints to unequeal exchange?
I don’t agree with him but I would like to see a response to his opinions on this specific topic

[orsonsteel]

im by no means a marxist but this channels presentation and graphics are second to none when it comes to the political side of youtube...excellent video

[kylezo]

Awesome work. i mean it's dry but that's just how it be.

[MastroTizio]

I really appreciate your content, and it helps me understand better what i believe in. But i have a suggestion: put subtitles. My first languange is not english, and even if i can understand you pretty well, you use terms wich are very sofisticated or just complex. So for someone that doesn't know english well, subtitles would be extremely good. Keep it up.

[shushunk]

Hakim made a video on it few months back

[AtlantaBill]

More productive = more capital-intensive

[icantaimpgd]

Hello ! Nice video !
How are you doing ? Summer is ending now 🙁 so I won’t have as much time to watch leftist contents.
Your upload schedule is basically 1 video/3 - 4 months ?
It would also be nice to see would it be catastrophic for the imperial core/first world countries if they lose their benefits from unequal exchange, I assume it would hurt but not much.

[Anita.Cox.]

Hi, is it ok for you to make a video abt ppl like Henry George, as marx and him have always caught my eye with their theory's on economics.

[taknoef]

your theory assumes that labor time is the only factor of production, and that differences in wages are due to differences in exploitation rates. However, this neglects the fact that countries and sectors may have different levels of capital intensity, skill intensity, research and development, quality, and efficiency, which affect their costs and revenues. Therefore, the notion that higher wages imply higher exploitation is not valid, as wages may reflect different returns to capital, skill, and innovation

[OPOS-eltj]

These videos are always interesting (especially when you disagree)

[JustJanitor]

Maybe in a few years I'll understand all this