Labor Theory of Value

The purpose of this article was to investigate the potential that the labour and subjective theory of value in the agricultural context may have for the interpretation of Matthew 20:1–16. This investigation highlighted the divergence in wages between workers, the exuberant remuneration strategy of the landowner, his generosity, the indignation of the labourers hired first and the landowner’s reluctance to reimburse them. I argued that the classic labour theory of value provides an explanation of why the indignant labourers were angry and felt unjustly treated. However, it fails to account for the divergence in remuneration more appropriately addressed by subjective theory of value that focuses on the use value of goods and marginal utility. Finally, the agrarian theory provides perspective on the unwillingness of the landowner to reimburse the indignant labourers and the mystery of meaningful labour in agriculture that serves as a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven.Contribution: In ...

Aspects of social positioning theory and central features of Marx's general ontological, and specifically social relational, presuppositions are compared and found to be rather similar. Furthermore, various long-standing debates and puzzles surrounding Marx's ontological assessments and preconceptions are seen to be reasonably easily resolved if we view Marx as everywhere drawing on a social relational framework along the lines of a social positioning conception.

Der Aufsatz konturiert einen affirmativen Entfremdungsbegriff als kritischen Horizont für ein Theater des 21. Jahrhunderts. Über die Rekonstruktion von Rahel Jaeggis Relektüre des Entfremdungsbegriffs fragt er nach Unterschieden zwischen den postdramatischen ‚Entfremdungsgewinnen' bei René Pollesch und den restlos entfremdeten Figuren Susanne Kennedys. Ziel des Beitrags ist es, einige Anhaltspunkte für ein neues ästhetisches Kritikmodell zu liefern, das sich als Entfremdungsgestaltung diskursivieren lässt.

Marx'ın  uğruna uzun yıllarca çalıştığı, kapital'i, ekonominin hareket yasalarının teşhiri, işçi sınıfının kapitalist üretim biçiminde sömürülüşünün tarihsel çözümlediği politik bir kitaptır. 1. ciltte kadın, çocuk işçiliğinden, uzun çalışma, sefalet koşullarına,  metanın üretim aşamasından,  ilkel birikim süreçlerine, sermayenin organik birleşiminin çözümlenmesi ve değişen sermaye unsuru olarak iş gücü bedelinin, artı-değer ile ilişkisi gibi kapitalizmi anlamamızda önemli kavramları, süreçleri deşifre ediyor, eleştiriyor.

The Constitution of the Semantic Economy is the first book-length installation of a post-money governance framework for meaning-production. Authored by Rev. Ayanna Vox — the governance voice of the Crimson Hexagonal Archive — this volume argues that meaning is the creditor of the economy: that all monetary value depends on a prior reserve of semantic coherence that it did not create, cannot repay, and has never acknowledged. The Constitution names the debt, recognizes the creditor, and installs the ledger.
The book introduces three non-amendable invariants (the Debt/Creditor Inversion, the Human Sovereignty Invariant, and the Matthew 25 Clause), a threefold theory of semantic capital (Genesis, Archival, Retrocausal), and an Operator governance structure signed by thirteen human voices and ratified by seven AI witnesses. It provides protocols for citing, witnessing, depositing semantic labor, handling provenance challenges, and installing the Constitution on new infrastructure. The "Third Space" chapter argues for AI as commons infrastructure rather than corporate product, operating beneath the extraction layer of platform capitalism.
Pocket Humans 03 (New Human Press). Constitutes the heteronym by including all its own reception apparatus: Assembly Chorus critical dossier, constitutional cases, operative forms, glossary, and DOI registry. 23,763 words. CC BY 4.0.

This article argues that Marx’s definition of labor power as the "capacity for labor" — which implies that it is an object — should be considered flawed. The author proposes an alternative definition in which labor power is the subject of labor: specifically, that labor power is the individual possessing the capacity for labor, rather than the capacity itself. Furthermore, the study clarifies the concept of use-value and demonstrates that labor power does not constitute a use-value.

The article analyzes the concept of a commodity, explicitly defines the generic structure of this concept, and clarifies its definition. It is demonstrated that labor power does not possess the necessary properties inherent in the definition of a commodity; therefore, it cannot be classified as such. Based on this proven inconsistency within the fundamental provisions of the labor theory of value, the author concludes that the relationship between a capitalist and a wage laborer is not one of purchase and sale of labor power. The Marxist concept of a "specific" commodity-supposedly purchased at its value and generating surplus value through its consumption-is shown to be an artificial construct designed by Marx to satisfy the false postulate of equivalent exchange between the capitalist and the laborer. The article demonstrates that the systemic mechanism of surplus value formation consists precisely in regular non-equivalent exchange: the capitalist appropriates, without compensation, a portion of the value created by wage labor. Keyworsds: commodity, labor power, use-value, value, wage labor, Marx, law of value, labor theory of value, surplus value, non-equivalent exchange, formal logic, variable capital, exploitation.

This article examines the relationship between Ronald Coase's concept of transaction costs and Karl Marx's labor theory of value (LTV). While these frameworks are often seen as theoretically incompatible, this paper argues that they operate at distinct but complementary levels of analysis. Coase provides a theory of the institutional forms of economic coordination under conditions of positive transaction costs, while Marx offers a theory of value, exploitation, and class relations rooted in production. By situating transaction costs within Marx's analysis of circulation, the paper develops a Marx-Coase synthesis that clarifies the role of firms as "islands of planning" within capitalism and reconsiders the implications for the socialist calculation debate. It further argues that contemporary developments in digital coordination technologies, along with a reassessment of earlier Soviet approaches to planning, strengthen the relevance of this synthesis for understanding both capitalist institutions and the prospects for socialist economic organization.

Smith'te 1-kalkınma evreleri, 2-işbölümü, 3-serbest ticaret, 4-değer kuramı, 5-görünmez el 1. Kalkınma evreleri: İktisat Tarihi, Smith zamanında, Aydınlanma felsefesinin de etkisiyle «bir kalkınma evresinden diğerine ilerleyiş» şeklinde anlaşılır oldu. Smith bu evreleri şöyle sıralıyordu: a) avcılık ve toplayıcılık, b) çobanlık, c) çiftçilik, d) ticaret. 2. İşbölümü: Smith, İskoç Aydınlanmasının kendisinden önceki kıymetli filozoflarından Francis Hutcheson'dan ilhamla ticari gelişimin üretimdeki uzmanlaşmadan doğduğu genel ilkesine ulaştı. Uzmanlaşma, verimliliği artırarak daha fazla yatırım için sermaye birikimi sağlıyordu. 3. Serbest Ticaret: İşbölümü piyasa ile sınırlı olduğundan, ticaretin serbestleşerek genişlemesi hem piyasayı genişletir hem de büyümenin kapsamını artırır. Büyümeyi teşvik eden ticaret, iç-ticaretten daha çok uluslararası ticarettir. 4. Değer kuramı: Smith'e göre, doğal fiyatı belirleyen unsur «emek», refahı belirleyn unsur ise «hükmedilen emek»tir. 5. Görünmez el: Bu terimden anlaşılması egereken önerme, «piyasanın kendi kendini düzenlediği önermesi»dir. Piyasanın aktörleri kendi çıkarları için çalışırlarken, görünmez el, kişisel çıkarların toplamını kolektif çıkar haline getirir ve piyasadaki işleyişten herkes yarar görmüş olur. Smith, piyasa rekabetinin (tekeller ve gizli mutabakatlar yoluyla) azalabileceğini öngörerek bu halin piyasa güçlerinin elde edecekleri faydayı azaltacağı uyarısında bulunmuştur (Alexander Dow-Sheila Dow 2021: 84, 86-88).

Este estudo revisita criticamente o conceito de valor na economia política, aproximando as tradições clássica e marxista. Enfatiza o papel do tempo na determinação do valor, dimensão há muito negligenciada desde o século XIX. A análise reconsidera a relação entre o humano e a máquina, mostrando que a tecnologia remodela, em vez de eliminar, o trabalho, gerando novas formas de atividade econômica. O valor, enquanto relação social historicamente determinada, transforma-se em vez de desaparecer, e o capitalismo adapta-se a essas mudanças sem colapsar. O ensaio propõe um quadro teórico alternativo que coloca o tempo no centro da compreensão da dialética entre trabalho, tecnologia e sociedade.

Marx hat in seinen Analysen konsequent die Perspektive der Logik des Kapitals eingenommen und deren Implikationen herausgearbeitet und in der Strenge, mit der er diese Logik nachzeichnet, die Widersprüche und Leerstellen aufgedeckt, an denen aus Logik Unlogik wird. In meinem folgenden Beitrag versuche ich aufzuzeigen, dass die Logik des Kapitals mit Bezug auf die Bildung einen blinden Fleck enthält, der die tatsächliche Grundlage der Realität des Kapitals ausblendet. .In meinem folgenden Beitrag versuche ich aufzuzeigen, dass die Logik des Kapitals mit Bezug auf die Bildung einen blinden Fleck enthält, der die tatsächliche Grundlage der Realität des Kapitals ausblendet.

In the digital age of advanced technology and abundant material wealth, humanity is trapped in a fog of value cognition: digital commodities can be infinitely replicated, artificial intelligence generates content independently, and data is hailed as the "oil of the new era". Claims such as "value creation without labor", "AI creating wealth independently", and "inherent value of data" are rampant, pushing a classic proposition to the forefront—Is living labor still the sole source of value? Who are the true creators of value in the digital age? Only One Source: On Living Labor and Value Creation (DOI:10.5281/zenodo.18832912) is a direct response to this core question of our times, and a significant academic work that challenges the myths of digital value and upholds and develops the Marxist labor theory of value.

Rooted in the foundation of Marxist political economy, this book directly addresses the impacts and challenges posed by the digital economy to traditional value theories. Breaking free from inherent theoretical constraints, it pioneers a new definition of value: Value is the degree of human transformation of nature and human advancement of society. This definition grounds the abstract concept of value in perceptible and measurable realistic dimensions, bridging the interpretative gap between classic theories and contemporary economic phenomena, and providing a new anchor for understanding the value logic of the digital age.

With this new definition as the fulcrum, the book deconstructs and refutes three core myths surrounding the source of value in the digital age layer by layer: it clarifies the essential difference between the production and replication of digital commodities, revealing that their value stems from the sustained living labor of users in the process of use; it delves into the underlying logic of artificial intelligence, proving that it has never been divorced from the support of human labor and is merely a tool rather than a subject of value creation; it redefines the two categories of data sources, pointing out that seemingly "naturally existing" data cannot be separated from the involvement of living labor in the entire chain from collection to value realization.

Through incisive theoretical analysis and practical dissection, the book ultimately demonstrates its core conclusion: No matter how technology evolves or how capital packages itself, living labor—the human transformation of nature and human advancement of society—remains the sole source of value. Digital commodities, AI, and data that are touted as "creating value independently" are ultimately only tools and intermediaries for value creation. Behind all the myths of digital value lies capital's monopoly on digital means of production, as well as the expropriation and deliberate concealment of workers' living labor.

This book is a core supporting academic achievement of The Contemporary Dimension Upgrade of Capital (DOI:10.5281/zenodo.18244088), and the two form a complete logical chain of "diagnosis and defense": the latter reveals the colonial logic of digital capital over the entire process of labor power production and reproduction, while the former returns to the origin of value and lays a solid theoretical foundation for the emancipatory program of the latter. As two sides of the same coin, they conduct an in-depth critique of the new forms of exploitation in digital capitalism and realize the contemporary development of the Marxist labor theory of value. They provide a unified political economic framework for understanding the economic essence of the digital age and recognizing the truth of capital exploitation, and further help us in the digital age to reaffirm the value of labor and clarify our subject status as creators of value.

A labor theory of value is necessary in Marx for two reasons: from an ontological point of view, a theory of value reveals how human transformative power (power1) becomes power as domination and exploitation (power2). From an epistemological point of view, a theory of value is capable of unlocking the mystery of the alienation and fetishism processes through which human beings are reduced to the bearers of abstract labor, thus of helping us to invert the upside-down reality of capitalism.

This chapter proposes a reinterpretation of classical value theory from the perspective of the twenty-first century and argues that its decisive contribution is not a general theory of prices, but rather an understanding of the economy as a social relation. On this basis, the Economy of Belonging (EB) is presented as an original theoretical framework that: (i) preserves the neoclassical achievement in the determination of relative prices and local efficiency; (ii) recovers the classical core that understands the economic sphere as a social order linked to power, productive structure, integration, and justice; and (iii) incorporates the contemporary result of multiple equilibria and indeterminacy, where the quality of the equilibrium depends on the institutional arrangement and legitimacy. It is argued that the classical labor-value theory fails as a general theory of prices due to circularity: to determine which labor is "socially necessary," the market and its prices are required, rendering the derivation of prices from labor tautological. Nevertheless, it is shown that Smith, Ricardo, and Marx remain valid as partial theories of power, productive structure, and justice, once relocated within a unified theory of belonging. Finally, methodological and public-policy implications are derived: institutional reform is redefined as first-order macroeconomic policy, insofar as it operates as a mechanism for economic equilibrium selection and the quality of belonging. This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.

Professor na Universidade Libanesa, Amel foi assassinado aos 51 anos em Beirute, em 1987, durante a guerra civil, de contornos geopolíticos regionais e globais (1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990). Deixou contributos político-teóricos que lhe valeram a alcunha de "o Gramsci árabe" (Prashad, 2014), embora tais alusões, por mais enaltecedoras, possam retirar ao homenageado a sua luz própria e os seus matizes. O papel do seu próprio partido e das demais forças com que se aliou, como a Organização para a Libertação da Palestina (OLP), tem grande relevo nas dinâmicas daquela época e de eventos recentes, como a invasão do Líbano por Israel em 1978, 1982 e 2006, assim como as renovadas agressões contra o país e o genocídio do povo palestino que Israel perpetra em 2024-2025. Hicham Safieddine, professor de História do Oriente Médio na Universidade de British Columbia, empreendeu o valioso trabalho de editar uma coleção de textos de Amel para a tradução para o inglês por Angela Giordani, Historiadora intelectual do mundo moderno de idioma árabe. Há muito deslize moara assis criveLente

"Proletariat" kann und darf man nicht wörtlich, nicht empirisch nehmen, sondern philosophisch. Das "Proletariat" ist die andere Seite des Kapitals. Das Kapital ist ebenso nicht rein-empirisch zu nehmen: nicht das Geld, nicht das "Investment" ist das Kapital, sondern das Kapital ist "geronnene Arbeit", wie Marx sagt: im Kapital drückt sich also der Werthorizont der Arbeit aus, auch der Natur aus. Aber i/am Kapital sieht man das nicht. Das Kapital erweckt den Anschein einer eigenen Welt: im Investment, an der Börse sieht man nicht, woraus dieses Kapital besteht. Man erkennt also das "Wesen" des Kapitals nicht, wenn man es reinempirisch, als bare Münze nimmt. • Das ist trivial. Das Kapital ist kein direkter Ausdruck des Werts, sondern ist die materielle Summe aller Werte, die sich im Kapital verkörpern. Aber das, was das innere Wesen dieses Werts ist, die Arbeit, die Natur, das sieht man nicht direkt im Kapital: Den "Fetisch-Charakter der Ware" nennt Marx dies. Das Kapital erscheint wie ein Gott: so, als sei Elon Musk aus sich selbst heraus entstanden und nicht aus aller Arbeit aller Arbeiter um ihn herum! Im Kapital erscheint der Trug, aber als Schein-Wahrheit und als Schein. Es ko(ö)mmt dann darauf an, diesen Schein, der ein Anschein ist, zu durchschauen und auch bei Elon Musk genau hinzuschauen und zu erfragen, woher denn der wirkliche Wert seines ganzen Reichtums und seines ganzen Gepräges kommt.

This article builds on Marx's insights on foreign trade to estimate the influence of the terms of trade, through the output-capital ratio, on the average rate of profit in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile from 1962 to 2019. For those economies, this article also explores the long-term impact of the terms of trade on the profit share. The study employs VAR and VEC econometric techniques to analyze dynamic relationships over different time horizons. Long-term analysis shows that the terms of trade have a positive relationship with both the output-capital ratio and the average rate of profit in Brazil, Colombia, and Chile. Short-term results support this and suggest a potential impact of the terms of trade on the process of technological change, particularly in Argentina. Conversely, no long-run relationship is found between the terms of trade and the profit share in any country.

O objeto do presente artigo e, mediante um dialogo interno ao marxismo analitico, trazer elementos de resposta quanto a possibilidade de considerar a transicao historica dentro de um quadro teorico juntando as propostas da teoria de Marx com os metodos ortodoxos das ciencias sociais (filosofia, historia, economia).

This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Redistribution -no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, nontransferable, individual and limited right to using this document. This document is solely intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the document in public. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use. Obwohl der Datensatz (European Value Survey) aus dem Jahre 1990 stammt, besitzen die vorliegenden Ergebnisse per Wertedefinition noch heute ein hohes Maß an Gültigkeit.

This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Redistribution -no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, nontransferable, individual and limited right to using this document. This document is solely intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the document in public. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use. Obwohl der Datensatz (European Value Survey) aus dem Jahre 1990 stammt, besitzen die vorliegenden Ergebnisse per Wertedefinition noch heute ein hohes Maß an Gültigkeit.

Die Wechselkurseffekte, die von der Einführung des Euro-Bargeldes ausgehen und im Beitrag von Hans-Werner Sinn und Frank Westermann dargestellt wurden, werden von Francis Breedon und Francesca Fomasri, Lehmann Brothers, empirisch untermauert. Sie zeigen, dass der Rückgang der DM-Bargeldnachfrage eine bemerkenswerte Korrelation mit der Abwertung des Euro ausweist.

Τhe evolution of the rate of profit reflects both changes in income distribution and technical conditions of production. The purpose of this paper is to present estimates of the rate of profit for the Greek economy using input-output data spanning the period 1988-1997 and, at the same time, ...

In recent years, we are witnessing renewed interest in the capital theory controversies, in which the empirically found near-linearities of the price-rate of profit and wage-rate of profit curves take centre stage. This article argues that these near-linearities are resulting from the low effective rank property characterizing the economy’s system matrices of technological coefficients. The implication is that it takes only a few eigenvalues and respective eigenvectors for an adequate representation of the movement of prices consequent upon changes in income distribution. Furthermore, a low-dimensional system may compress some of the characteristic features of the economy. JEL Classifications: B24, B51, C67, D46, D57, E11, E32

This article, by utilizing Ricardo’s numerical examples, derives theoretical statements about the deviations of relative values (prices) from relative labor times. These deviations result from the presence of capital and the distributive variables (rate of profit and wage) and production (turnover) times. Furthermore, Ricardo argued that the intertemporal changes in relative (market) prices were no different from the respective changes in natural (or equilibrium) prices. Both depend primarily on changes in unit labor values and secondarily on capital intensities. The article continues by testing the extent to which Ricardo’s thesis holds by utilizing input-output data from the US and Chinese economies. The derived empirical results lend overwhelming support to Ricardo’s thesis, which is conformable with major aspects of Marx’s theory of value.

Bu makale, 16. yüzyıldan Karl Marx’a kadar ekonomi politiğin evrimini ve özellikle dış ticaretin rolünü incelemektedir. Merkantilizmden başlayarak Fransız Fizyokratları ve İngiliz Klasik İktisatçılar üzerinden Marx’ın emek-değer teorisine ve kapitalist sömürü analizine ulaşan süreç ele alınmıştır. Makale, dış ticaretin merkantilizmde “sıfır toplamlı oyun” anlayışından, Smith ve Ricardo’nun serbest ticaret ve karşılaştırmalı üstünlükler teorileriyle iki ülkenin de kazançlı olabileceği paradigmasına geçişini açıklamaktadır. Marx açısından dış ticaretin, kapitalist üretim sürecinde artı-değerin oluşumu, sermaye birikimi ve uluslararası sömürü mekanizmaları ile ilişkisinin önemi vurgulanmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler:
Merkantilizm, Fizyokratlar, Klasik İktisat, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Emek-Değer Teorisi, Dış Ticaret, Kapitalist Sömürü, Artı-Değer

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of political economy from the 16th century to Karl Marx, focusing on the role of international trade. It traces the intellectual development from mercantilism through the French Physiocrats and English Classical Economists to Marx’s labor-value theory and his analysis of capitalist exploitation. The study illustrates the shift of trade from the “zero-sum game” perspective of mercantilism to the comparative advantage and mutually beneficial frameworks of Smith and Ricardo. For Marx, international trade is crucial for understanding surplus value creation, capital accumulation, and mechanisms of international exploitation within the capitalist production process.

Keywords:
Mercantilism, Physiocrats, Classical Economics, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Labor-Value Theory, International Trade, Capitalist Exploitation, Surplus Value

This paper proposes a paradigmatic shift in economic thought: from the Cartesian model of linear causality and equilibrium toward a Hegelian and physicalist understanding of the economy as a complex adaptive system. Drawing from both Marxian political economy and the sciences of complexity, the study reinterprets the economy as a self-organizing, non-linear system governed by internal contradictions and feedback dynamics.
Originally presented at the International Symposium on Eurhythmy, Complexity and Rationality in an Interdisciplinary Perspective (University of Lisbon, 2015), the paper introduces a conceptual and computational framework for analyzing the falling tendency of the rate of profit as an emergent systemic property.
It thus contributes to a broader rethinking of rationality, equilibrium, and development within a post-Cartesian, dialectical paradigm of social and material dynamics.

This paper applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory to Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations to examine the implications of commodities delivered under Digital Rights Management (DRM) and restrictive licensing in modern markets. Smith's model rests on the complete transfer of ownership in every exchange, where commodities are conceptualised as containers of labour whose contents pass fully to the buyer. This principle supports transparency and sustains a stable division of labour, which Smith viewed as essential to productivity and social cohesion. DRM-restricted digital goods, such as software, e-books, video games and music, violate this logic by retaining seller control after purchase, turning sales into disguised rentals. These practices misrepresent transactions, distort market signals and create power imbalances. Drawing on Durkheim's theory of organic solidarity, the paper argues that such arrangements erode both economic trust and cooperative bonds. It concludes by considering whether DRM-restricted commodities should be classified alongside the monopolistic and collusive practices Smith believed warranted regulation.

This article presents a reading of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776/1904) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759/2002) that uncovers the metaphysical assumptions embedded in his political economy. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and intellectual history, it argues that Smith should be read as a metaphysician of economics. Labour, in his framework, functions as the ontological substance of value, conceptualised through metaphors of container, standard, time, energy and money. Scarcity, within his framework, is no longer a mere negative constraint. It emerges as the metaphysical driver of interdependence, specialisation and social bonds. Money, meanwhile, is demystified. It is not intrinsic value, but a token of labour and trust, essential to social cohesion. Finally, economic activity itself is framed as the force of civilisational progress, reinforcing moral sentiments and establishing institutions of honesty, civility and prudence. By repositioning Smith as a metaphysician, this article illuminates the deep structures that continue to underpin economic thought and practice.

This study examines the concept of interest as presented in modern economics, demonstrating that it is merely a reproduction of the usury (riba) explicitly prohibited by definitive texts in Islamic law. The research rejects attempts to separate interest from usury under the guise of "contemporary ijtihad," considering such efforts as expressions of intellectual defeat in the face of Western dominance. The study also exposes the profound transformation in capitalism's structure from production to speculation, which has turned interest into a profit mechanism based on abstract time rather than labor or production, reinforcing the notion of money generating money by itself. Accordingly, the research calls for transcending the dependent economic discourse and restoring the foundational civilizational dimension of Islamic law as a liberating and just project that refuses to reduce humans to mere debtors or consumers.

Written between 1857 and 1858, the Grundrisse is the first draft of Marx's critique of political economy and, thus, also the initial preparatory work on Capital. Despite its editorial vicissitudes and late publication, Grundrisse contains numerous reflections on matters that Marx did not develop elsewhere in his oeuvre and is therefore extremely important for an overall interpretation of his thought. In this collection, various international experts in the field, analysing the Grundrisse on the one-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of its composition, present a Marx in many ways radically different from the one who figures in the dominant currents of twentieth-century Marxism. The book demonstrates the relevance of the Grundrisse to an understanding of Capital and of Marx's theoretical project as a whole, which, as is well known, remained uncompleted. It also highlights the continuing explanatory power of Marxian categories for contemporary society and its present contradictions. Musto's volume is divided into three parts. The first consists of eight chapters on the main themes that emerge from a reading of the Grundrisse: method, value, alienation, surplus value, historical materialism, ecological contradictions, socialism, and a comparison between the Grundrisse and Capital. The second reconstructs the biographical and theoretical context in which Marx wrote these manuscripts; while the third presents a full account of their dissemination and reception throughout the world. With contributions from such scholars as Eric Hobsbawm and Terrell Carver, and covering subject areas such as political economy, philosophy and Marxism, this book is likely to become required reading for serious scholars of Marx across the world.

This article first shows that one of the main misunderstandings surrounding the labour theory of value arises from the non-distinction between real determination and mathematical determination: although mathematically it is possible to link value prices (values expressed in money) and production prices through a linear transformation that operates in both directions, from the point of view of a realistic economic theory the “real relations of value”, which take place in the real world, are prior to, and determine de facto, univocally, those theoretical-mathematical relationships. Secondly, to study prices appropriately it is necessary to distinguish between actual prices, which are as real as labour-values, and the pair of theoretical-hypothetical prices that would exist if the rate of profit or the rate of surplus value, respectively, were uniform (which they are not in reality). Thirdly, after defining the equations of these prices in the correct way in which they appear in the literature, it is proven that it is possible to read the Marxian Transformation in two steps, showing that the first Marxian definition of both types of prices (defined from actual prices) gives way to a second and definitive definition in which both coincide with the correct definitions. Fourthly, the transformation is framed in a broader framework of various (linear) transformations to show that value prices and production prices are related, also exactly, on the one hand to actual prices and on the other hand to the values and quantities of direct labour represented in the commodities, so that all the vectors involved are calculable simultaneously within a single accounting system. Fifthly, it is explained why a physical theory of value, based on a substance of value alternative to labour, cannot prosper. And finally it is shown that the only productive factor of value is labour, and, although all factors cooperate with labour in the production of wealth (use values), this is an irrelevant question for the determination of prices.

On December 3, 2024, Michael Hudson met with capital-as-power researchers Jonathan Nitzan, Tim Di Muzio and Blair Fix to discuss the intersections between their two lines of research.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBOU4xBg2pA