The Long-Period Method and Marx’s Theory of Value
نویسنده
چکیده
This paper reconstructs Marx’s theory of value in the context of the long-period method of the classical political economists centered on the distinction between market prices and natural prices around which they gravitate. The theory of value stems from considering the abstract problem of the self-organization of a division of labor through the exchange of products as commodities. The commodity law of exchange, in which natural prices are proportional to social labor time necessary to produce commodities follows from assuming free mobility of labor. The capitalist law of exchange, in which natural prices equalize profit rates in different sectors arises from the assumption of free mobility of labor and capital. The classical political economists and Marx viewed labor at a level of abstraction where it is fungible between employments and skills. The theory of value is the full account of the allocation of universal labor and the emergence of natural prices in these abstract systems. Confusions in interpretation of the the theory of value are traced to inconsistent terminology and Marx’s polemical stance as a socialist revolutionary. ∗Please do not quote this draft, which is subject to revision, without permission.
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