Re: [OPE] value-form theory redux

From: Paul Cockshott <wpc@dcs.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Thu Mar 19 2009 - 05:28:22 EDT

On Thu, 2009-03-19 at 06:35 +0000, Alejandro Agafonow wrote:
  
>
> Referring to the same aspect in the model of Heinz Dieterich, the
> Diego Guerrero compares the Marxian theory with this proposal of labor
> time accountability as follows:
>
>
>
> *For Marx the value of a commodity in a developed capitalist society
> must be necessarily manifested in money. For that reason he affirms
> that price is not but ‘another name for the value’. More specifically,
> he affirms that the value (its substance) is manifested in an
> ‘exchange value’, whose most developed form is the monetary one, i.e.
> the price. In contrast, the Bremenian theory sets against each other
> value and price, as if they were the two polar terms of an
> antagonistic relation, and this is not only in capitalism but the same
> idea appears when capitalism and socialism are compared.* (In:
> Valores, precios y mercado en el postcapitalismo. Una interpretación
> de la concepción económica del comunismo en Marx. Paper presented at
> the VII Coloquio Latinoamericano de Economistas Políticos, Caracas,
> Venezuela, 2007)
 
Yes I read that paper by Diego, and on this point I think that within
countries he is basically right. I do not for my part subscribe the the
idea that unequal exchange is very prevalent: this is a point which I
have had arguments with Jurrian about on this list in the past.

I would qualify it to the extent that if one were to take China and look
at the exchange between China and the rest of the world it is clearly
unequal : China not only has a huge trade surplus measured in money
prices, and thus gives to the rest of the capitalist world far more than
it gets back. But if we were to look at it value terms the discrepancy
would be even greater because the dollar remimbi exchange rate
significantly undervalues Chinese labour and accentuates the
impoverishment of the Chinese proletariat.

>

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Received on Thu Mar 19 05:30:16 2009

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