Fred:
>Therefore, in Marx's theory, contrary to Paul's assertion, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
>TO HAVE A THEORY OF PRICES OF PRODUCTION WITHOUT A PRIOR THEORY OF
>SURPLUS-VALUE.
>
Paul C:
You may be right as regards a theory of prices of production, though some
would dispute this, but this is not what I am talking about. I was talking
about a theory of relative prices, not specifically about the theory of
production prices. The analysis of surplus value in volume 1 is independent of
the production price theory, but dependent upon a labour value price theory.
It depends crucially on goods that contain more labour selling for a higher
price. Were this not the case, the whole analysis of absolute and relative
surplus value falls.
I am not greatly concerned with production price theory, which I regard
as at most a minor second order perturbation, and at worst a snare and a
delusion.
Paul Cockshott
wpc@cs.strath.ac.uk
http://www.cs.strath.ac.uk/CS/Biog/wpc/index.html