[OPE-L:3727] Re: definition of constant capital

From: Paul Zarembka (zarembka@acsu.buffalo.edu)
Date: Sat Aug 26 2000 - 09:23:46 EDT


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Fred,

    What are you doing?

    I noted that you supposedly quoted -- yes, quoted! -- Marx, p. 317,
Fowkes edition, in your posting on 08/16/00:

>>In this chapter, Marx did indeed define constant capital as the "money
>>laid out for means of production." (p. 317).

    I pointed out to you in terms I thought could not be avoided [#3683]:

>p. 317 has no such phrase in my Fowkes edition and, in fact, the word
>"money" does not even appear on that page anywhere (I checked twice -- am
>I blind?).

>The page rather says "I call [that part of capital which is turned into
>means of production] the constant part of capital, or more briefly,
>constant capital."

>See provide the exact edition of Marx you are using, Fred, if not the
>Vintage/Random House 1977.

    Rather than either admit your erroneous quotation, supposedly from p.
317, or else show my blindness in reading text, you jump me four [sic --
should be three] pages later in Marx in your reply [#3699].

    Your error is therefore now doubled --

1. not admitting to use of a false quotation of Marx to defend your position,

2. not staying on the page you cite which is where Marx defines constant capital.

    Fred, I'm not going to discuss p. 320 until we resolve my posting RE: p. 317.

    Disconcertedly, Paul

***********************************************************************
Paul Zarembka, editor, RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY
******************** http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka

"Fred B. Moseley" <fmoseley@mtholyoke.edu> said, on 08/21/00:

>This is a brief further response to Paul Z's (3683) about the definition
>of constant capital in Chapter 8 of Volume 1. Paul, please look four
>pages after the definition we discussed, which is the first page of
>Chapter 9 (p. 320) (and indeed please look again at the whole Chapter 9).
>Here Marx said:

>"The capital C is made up of two components, one the sum of the MONEY c
>laid out on means of production, and the other the sum of MONEY v
>expended on labor-power; c represents the portion of value which has been
>turned into constant capital, v that turned into variable capital. At
>the beginning C = c + v: for example, if ú500 is the capital advanced,
>its component many be suchthat the ú500 = ú410 constant + ú90 variable.
>When the process of production is finished, we get a commodity whose
>VALUE = (c + v) + s, where s is the surplus-value; or taking our former
>figures, the value of this commodity is (ú410 constant + ú90 variable) +
>ú90 surplus. The original capital has now changed from ú500 to ú590. The
>difference is s, or a surplus-value of ú90. (emphasis added)

>I think it is clear that Marx is defining constant capital and variable
>capital (and surplus-value) in terms of money. What do you think?
>Thanks again.

>Comradely,
>Fred



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