Lefteris: The "price" of a five-year-old tractor as a means of production today would be what price? Assume the current dollar price is $50,000 and the dollar price for exact the same piece of equipment was $45,000 five years ago and that there has been a 10% productivity improvement in the process of making tractors. Paul Z. *********************************************************************** Paul Zarembka, editor, RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY at ******************** http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka Tsoulfidis Lefteris <lefteris@uom.gr> said, on 10/08/00: >Andrew_Kliman wrote: >> In OPE-L 3968, Rakesh wrote: >> >> "Marx admits that the inputs have to be transformed into prices of >> production. He does not say that they have to be transformed into the >> SAME prices of production as the outputs." >> >> Excellent point! >> >> Do any of the proponents of simultaneism out there have any evidence >> to dispute this? >> >The above proposition ( that is approved by Kliman) I find it highly >problematic, to say the least, because it implies two systems of prices >of production one for inputs and another one for outputs and as a result >two average rates of profit. This cannot be true because it contradicts >the nature of capitalism, where there is a tendential equalization of the >profit rate. Furthermore, what is an input and what is an output is also >problematic because inputs are outputs and outputs are inputs at the same >time i.e. there is a single market for both inputs and outputs when the >economy is viewed as a totality. So either we have a single system of >prices of production or we simply do not have prices of production at >all. We just have prices without the equalization of the profit rate >which can be called whatever but prices of production. >Lefteris Tsoulfidis
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