Jerry is absolutely correct. Indeed, in order to understand a range of contemporary phenomena, such as the crisis in Argentina, a theory of the state, trade, finance and (the limits of) economic policy is necessary. My book does not deal with these issues in detail. This is partly because of the limitations of current research, and partly because the main objective of the book is to develop (and build upon) an interpretation of value theory that is compatible with the work of many of our colleagues, that can hopefully support and help to extend their work, and that will contribute to the further development of Marxian analysis. In this sense, my book is both 'incompete' and 'open', and deliberately so. However, openness does not imply equivocation. In the book, I develop a clear argument for a particular interpretation of value analysis, and show how and why it is, in my view, useful. I also try to explain clearly the meaning and significance of the key categories of value analysis, including the relationship between concrete and abstract labour, the nature and magnitude of value, the process of determination of value, the relationship between value and price, and so on. The analysis of money, credit and inflation, in the final chapter, is an application of the principles developed elsewhere in the book. Hopefully the principles explained there *can* help us analyse inflation and stabilisation in Argentina (although I haven't done this; my own work focuses on Brazil - but this is not included in the book). alfredo.
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