[OPE-L:7270] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: interpreting Marx's texts (was: hermeneutics) (fwd)

From: Rakesh Bhandari (rakeshb@stanford.edu)
Date: Tue May 28 2002 - 04:34:46 EDT


re Fred's 7268

>Rakesh, thanks for your reply.
>
>Do you remember how Grossmann determined prices of production? 
>In particular, does he argue that the inputs of constant capital and
>variable capital have to be transformed from values to prices of
>production and that Marx failed to do so?

Well,
It remains my impression that Grossmann had not understood 
Bortkiewicz's critique.
Two things though.
1. Because Grossmann assumes that the value of all commodities is 
expressed in terms of a money commodity the value of which is fixed 
in order to ensure for purely methodological reasons that all changes 
in exchange value happen on the commodity side of the equation, I 
think Grossmann would have thought that the first transformation 
table is in simple prices rather than values (just as Shaikh and 
Gouverneur do); moreover, since the money commodity has a fixed value 
by methodological fiat and the labor value of the output must be 
unchanged by the mere redistribution of value through the formation 
of prices of production, the sum of the prices of production will 
have to be the same the sum of the simple prices.  That is, I believe 
that Grossmann would have made the same choice of invariance 
condition as Winternitz and Gouverneur. And for the same reason.
2. However, it is hard for me to believe that Grossmann would have 
thought it was reasonable for the technical conditions to remain 
constant for the 40 or periods of iterations which it takes to arrive 
at equilibrium prices of production. Grossmann's thinking seems too 
dynamic for that.


>Is the rate of profit determined simultaneously with prices of production,
>or prior to prices of production and taken as given in their
>determination?


I think the latter. As far as I know Grossmann did not even 
understand that relative prices and the rate of profit can be 
determined simultaneously on the basis of certain conditions.

AComradely, Rakesh



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