From: Jurriaan Bendien (adsl675281@TISCALI.NL)
Date: Mon Aug 20 2007 - 15:49:13 EDT
I am still not really sure about what Alejandro's dual theory of value means. It seems to refer to several polarities: - value in use, versus value in exchange - competition versus cooperation (self-interest versus common interest) - objective value, versus subjective value What I am sure of, is that the existence of labour-value is an empirical claim, and not sinply a philosophical conception. Marx defined economic life as the totality of production, distribution, circulation and consumption. However he never theorised consumption systematically. In the sphere of consumption, the aspect of use-value or utility obviously gains prominence. That is why Oskar Lange, among others, was in favour of integrating the insights of classical political economy with those of modern "utilitarian" economics. I agree though with Alejandro that an economics concerned only with either exchange-value or use-value/utility would be an imbalanced economics. Marx's economics is plainly insufficient to run a wellfunctioning socialist economy, but then it was not intended primarily for that purpose. Jurriaan
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