From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Sun Sep 02 2007 - 02:16:25 EDT
> The “transformation problem” has been the main reason given by > mainstream economists and others for rejecting Marx’s theory, and the > labor theory of value in particular, over the last century (two > centuries, if we go back to Ricardo!). Hi Fred: I do not think that is true. It is one of many criticisms which have been made and not a very influential one at that. I have never met anyone who rejected Marx's perspective or Marxism for that reason. It perhaps was influential among certain economists, but certainly not publicly. How many people in a million could tell you the meaning of the TP? Among economists and economiscs students, only a small percentage who are interested in the HET are aware that there has even been this debate. It is only among Marxians that the debate is well known. Indeed, had it not been for the Marxian contributions to the debate then it would have ended long ago. I view this idea about the relative importance of the charges of Marx's alleged internal inconsistencies as a mainstay of the *mythology* that has arisen in relation to the TP. It is a rationalization, not a fact. In solidarity, Jerry
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