From: Paul Cockshott (wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK)
Date: Fri Sep 21 2007 - 15:11:11 EDT
Gerry wrote: ------------- Paul C and Ian W (and Jurriaan): Means of production and labour power must be *purchased* before they can become inputs in the capitalist production process. This requires that they take the form of constant and variable capital, and that means that they take the *commodity-form* and thereby also must have use-value and exchange-value and that EV must be represented by a certain amount of money. How can it be otherwise? How, under capitalism, can the value input _not_ be related to money spent? ------------------------- Paul Says --------- Sure the inputs are typically purchased as commodities, but they may be purchased at prices above or below their values. Value input is related to money spent in the following way. The law of value establishes a strong correlation, but not an identity between value and price. The causal relationship goes from value to market price, but, since correlation is a symetric measure, the correlation of price to value = the correlation of value to price. Thus using market prices and using the economy wide MELT one can estimate values with some 90% accuracy.
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