Re: [OPE] Brad DeLong, 'Understanding Marx"

Hi Jerry

On Fri, 2009-04-24 at 21:34 -0400, Gerald Levy wrote:
> > I will stick to the critique of use value thinking, for the moment.
> > A capitalist buys a machine, uses it for several years, the scraps it.
> > How to theorise this?
> > The use-value, the machine is unchanged for those years.
>
>
> Hi Phil:
>
> Does it? Well, I guess it can as a simplifying assumption. Is that
> what you meant?

No. The machine called George remains unchanged as George all those
years. George can rust, age and get dents; He can loose efficiency or
gain it. He still remains, say, a Spinning Jenny Model 12345, one
use-value unit of.

The problem is the numerous connotations of the term 'use-value'. I
think I will stop using it since it means all things to all men.
 
>
>
> > Therefore value per unit of use-value is a variable quantity.
>
>
> Actually, I think it's more likely that the "value per unit of use-
> value" of "George" depreciates at a variable *rate*.
>
> In any event, what is a "unit of use-value". You're not assuming
> "utils" are you?

No. Pints of milk, pounds of sugar, tons of steel, numbers of iPods.

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Received on Sat Apr 25 06:39:45 2009