[OPE-L:1974] quiz: answers

riccardo bellofiore (bellofio@cisi.unito.it)
Fri, 26 Apr 1996 03:26:24 -0700

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Well, Andrew reminded me of the quiz. In fact, if I am right, only he and
Jerry wanted to play the game. But, having Andrew asked on the list the
answers, here they (in capital letters) are after the original questions?

(i) who are the authors behind the following quotes?

A. "This misreading - on which a surprising consensus seems to exist among
both critics of Marx and Marxist writers - consists of interpreting Marx's
values and his prices of production as two alternative systems. For Marx
the rate of profits on which prices of production depend could not have
been determined by means other than the labour theory of value".

PIERANGELO GAREGNANI, THE LABOUR THEORY OF VALUE: DETOUR OR TECHNICAL
ADVANCE?, IN G.A.CARAVALE (ED.), MARX AND MODERN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, VOL. I,
P. 101

B. "The expression 'transformation problem' is not Marx's ... there never
was for Marx a 'problem' of transforming values into prices of production.
There was only a problem of correctly determining relative prices and,
therefore, of correctly determining the rate of profits"

PIERANGELO GAREGNANI, THE LABOUR THEORY OF VALUE: DETOUR OR TECHNICAL
ADVANCE?, IN G.A.CARAVALE (ED.), MARX AND MODERN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, VOL. I,
P. 114

C. "Unlike Ricardo's, Marx's argument is explicitely framed in two stages.
Since the prices of production differ from the values only on account of
the different distribution of the overall surplus-value of the economy,
according to Marx the rate of profits is accurately determined, for the
economy as a whole, on the basis of the labour theory of value. The prices
of production are then obtained from the value by replacing the
surplus-value produced in each branch of production with the part of the
overall surplus-value of the economy belonging to that branch according to
the general rate of profits."

FERDINANDO VIANELLO, LABOUR THEORY OF VALUE, THE NEW PALGRAVE, quoted from
MARXIAN ECONOMICS, MACMILLAN, P. 240

D. "What constitutes the substance of value cannot, in fact, but constitute
the substance of revenues, as the latter stem from the breakdown of the
value of a given set of commodities. It follows that the conception of
abstract labour as the substance of value necessitates that the whole of
this substance be found in the prices of production, having merely been
partly diverted away from some commodities and channeled into others (as
the enlightening comparison with the 'conservation of energy' shows)."

FERDINANDO VIANELLO, LABOUR THEORY OF VALUE, THE NEW PALGRAVE, quoted from
MARXIAN ECONOMICS, MACMILLAN, P. 243-244 (the "enlightening comparison with
the 'conservation of energy'" is taken from MARCO LIPPI's book on Marx
published in English by New Left Books)

E. "It has been seen that Marx's basic insight was correct in that the data
from which individual labour values and the aggregate magnitudes S, V, C
are derived, do suffice to determine the rate of profits and relative
prices."

FABIO PETRI, RATE OF EXPLOITATION, quoted from MARXIAN ECONOMICS,
MACMILLAN, P.322-323

(ii) do you think that the content of the quotes is a fair interpretation
of Marx?

Well, on my part (except for the fact that I would not say Marx's labour
theory really was about relative prices: but I would not contest that he
saw it also in this way) I think that the following quotes, AS AN
INTERPRETATION, of Marx were fair enough.

My expectations was that almost nobody would have answered correctly. ALL
the quotes are from the SAME outlook (Petri is a close follower of
Garegnani, as is Vianello). Generally, it is said that Sraffian deny
propositions like the one I quoted.

I cannot say I won: the sample is too small (2!). But I cannot say I've
lost: Andrew's and Jerry's answers were wide off the mark confirmed my
expectations (with the exception of Andrew's guess on the 5th quote, which
he attributed to Steedman, a neo-ricardian).

riccardo

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Riccardo Bellofiore e-mail: bellofio@cisi.unito.it
Department of Economics Tel: (39) -35- 277505 (direct)
University of Bergamo (39) -35- 277501 (dept.)
Piazza Rosate, 2 (39) -11- 5819619 (home)
I-24129 Bergamo Fax: (39) -35- 249975
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