[OPE-L:3904] Re: negative surplus-value

Allin Cottrel (cottrell@wfu.edu)
Tue, 31 Dec 1996 06:52:44 -0800 (PST)

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Jerry writes:

> Indeed, negative money like negative c, v, or s would defy the laws of
> physics.

I don't think s is in quite the same category. If the
workers were paid in advance and used their wages to buy
wage-goods out of previously existing stocks, one could
imagine a situation where the wage embodies more labour-time
than the workers actually go on to perform. But
agricultural examples aside, the working class is basically
paid in arrears, out of its own product; in that case, I
agree, negative s is strictly impossible in the aggregate.

Allin Cottrell