> Do you have evidence that the dispersion in organic composition
> has risen over time?
I don't have rigorous empirical evidence handy here right now, but I base
myself on personal observation and circumstantial evidence on outlays on
plant & equipment in relation to workers employed. We could compare
measurements internationally to get an idea of the relationships involved,
a project which Alan has recommended. From memory of previous research, the
magnitude of the differences between the value of constant capital employed
per worker in the West and in "Third World" countries is enormous, as are
the disparities in wages of industrial workers internationally. My hunch
would be that the tremendously uneven industrial development of the world
itself modifies the operation of the law of value, i.e. other variables
than labour time intervene in setting commodity prices and all sorts of
"unequal exchanges" occur. But it's just a hunch and I would need to do a
lot of research to verify this, research which unfortunately I am not in a
position to do at present.