I am an "anyone" responding to Steve's post.
I very much like the distinction between substantive equality and numeraire
equality. It is quite clear to me that Marx *did* posit the former. I am
not too worried about the "=" sign; this is obviously literal nonsense, but
the intended meaning is clear.
Steve's question is exactly right: what does the argument gain from the
substantive equality postulate? What would the Marxian system lose as a
result of its rejection? In short: what arguments from within the political
economy of capitalism can be adduced to warrant retention of the substantive
equality argument (or, as I have called it, the value postulate)?
Now, on to Boston!
david
David Laibman