Marxian Theory of Value, What We Might Learn from It

Marxian Theory of Value, What We Might Learn from It

The Unoist School is unique in regarding Marxian economic theory, or the dialectic of capital, as a conceptual (and not the instrumental) theory, meaning that it does not purport to offer a kit of analytical tools useful to support a particular ideological position The dialectic is rather a definition of capitalism by capital itself, and constitutes the fixed referent- point, relative to which one may evaluate an instance of economic reality As an integral part of the dialectic of capital, value theory is important in that, if it does not tend to apply, capitalism cannot be said to exist In this paper, I claim that the pace of technical innovations in the contemporary economy exceeds the capacity of the aggregate-social capital to adjust the supply of labour-power to the demand for it, and that without the possibility of thus identifying the value of labour-power, it would be meaningless to talk about the value of any other commodity Conclusion the absence of the working of the law of value is a telltale sign that the end of the capitalist era is imminent