scholarly journals Zur Aktualität Sraffas

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (94) ◽  
pp. 143-165
Author(s):  
Klaus Schabacker

Sraffa's Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities shows a system of price equations which requires an exogenous determination either of the wage rate or the rate of profit. The fault of classical, Marxian and early neoclassical theory lies within their attempt to derive a rate of profit from a given magnitude called capital. The rate of profit is conceived of as a concept of production. Both, the modern Neoclassics and Sraffa, reject such a view. The former resolves the problem of determining the rate of profit into an intertemporal equilibrium of prices and regards the Sraffanian theory of value as a special case of a general equilibrium. This paper argues that, on the contrary, Sraffa has proposed an alternative approach to the theory of price determination, because he suggests that the rate of profit should be derived from the rate of interest on money. The latter may forma part of a monetary theory, which can cope with the problem of unemployment while neoclassiscal theory submits the problem of employment to a theory of allocation.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas K. Rymes

In The General Theory, John Maynard Keynes broke with the quantity theory of money, not just in working out a monetary theory of production but, as he says, in arguing the case for a monetary theory of value. Keynes writes (CW, 7, pp. xxii-xxiii):A monetary economy, we shall find, is essentially one in which changing views about the future are capable of influencing the quantity of employment and not merely its direction. But our method of analyzing the economic behaviour of the present under the influence of changing ideas about the future is one which depends on the interaction of supply and demand, and is in this way linked up with our fundamental theory of value. We are thus led to a more general theory, which includes the classical theory with which we are familiar, as a special case.


1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (110) ◽  
pp. 139-162
Author(s):  
Eckhard Hein

In Marxian economic analysis, especially in the theories of accumulation and crisis, money and a monetary rate of interest are usually introduced as only modifying elements after the dominant tendencies have been derived from real analysis. Contrary to such an interpretation this paper starts from the observation that there is solid ground for monetary analysis in Marx’s economics especially if his theory of value is understood as a monetary theory of value. The role of credit and the relation between the interest rate and the rate of profit in Marx’s theory are discussed and compared to post-keynesian approaches. Finally, the implications of Marx’s monetary analysis for the theory of capital accumulation are analysed and it is shown that no general laws of accumulation can be derived when the independence of accumulation from savings in a credit-money-economy and the effects of an exogenously determined rate of interest are introduced.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-46

Michael Heinrich, one of the leading Marx scholars, provides a general introduction into Das Kapital with emphasis on the latest interpretations of it. The circumstances surrounding its writing and publication are shown to have interfered with an adequate appreciation of it. The formal structure and organization of the first volume are obstacles to readers and demand much from their education and intellect. The article summarizes the basic trajectories of Marx’s criticisms of political economy, including the critique of naturalizing social forms arising under capitalism and Marx’s original monetary theory of value. The author disentangles Marx’s Das Kapital from views mistakenly ascribed to it, such as the idea that value is determined solely by labor and the prediction of pauperization of the masses. First, Marx’s theory of value goes well beyond explaining prices under capitalism. Second, his main prophecy concerned the inevitable growth of inequality between the masters of capital and the employed classes and did not forecast impoverishment. The paper also points out that the sequence of publication of different volumes of Das Kapital caused lacunae in interpreting Marx’s oeuvre. For instance Engels’ efforts made the third volume more accessible to readers but also obscured the overall pattern of Marx’s thinking. the article shows that Das Kapital was a dynamic and fluctuating project to such an extent that Marx himself several times revisited his views of the causes of economic crises and falling profits and also intended to deal extensively with ecological issues. Reaching an adequate understanding of the theory contained in Das Kapital cannot depend on the manuscripts of those volumes alone. Marx’s notebooks, which have only recently published, are an indispensable aid to understanding it.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-60
Author(s):  
Paula Maria Rauhala

Abstract Proponents of a monetary interpretation of Marx’s theory of value (monetäre Werttheorie) argue that one cannot estimate the amounts of socially necessary labour time that lie behind the prices, an interpretation usually ascribed to the West German Neue Marx‑Lektüre. As Hans-Georg Backhaus began fleshing out his monetary interpretation in the early 1970s, he referred explicitly to debate among economists in early‑1960s East Germany about the possibility of estimating quantities of labour value in terms of commodities’ labour content. In fact, scholars who articulated a powerful position in the latter discussion closely approximated the Neue Marx-Lektüre’s ‘monetary interpretation’. They held that expressing labour value in terms of labour time is impossible: the substance of value is not a measurable quantity of labour time but, rather, a social relation. Hence, it is problematic that Neue Marx-Lektüre adherents today should maintain an inaccurate contrast between their reading of Capital and that of ‘traditional Marxism’.


Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kivotidis

This paper is a contribution to the argument that Engels’s work remains topical and may provide us with the analytical tools necessary to approach contemporary manifestations of capitalist contradictions. Based on Engels’s work on political economy (with emphasis on his contribution to the labour theory of value and the articulation of the law on the tendency of the rate of profit to fall) it will critically review the concept of “surveillance capitalism” as developed by Shoshana Zuboff, in order to explain central aspects of the process of digital surveillance. In particular, it will criticise the view expressed by Zuboff that surveillance capitalism constitutes a break with capitalism’s past and can be tamed through an enhancement of democratic accountability and regulation. Marxist contributions to the critique of digital surveillance have already approached this phenomenon in a many-sided manner. This paper builds upon these contributions and suggests that the exponential growth of digital platforms can be explained as a direct result of the development of capitalist contradictions, especially the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production as expressed in the law of the falling rate of profit.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Gan ◽  
Wanbo Lu

As an important tool in theoretical economics, Bellman equation is very powerful in solving optimization problems of discrete time and is frequently used in monetary theory. Because there is not a general method to solve this problem in monetary theory, it is hard to grasp the setting and solution of Bellman equation and easy to reach wrong conclusions. In this paper, we discuss the rules and problems that should be paid attention to when incorporating money into general equilibrium models. A general setting and solution of Bellman equation in monetary theory are provided. The proposed method is clear, is easy to grasp, is generalized, and always leads to the correct results.


Humanomics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Abdullah

Purpose The purpose of this research is to present an Islamic monetary theory of value by analyzing real prices and real money in terms of gold and silver in Egypt from 696 to 1517, a period of 821 years from the Umayyads to the Abbasids. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a quantitative empirical investigation derived from a full population of secondary data to deductively evaluate the measure and store of value functions of money, to affirm an Islamic monetary theory of value, which is also inductively researched through a qualitative interpretation of documentary and content analysis of Islamic and numismatic literature. Findings The Islamic monetary theory of value leads to an Islamic equation of exchange that reconfirms the outcome of this research, where a high value of money ensures low constant real prices over the long term. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on an empirical investigation involving a single price of wheat series as a reasonable proxy for changes in wholesale commodity prices generally, which was successfully adopted by other studies. Practical implications The significance for modern monetary policy is that monetary authorities should adopt an Islamic monetary theory of value to achieve genuine monetary and price stability. Social implications Through an Islamic equation of exchange, price stability would ensure real economic growth that protects wealth for holders of money due to a stable purchasing power, and combined with Islamic equity finance, more efficiency in allocating investible resources to increase gross domestic product and employment. Originality/value The Islamic monetary theory of value ensures that there is no transfer or confiscation of wealth through inflation, which would impart gains to the issuer due to the excessive supply of money in relation to demand.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-207
Author(s):  
Harald Hagemann

The paper points out that capital theory has always been a hotly debated subject, partly because the theoretical issues involved are very complex, and partly because rival ideologies and value systems directly affect the issues discussed. The focus is on the history, the main protagonists, and the relevant problems examined and argued about during the two Cambridges controversy on the theory of capital which was at its peak 50 years ago. Whereas one clear result of these debates is that neither Samuelson's surrogate production function nor Solow's rate-of-return concept could resurrect aggregate neoclassical theory, many other questions, such as the treatment of capital in temporary or intertemporal general equilibrium models or the empirical relevance of the reswitching phenomenon, are still discussed controversially.


2021 ◽  
pp. 123-155
Author(s):  
Carlos Arturo Gómez Restrepo

This paper studies the theoretical contributions of both The School of Salamanca and The Austrian School regarding the theory of value, capital theory and monetary theory. This study permits to understrud the failure of the economic analysis of the mainstream based on the equilibrium, simmetric information, and the narrow concepts of perfect competion and rationality, among others. Key words: School of Salamanca, Austrian School, free market, theory of capital and interest, value theory, monetary theory. JEL codes: B11, B25, B53. Resumen: En este artículo se muestran los concurrentes desarrollos teóricos de la Escuela de Salamanca y de la Escuela Austriaca de Economía, que para efectos de su análisis se agrupan en tres teorías enmarcadas dentro de la concepción del libre mercado: La teoría del valor, la teoría del capital y del interés, y la teoría monetaria, y que permiten evidenciar los fallos del análisis económico de problemas actuales, realizado por la denominada «corriente principal», y desarrollados a partir de los supuestos de mercado en equilibrio, información simétrica, competencia perfecta, y racionalidad económica, entre otros. Palabras clave: Escuela de Salamanca, Escuela Austriaca de Economía, libre mercado, teoría del capital y del interés, teoría del valor, teoría monetaria. Códigos JEL: B11, B25, B53.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document