marx Flashcards
what was marx theory on property and property incomes?
in a world of the propertied and the property less, where there is private property in land, the social order will claims marx be one of coercian and exploitation
he believes that in order to survive ie produce the subsistent food, the propertyless must have access to property. the owner will not allow this access unless it is paid for and the only means of payment is the labour of the propertyless
in an industrial economy, marx argues that the major form of property is capital. so the capitalist allows the labourers access to the capital in exchange for the profit earned by the propertyless. he believed profit was just unpaid labour . he claimed property was a coercive relationship. if the labourers are paid the full amount of their labour then the wages exhaust the net national product (NPP). if labour is not paid full amount then there is a surplus value which is exploitation according to marx
what is the fundamental marxiam theorem?
if there is zero surplus value there can be no profits and rents
what was marx view on the political economy?
he viewed the classical political economy as a theoretical manifestation of the bourgeoisie. he viewed classical economics as having three key failings:
1. the failure to explain profit on capital
2. a failure to acknowledge this historical nature of capitalism
3. an erroneous focus on exchange as opposed to production
he viewed the production process as rational whereas the market was not
what is the formal submission of work to capital?
the situation arising from the contractual relationship between labour and capital
what is the real submission to labour?
the intergration of labour into a productive process and thus being made more productive he calls real submission of labour to capital
what is the real submission to labour?
the intergration of labour into a productive process and thus being made more productive he calls real submission of labour to capitalw
what ist he surplus value?
labour produces goods whose value is superior to that of the labour
what is the value of a product according to marx?
the value of a product is assumed to be equal to the labour directly (spent actually making the product) and indirectly used to produce it (spent making the capital equipment)
he seems to have a labour theory of value with the value of a good being equal to the labour time required for its production
the value varies directly as the quantity and inversely as the productiveness of the labour incorporated in it
what is the price according to marx?
it is the money name for the labour realised in a commodity. on the one hand he assumes that the price is equal to value however he also says that even in the case of average prices the assumption cannot be made in this simple manner (not possible to make the assumption- he set one model up and now is saying something not consistent with his model)
how does marx calculate the surplus value?
he assumes that only one commodity is being produced corn. h is the labour value of a unit of corn, l is the living labour used, k is the input of seeds and v is the value of labour power ie wage for one unit of labour input. the value of output is then made up of labour used to make the product and the labour used to make the constant capital (C=hk). if l is the working day and vl is the amount of time the workers are working for themselves then l -vl is the amount of time the workers are working for the capitalists ie the surplus value
it can also be defined on a flow basis as the excess of gross receipts (sale price) over the fixed and variable costs
what is the formula for the value of the output according to marx?
value of output = surplus +variable capital used +value of fixed capital used.
what was the rate of exploitation?
any surplus was unpaid labour and therefore exploitation. marx postulated the rate of surplus value which is simply the surplus divided by the wages.
“exact expression for the degree of exploitation for the degree of exploitation of labour power by capital or of the labourer by the capitalist
he appears to assume a single rate of surplus value across all industries(no clear reason for this assumption )
what is the rate of profit according to marx?
the rate of profit is the ratio of the surplus value to the total capital advanced or rate of profit = s/k where capital expenditure is made up of fixed and circulating capital
he appears to initially assume a uniform rate of profit as he argued that goods are exchanged at production prices which are prices that give a uniform rate of profit (not necessarily true as different industries have different levels of risk) - competition will dwindle away profit according to marx (perfectly competitive markets)
what is the organic compostition fo capital?
C is for the value of the stock of durable equipment and raw material, V stands for the stock of working capital needed to pay wages
C+V =K which is the stock of capital invested. c is the dpereciation and raw material expense a v is the wage spending. the organic composition of capital is represented as q.
one flaw is he writes the composition of capital as q = c/(c+v) and then other times he writes it as c/v which is not the same.
what is the issue of changing profits with marx?
assume there are two industries which have a different organic composition of capital which means the magnitude of c and v will be different between the two industries which will affect the rate of profit as r = s / (c+v) . if the surplus per man rises, so does the rate of profit, if capital expenditure per man rises, the rate of profit falls, higher mechnasation should lead to a rate of profit falling. there is a contradiction as he assumes the rate of surplus is uniform between industries and organic composition of capital is not then the profit will also differ so there will be no different rate of profit. this is contradiction as marx argued a rate of profit would be the same across industries. if rate of surplus is the same and the capital per man changes then so must the rate of profit (arithmetic impossibility)
