Value, Price, and Profit
Editor’s Preface
We live in a capitalist society. Our work and our activity in its economy are the beating heart of social life. Wrapped around them are government, education, religion and other systems of belief, popular culture, and fine arts. All these human activities are bound by strong tendons to class. Politics and culture may pull away from class, they may shift things slightly, but class contradiction snaps them back.
Karl Marx put the study of capitalism, and economic formations in general, on a scientific basis. We call this science political economy. We give it this name not so much to emphasize politics but to honor a historical term and set it off from economics. The latter is the academic field and business profession that keeps the door locked against scientific understanding of capitalism.
The labor theory of value is to political economy what the laws of molecular bonds are to chemistry. Grasp the basics, and you can see your way through practical questions about an economic development or the change of one substance into another in front of your eyes.
With the labor theory of value we understand the irreconcilable clash between the interests of workers and capitalists. We understand that capitalist crises and periods of depressed economic conditions are unavoidable. And today we know that capitalism has entered a final era of decline and degradation. Storms of upheaval approach. It is time to prepare for revolution.
Marx laid out the labor theory of value in Capital. This masterpiece is more rewarding than anyone can guess before reading it, but it is a difficult book. Is there a simpler entrance to the theory?
Yes! Marx gave a talk in 1865 to the general council of the International Workingmen’s Association, the First International.
He explained the fundamental concepts of the labor theory of value.
There are many dumbed-down expositions of the theory. One benefit of reading Value, Price and Profit instead is that you see how Marx works with the concepts. Later on, you might read Capital.
Charles Andrews
*1917 Books provides Value, Price, and Profit as a free PDF below. A printed copy is also available for purchase here.