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Tag Archives: volume 3
Capital Vol. III Part III Chapter 15. Exposition of the Internal Contradictions of the Law
Capital Vol. III Part III The Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall Chapter 15. Exposition of the Internal Contradictions of the Law After two chapters of pretty straightforward exposition of the falling rate of profit … Continue reading
Posted in Kapital Vol. 3
Tagged capital, Das Kapital, falling rate of profit, harvey, kliman, marx, volume 3
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Kapital vol 3; Chapter 14. Counteracting Influences
Capital Vol. III Part III: The Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall Chapter 14. Counteracting Influences (This post is part of an ongoing project: a close reading of volume 3 of Kapital, one post per … Continue reading
Kapital vol. 3 Part 2, Chapter 11: Effects of General Wage Fluctuations on Prices of Production
After all the excitement of Chapter 10, this is a bit of a downer.
How do changes in wages effect the price of production? First we must realize that different firms will be effected differently depending on whether of not they produce at, below or above the average organic composition. Continue reading
Das Kapital vol. 3: Part 2, Chapter 12: Supplementary Remarks
A commodity’s price of production can change if the average rate of profit changes or if its individual value changes. Marx considers each separately. Continue reading
Das Kapital vol. 3 part 1 chapter 7: Supplementary Remarks
….Therefore it is easy to confuse the value-creating powers of labor with the subjective valuations that happen in exchange. We have seen, throughout these opening chapters, how that profit comes wholly from surplus value. Yet the rate of profit is modified by a variety of other factors like changes in the value of constant capital, turnover time, changes in value of labor power, etc. This is one more way in which we confuse these changes for the cause of value. We might notice that increased turnover time increases profit but this doesn’t mean that time itself creates value. We might notice that a decrease in constant capital costs causes profits to rise. But this doesn’t mean that constant capital is creating more value. Continue reading
Kapital vol. 3 part 1 chapter 6: The Effect of Price Fluctuations
We might take these themes to heart in our own time. It would be easy to blame the crisis of the 1970’s on the OPEC crisis as many historians do. It would be easy to blame our present crisis just on the sub-prime bubble, or our own oil prices. But the problems caused by these fluctuations in prices only serve to expose much more fundamental rhythms of capitalist accumulation. As in the cotton crisis we can see the capitalist class today acting as a class, through the the state, to preserve itself. Continue reading
Posted in Kapital Vol. 3, Uncategorized
Tagged appreciation, capitalist class, constant capital, cotton crisis, Das Kapital, depreciation, economics, fluctuations, marx, raw materials, surpl, surplus value, value, volume 3
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Part 1 chapter 5 Economy in Employment of Constant Capital
Marx begins by explaining that a rise in absolute surplus value will always raise the rate or profit. Remember that a change in absolute surplus value means a rise or fall in the total amount of surplus value, not a change in the rate of surplus value. A capitalist increases absolute surplus value by lengthening the working day or hiring more workers. This increases both v and s in the same proportion. Continue reading
Posted in Kapital Vol. 3
Tagged capital, constant capital, crisis, Das Kapital, economics, falling rate of profit, labor theory of value, machines, marx, productivity, surplus value, volume 3
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Das Kapital vol.3 part 1, chapter 4: The Effect of Turnover on the Rate of Profit
This chapter is written entirely by Engels. According to Engels all Marx had completed for this chapter was the title.
Turnover time does not effect any of the basic observations about the rate of profit which we have already made. But it does alter the speed at which profits are made, thus effecting the rate of profit. While this may not be the most exciting chapter ever written there are some important concepts here. Most importantly, the faster the turnover time the higher the rate of profit. This means that capital has a marked tendency to decrease the turnover time both in production and circulation. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged bohm-bawerk, capital, David Harvey, economics, engels, karl marx, labor theory of value, profit, socially neccesary, surplus value, turnover time, value, variable capital, volume 3
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Das Kapital vol.3 part1, chapter 3: The Relation of the Rate of Profit to the Rate of Surplus Value
Before we can examine the formation of a general rate of profit and the way this causes prices to diverge from values we have more examining to do of this equation for the rate of profit: s/(v+c). Continue reading
Das Kapital vol.3 Part 1 Chapter 2: The Rate of Profit
The summary which begins Chapter Two serves not only to remind us of some important details about the way in which value is produced but also ties together several details that will be essential for understanding our analysis of the law of value in the context of competing capitals. We are reminded first that surplus value is created in production but only realized in circulation. This is a crucial point as it really helps delineate the essential contours of Marx’s argument. The world of appearance is dominated by fetishism. We think that the coercive and tantalizing power of the market, that value, is manifest in commodities themselves as a result of their specific properties. We think that capital itself creates value. And we think that the process of exchange itself can create a profit. Continue reading
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