Theory of Value

[ryacku]

How does the theory of value apply to the modern digital and information economy? Afterall, as these goods can be produced nearly for free, wouldn't that sorta violate it?

Edit: Also, how does the theory of value apply to research? If a new machine requires 100 manhours to research, how are those costs valued?

[RedMaterialist]

How does the theory of value apply to the modern digital and information economy? Afterall, as these goods can be produced nearly for free, wouldn't that sorta violate it?

Human beings still have to produce these goods, although computers are used to produce almost all of it. Thus the value of these goods is quickly approaching zero. It would be better if you talked about a specific, concrete digital good, say access to the internet. It is still pretty cheap now; which is why Verizon, Google, etc. are trying to get complete control of it.


Edit: Also, how does the theory of value apply to research? If a new machine requires 100 manhours to research, how are those costs valued?

Usually, assuming no monopoly, these costs are valued at the market rate of the particular research. What would you pay an entry level computer analyst? $15 per hour? A computer scientist at a major university? $100 per hour? It all depends on competition in the research market, supply and demand, etc.

Now, if the researchers all got together, formed a union, that would be a different story. Or, as somebody once said, "Workers of the world, unite!"

[Kiev Communard]

How does the theory of value apply to the modern digital and information economy? Afterall, as these goods can be produced nearly for free, wouldn't that sorta violate it?

Edit: Also, how does the theory of value apply to research? If a new machine requires 100 manhours to research, how are those costs valued?

I would recommend you the following books - Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism (http://ifile.it/thnv1s4/cybermarx.rar) by Nick Dyer-Witherford, and Globalization, Technology, and Philosophy (http://ifile.it/uzsibo2/73960___globalization__technology__.pdf) by David Tabachnick and Toivo Koivukoski. Here the issues of implications of "Information Revolution" for Marxist economics and social theory are researched rather profoundly.

[Zanthorus]

Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism (http://ifile.it/thnv1s4/cybermarx.rar)

I haven't read that book yet but have you seen Aufheben's critique (http://libcom.org/library/aufheben/aufheben-14-2006/review-cyber-marx)?

[Kiev Communard]

I haven't read that book yet but have you seen Aufheben's critique (http://libcom.org/library/aufheben/aufheben-14-2006/review-cyber-marx)?

Thank you. I read it yesterday, and while they point out the things I agree with (the unnecessary reliance of Cyber-Marx author on Negri, in particular), I think that this book is still useful for understanding dynamics of modern "high-tech" capitalism.

[Hen]

Here's a perception of Marx's theory of labor:

"Now, correct me if I’m wrong – but wasn’t marxism discredited in 1870 with Bohm-Bawerk’s powerful treatise on Marx’s failed value system? Or was it was it when Mises finally solved the calculation debate in the 1920s?" Mattheus Von Guttenberg

Haha... :blink:

[RedMaterialist]

Here's a perception of Marx's theory of labor:

"Now, correct me if I’m wrong – but wasn’t marxism discredited in 1870 with Bohm-Bawerk’s powerful treatise on Marx’s failed value system? Or was it was it when Mises finally solved the calculation debate in the 1920s?" Mattheus Von Guttenberg

Haha... :blink:

No. it was proved again in the Great Depression and the recent Great Recession, as they are calling it. Bohm-Bawerk (who??) has been in the dustbin of history for at least 75 yrs and Mises is almost completely in it.

[ryacku]

Any chance for a cliffnotes version of marxist economics in a information economy?

[ckaihatsu]

Any chance for a cliffnotes version of marxist economics in a information economy?


The Cliffs Notes of the Cliffs Notes -- from a class-based perspective -- is this:

1. If you have to support yourself (and possibly others) and you don't have the means then you may have to sell your labor for your living.

2. The work you do will be either to manufacture goods or provide a service (or some combination of the two).

3. If you provide a service that leads to the production of information / digital goods, you're *not* in manufacturing -- you're providing a *service*.

4. Since you are *not* the owner of what you produce you do *not* have any material interests in how or where those information / digital products are distributed. Make sure you get paid for your efforts.