Negative Surplus Value

[bezdomni]

In Kapital, Marx describes how surplus value is created by the exchange of money for a commodity, and then the exchange of that commodity for more money than the original purchse.

The formula for this (that Marx gave) is M-C-M'
Where M' - dM

To cut the crap out of the equation, let's just write it like this. M-C-(M+dM)

Marx only discusses this when dM is an increase of value, but what happens when it is a decrase? Is value the value of a commodity "lost"?

For example; I buy 10 pounds of cotton for $20, I then sell the cotton for $15 dollars.

There is a decrase in surplus value, which I rarely hear people talk about. If the commodity is labor, does that mean the worker who sold the labor ends up "wining"? What would be the implications of a massive loss of SurpVal?

Does this even have anything to do with anything? :rolleyes:

[ComradeRed]

Well, remember that if you are a capitalist, say a cotton plantation owner, and you sell it for less than it costs you, that you would layoff workers and sell some of the means of production.

It also depends on if you have some hoarded surplus value or not ;) if I have $20000 in the bank from previous surplus value, losing $5 won't hurt me none.

If you take the time derivative of the (change of the composition of capital with respect to the change of the value), you would get the sign of the surplus value I think; I just thought about it. I'd still need to work it out ;).

Oh, I got it, the circulation of commodities occurs between a time duration of t, so if we use:
<M, dM | t, C | M> (bra-ket notation from quantum mechanics, read like chinese (right to left)) = "With an initial sum M, getting C through a total time of t, there is the result of M+dM (for someone)"
= <M,dM|t|C><C|t|M>
= "We start with C, then in an exchange of time t, we get M+dM" from the capitalist perspective, of course, multiplied by "We start with a sum M, then through some time t, we exchange it for C" Which gives us Marx&#39;s relationship M->C->M&#39;.

But if we take the time derivative of the propagator (the <M,dM|t, C| M> thingy), we get the sign of the surplus value ;)

I hope that through this abstract nonsense, I have somehow enlightened you on this question :D

[bezdomni]

Yeah, that makes sense.

I remembered bracket notation from when I did a short study and report on Schrodenger&#39;s Equation for physics.