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Transforming the Transformation Problem: Why the "New Interpretation" is a Wrong Turning
Ben Fine
Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom
Costas Lapavitsas
Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom cl5{at}soas.ac.uk
Alfredo Saad-Filho
Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom
The new interpretation (NI) offers a particular understanding of important problems in value theory, especially the value of money and labor power and the structure and dynamics of capitalist accumulation. The NI is to be welcomed for raising these issues but not for the way in which it has dealt with them. Above all, the NI falsely assumes that value is directly and immediately represented by money. The authors propose alternatives that emphasize the processes (mediations) through which value is expressed as price. They draw on an alternative methodology and understanding of money, the value of labor power, and production and circulation of capital in the context of accumulation.
Key Words: transformation problem • labor theory of value • labor power • value of money • Marxist theory of price
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Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 36, No. 1,
3-19 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0486613403261091
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