Socialism Series Episode 12: Marx IV, Capital Vol. 1
Added 2022-12-28 01:11:07 +0000 UTCThis is the fourth and final episode I will do on Karl Marx. In it, I walk you through his magnum opus, Capital.
Comments
This is confusing to me, why would the demand for corn depend on the number of workers? As you note, the workers are indeed consumers but they were already consumers even before they became workers. Their demand/consumption of corn doesn't change when they suddenly become workers.
Q
2023-01-19 17:46:46 +0000 UTCHi Matt. The only thing I'd say is that, in a closed society, if you double the amount of workers and land in order to double the supply of corn, you also double the demand for corn, as the workers are also consumers.
2023-01-03 10:51:33 +0000 UTCHey Matt thanks for another great episode! Always appreciate your no-bullshit approach and I agree with your critique at the end. I’m just still a little fuzzy on the SNLT vs supply and demand thing. I remember thinking the labor theory of value holds supply and demand constant (or in equilibrium? Are those the same thing?) for the purpose of describing an abstract tendency, which as you say it seems like it does. Although I’m not sure if that came from the David Harvey lectures I watched way back when or whether I just inserted that myself to make sense of it. As you say towards the end it seems like whether LTV is literally correct is only relevant for Marx’s crisis theory stuff. My understanding is that Marx claims machines cannot create value only transfer it and therefore as production becomes more capital intensive there is a “tendency for the rate of profit to decline.” I always had trouble wrapping my head around this point. Definitely looking forward to your explainers on more contemporary Marxist economists! Although I have to say I would rather hear you explain Vol 2 and 3 in a couple hours than listen to David Harvey do like 15 lectures on it. But I understand why you want to move on from Marx lol.
Chance Walker
2022-12-29 18:13:57 +0000 UTC
