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The Misinterpretation of Marx's Theory of Value

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2009

Steve Keen
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Extract

The “technical” interpretation of Karl Marx's theory of value, which asserted that the concept of use-value played no role in his economics, has in recent years been shown to be ill-founded. In particular, R. Rosdolsky (1977) and S. Groll (1980) have established the importance that Marx attached to the concept of use-value in his theory of value, while I have shown that the use-value is an essential component of his analysis of the commodity, and that when properly applied, that analysis invalidates the labor theory of value (Keen 1993). This modern re-evaluation of Marx raises the question of how the traditional view developed in the first place. R. Hilferding aside, the answer does not paint a complimentary picture of the scholarship of either friend or foe of Marx in the debate over his theory of value.

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Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , Fall 1993 , pp. 282 - 300
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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