Introduction to a Class Theory of Prices
I hope to make a significant part of this blog a place to layout the thesis I am currently developing as part of my Ph.D. Dissertation in Economics. What follows is an introduction to the topic. I hope my exposition here will meet the needs of a broad audience, not necessarily requiring any specialized expertise in either economic theory, Marxian theory or price and value theory in particular…
Within this category of my blog I will develop a class-and-value theoretic understanding of capitalist commodity prices. First, I will specify a variety of market conditions in which commodities exchange at prices different from their values (by values I mean the specifically Marxist definition of values as the measure of socially necessary labor-time required to produce a commodity). In this difference between price and value, I will show how among other things, surplus labor is distributed between buyers and sellers of these commodities: distributions that participate in the reproduction of capitalist processes of the appropriation of surplus labor. Secondly, I will explore the class conditions of these price-value disparities and consider how class processes and exchange processes overdetermine one
another.
Once I have developed an understanding of the overdetermination of prices by class processes, I will proceed to consider several areas where many had previously understood Marxian theory as falling short or where some even suggested it had nothing to say. So for instance, by showing how class plays a central role in a Marxian theory of prices, I will show how the long standing discussions over the transformation of values into prices of production — what has been called the
‘transformation problem’ — has been misguided. I will also show how Marxian theory understands the gains and losses made through speculative exchange in securities markets, for example. Through the examination of exchange in securities markets, I will also offer a better understanding of the frequent formation and dissolution of speculative bubbles in such markets. I think the implications of this dissertation are quite profound: many of those implications will only become clear through the work of others who consider the theory and apply to new areas of inquiry not yet considered.
I will add and maintain a glossary of terms to aid visitors in their reading of my work. Hopefully by providing feedback, criticisms and questions I can refine my exposition to make it as clear and meaningful as possible.
Stay Tuned!