This article evaluates the new interpretation (NI) of Marxian value theory consistent with its inherent logic. The problem of double counting will be examined thoroughly. The relationship between the NI's value of labor power and bundle of wage goods will also be discussed. While the NI generally emphasizes aggregate variables, this article will demonstrate that its inherent logic implies a specific quantitative relationship on the micro level between value and price.
The 'New Interpretation' (NI) argues that Marxian value categories can be measured using price variables through the concept of monetary expression of labour time (MELT). Starting from the central insight of the NI, this paper focuses on the estimation of sectoral rates of surplus value. It will be suggested that the MELT is decomposed into two concepts, 'value expression of labour time' and 'monetary expression of value'. As a result of this theoretically general consideration, the NI will be critically examined.
In order to explain how the Korean economy underwent the structural change through the two crises of 1997-8 and 2008 within the context of globalization, this article focuses on class analysis and inter-sectoral value transfer by estimating the sectoral rates of exploitation along with the sectoral monetary expressions of labor time. Our data indicate the possibility that the expansion of unproductive activities, accompanied by intensification of exploitation within the unproductive sectors, might not have overtaken capital accumulation in Korea during 1995-2015. It can also be concluded that the condition for manufacturing's capital accumulation steadily improved since the 1997-8 crisis, but started to deteriorate after 2011. Our value-theoretic analysis provides a foundation for understanding the context of the regime change, which may plausibly characterize the Korean economy last couple of decades.
This paper tries to answer the important question: how is the “monetary expression of labor time” (MELT) determined under the inconvertible credit money system? We provide a clear definition of the inconvertible credit money system by differentiating four monetary regimes. It is argued that the dynamic between changes in the quantity of money and prices should be explained on a sectoral level. A key element in explaining this dynamic is found in the decomposition of the MELT into the “monetary expression of value” (MEV) and the “value expression of labor time” (VELT). In so doing, Marxian value theory is shown to supersede the quantity theory of money because it can explain not only the general price level, but individual prices as well.
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