Valore e costo reale di produzione. Un riesame del problema, dopo la "New Value Controversy"

Has the Marxian concept of economic value an objective foundation? In the light of the "New Value Controversy" which opposed neo-Marxist and Sraffian theorists, the author of this essay, a critical Marxist, reconsiders Marx’s labour theory of value. Attention is paid to the Marxian analysis of capital, value and surplus value. The truthfulness of the crucial but unproven Marxian assumption of equality of new value and living labour is questioned. A matrix model describing the productive structure of a capitalist system is used for this purpose. Marx’s labour theory of value is then examined in relation to the theories of capital and investment, which deal with value in process. Some recent suggestions to improve the reckoning of real costs of production are analysed. A draft of a labour-and-capital theory of value is outlined. And as a measure of value a "monetary expression of value" (MEV) is proposed, instead of the "monetary expression of labour time" (MELT).