Attempts to use commodities to construct theories of value and use such value theory to claim that, in capitalism, commodities can be exploited, just like labour is, rest on two conceptual aws: (a) failure to distinguish between labour and labour-power; and (b) failure to distinguish...

The Marxian labour theory of value considers labour as the only substance of value. The generalized commodity exploitation theorem (GCET) purports to demonstrate that many other commodities can be substances of value. This note argues that the GCET is based on two conceptual aws: (a) failure to...

This paper analyses the normative and positive foundations of the theory of exploitation as the unequal exchange of labour (UEL). The key intuitions behind all of the main approaches to UEL exploitation are explicitly analysed as a series of formal claims in a general economic environment. It is...

This paper tries to clarify the logical structure of the relationship between labour values and prices from an axiomatic perspective. The famous 'transformation problem' is interpreted as an impossibility result for a specific interpretation of value theory based on specific assumptions and...