Marx’s Logic in Capital and the ‘Transformation Problem’

Fred Moseley

Chapter 2 in Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal, 1998, pp 14-28 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract One of the most important controversies over volume III of Capital is of course the ‘transformation problem’ — Marx’s theory of equal rates of profit and prices of production in part 2 of volume III. This chapter argues that the long and continuing controversy over the ‘transformation problem’ has not paid sufficient attention to the precise nature of Marx’s logical method. The most common interpretation today of Marx’s theory is based on the work of Bortkiewicz (1952), Seton (1957), Morishima (1973), Steedman (1977) and so on. This interpretation of Marx’s theory will be referred to here as the ‘neo-Ricardian’ interpretation. The logical method attributed to Marx’s theory by this interpretation is essentially the same as Sraffa’s theory, that is, the method of linear production theory. This chapter argues that the logical method of linear production theory differs in fundamental respects from Marx’s own logical method and that the neo-Ricardian criticisms of Marx’s theory do not apply to Marx’s theory, but instead are a misguided attempt to interpret Marx’s theory in terms of linear production theory.

Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-26121-5_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781349261215

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-26121-5_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().