This question <545-1|36> overall <30|32> Pinky: <617|123>.  
  Question 74: Does skilled labor produce more value per hour than unskilled labor? Explain!   
  [31] Pinky: Skilled vs. unskilled labor values per hour.   In response to this dilemma, Marx theorizes that “a smaller amount of complicated labor is equal to a bigger amount of simple labor.” He states that “...the magnitude of the value of a commodity represents nothing but the quantity of labor embodied in it, ...all commodities, when taken in the right proportions, must be equal in value.” Based on this, I would believe that Marx's answer to the question would be yes. In Marx's view, one hour of unskilled labor would be equal to an hour of skilled labor because the unskilled laborer is able to turn out a larger quantity of something that, despite its lesser value, is produced in greater quantities because of the lack of skill it requires. Additionally, though one hour of work performed by a skilled laborer may produce something of greater value, because it required skill, the laborer was not able to produce as much.   
  If I have correctly interpreted Marx's theory on this subject, I disagree. There are many instances where the results of skilled labor exceed the value of unskilled labor not only on an hourly basis, but on a much larger scale. Compare the commodities produced by the surgeon and the plastic whistle assembler. The surgeon can rid a patient of a life threatening ailment. The whistle assembler can provide you (at best), hours of whistling entertainment. Even if you take the money you would have spent on one surgergy and bought all of your friends and relatives multi-colored whistles, and you all joined in on a big, beautiful whistling session like you have never known before, it can not equal the value of saving a life.   
 
 
 
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