| This question <56|56> overall <55|57> GDA: <30|58>. |
| Exam Question 76: Carefully explain how the “socially necessary labor-time” for the production of an article is determined. Is it the same as the time needed in the average to produce this article? |
| [56] GDA: Is all labor equal? Marx said that the value of any given commodity was the socially necessary labor time expended on it. |
| “Socially necessary labor-time” refers to the necessary amount of labor it takes to produce a good, service, what have you, in the most time efficient method available. |
| I believe Marx is referring to a scenario like this: If producer A spent 50 hours and the slowest way possible to produce a paticular good, and another, producer B, spent 10 hours and the most time efficient method possible, they would still only be able to sell said good for the same price. And the said good would have a exchange value of the necessary 10 hours, and not the 50 that it took to producer A to make it. He is just explaining why the price for both is the same. Because of the “socially necessary labor-time” and not the the actual 50 hours it took. |
| Moving on, I would say it is the same as “the time needed in the average to prodruce this article.” However, I would take a step further and say “...needed in the average ‘of all producers’ to produce this article.” |
| IF all labor was equal. :) |
| Hans: In the Annotations I argue that the socially necessary labor time is not always the average labor time. But otherwise very good! |
|
|
|||||