The Marxian theory of value says value is created by socially necessary abstract labour time. Any particular worker working on any particularly thing may, in fact, not successfully create value. But, if something has value, that value is equal to the socially necessary abstract labour time embodied in that thing ( Read more... )

I [originally called] this LJ Thinking Out Aloud because it is a way of exploring and grappling with issues. So, continuing on from this post, profit and loss can be looked at usefully from the basis of the theory of the firm. The Coasian analysis of the boundary of the firm being set by the relative transaction costs of doing things within the ( Read more... )

Here’s an historical puzzle. Slaves cannot own property, they are property. Yet slaves did, on occasion, buy their own freedom. How can someone not legally entitled to own anything assemble enough wealth to buy their own freedom ( Read more... )