Capitalist Communism: Marx’s Theory of the Distribution of Surplus-Value in Volume III of Capital

Abstract

This chapter argues that the main subject of Capital, Volume III is the distribution of surplus-value: in other words the division of the total amount of surplus-value into individual component parts, first into equal rates of profit across branches of production, followed by the further division of surplus-value into commercial profit, interest and rent. Furthermore, Marx’s analysis of the distribution of surplus-value is based on the fundamental premise that the total amount of surplus-value has already been determined by the prior analysis contained in Volume I. The main question addressed in Volume III, then, is how this pre-determined total amount of surplus-value is divided into its component parts. The analysis of these individual component parts does not in any way affect the size of total surplus-value, as this total surplus-value is taken as a pre-determined given in this analysis. The chapter reviews all seven parts of Volume III, providing substantial textual evidence for these two main assertions.