Exploitation: A Modern Approach

Abstract

Political economists who have abandoned the Marxian labor theory of value during the past few decades due to logical inconsistencies have failed to replace it with a logically sound theory that explains how and why the employment relationship is almost always exploitative even when labor markets are competitive. This article argues for a sacrifice-based theory of economic justice rather than the contribution-based theory implicit in the Marxian labor theory of value and uses a simple theoretical framework to explain not only why the employment relationship is exploitative but also why credit relations and goods trading can be exploitative as well.