The market and exploitation in Marx's economic theory: a reinterpretation

Abstract

Adopting the view that Marx's notion of 'commodity' has a wider reach than is usually supposed, and that it is this notion, rather than a 'labour theory of value' that is the cornerstone of his economic theory, this paper shows that Marx's account of capitalist exploitation is one that accords equal priority to the production and market domains. Central to this demonstration is an unorthodox explanation as to why Marx posits two alternative rules of prices in Capital.