Recently, I received a response to my blog about the secular rate of profit by Jehu, one of the more interesting Marxists operating online today. While I think that certain of his fixations, specifically on gold as a measure of value, are somewhat illogical, he has one of the most important political programs on the left today with his incessant drumbeat raising awareness about the need to decrease the length of the working day. His chief criticism of my blog, however, relates to this issue of gold as a measure of value, as he says what my analysis missed was how, while the rate of profit might have slightly recovered from the 70s profitability crisis in neoliberalism, the mass of profit has continued to decrease.
" Which is to say, an increase in the number of workers must also increase the mass of surplus value, assuming a constant profit share of value created. "
I am concerned with the phrase "constant profit share of value created". I think the value consumed in a cycle is C + V and the value created is C + V + S. So by "profit share of value created" I think you mean S / (C + V + S). Is that right?
Let's suppose that a rise in V (expansion of labor hours expended or of workers) so that V becomes xV where x is some multiplier greater than one.
To hold the "profit share of value created" constant means that:
S / (C + V + S) is equal to xS / (x(C' + S') + xV').
Can't a change of organic composition between those cycles both satisfy that equation and decrease the "mass of surplus value" where we understand that mass to be the amount of additional V that can be realized per unit of S?
I wonder if you are conflating the mass of surplus value with the total S?
I have a question for clarification. You wrote:
" Which is to say, an increase in the number of workers must also increase the mass of surplus value, assuming a constant profit share of value created. "
I am concerned with the phrase "constant profit share of value created". I think the value consumed in a cycle is C + V and the value created is C + V + S. So by "profit share of value created" I think you mean S / (C + V + S). Is that right?
Let's suppose that a rise in V (expansion of labor hours expended or of workers) so that V becomes xV where x is some multiplier greater than one.
To hold the "profit share of value created" constant means that:
S / (C + V + S) is equal to xS / (x(C' + S') + xV').
Can't a change of organic composition between those cycles both satisfy that equation and decrease the "mass of surplus value" where we understand that mass to be the amount of additional V that can be realized per unit of S?
I wonder if you are conflating the mass of surplus value with the total S?