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The labor theory of value has been refuted. In a market economy, prices (including the price of labor, i.e. salaries) are set by supply and demand.
by bumbledraven 10y ago
The labor theory of value has been refuted. In a market economy, prices (including the price of labor, i.e. salaries) are set by supply and demand.
- matthewowen 10y agoAnd what drives demand for labor?
- cmdrfred 10y agoI agree. Labor is just another input that a company requires in order to create its product. I would expect labor prices to be driven by similar if not the same market forces as goods. Excluding government interventions of course.
- eru 10y agoIn the short term, yes. In the longer term competition and companies/people entering/leaving the market moves demand and supply closer to something that justified by costs of production and 'value' of product. (Economists say demand and supply are elastic, I think.)
- darksim905 10y agoWhich is bullshit, all the way around :)
- nandemo 10y agoLabor theory of value claims that the value of X depends only on the amount of labor required to produce X. This theory doesn't explain how gold is more valuable than iron, or how $UNICORN is more valuable then this other startup. So it's a bad theory. matthewowen's argument is not assuming the labor theory of value is true. It's just pointing out that, other things being equal, if the demand for X increases then the demand for X-makers' labor increases too; hence X-makers' wages increase.