THE ECONOMICS OF MARX'S GRUNDRISSE Also by Adalbert G. Lallier PEACE WITHOUT HONOUR SOUVERAINETE-ASSOCIAT ION: REALISME ECONOMIQUE OU UTOPIE? The Econotnics of Marx's Grundrisse An Annotated Summary Adalbert G. Lallier Professor of Economics Concordia University, Montreal M MACMILLAN ISBN 978-0-333-46834-0 ISBN 978-1-349-20171-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20171-6 ©Dr Adalbert G. Lallier 1989 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1989 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended), or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33--4 Alfred Place, London WClE 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1989 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Lallier, Adalbert G. 1925- The economics of Marx's Grundrisse : an annotated summary. 1. Economics. Theories of Marx, Karl, 1818-1883 I. Title II. Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. Grundrisse der kritik der politischen okonomie (Rohentwurf) 335.4'092'4 To my students, as a challenge, encouragement, and hope for a better world Contents xi Acknowledgements xiii Preface Introduction 1 1. Production 1 2. General relations of production to distribution, exchange, consumption 3 3. Method in political economy 6 4. Forces of production and relations of production 13 5. The structure of the bourgeois economy 13 PART I: ON MONEY Introduction 19 1 Money as Means of Payment 21 A. The general equivalent, its Preisverwirklichung and Verselbststiindigung 21 B. The properties of money 24 2 Money, Value, and Price. Labour Time as the General Equivalent 39 3 Money as World Money 45 1. Precious metals as money. Coin and world money. Money and trade and international trade 45 2. Gold exports and crises 56 3. Relation between money metals and commodities. Convertibility. Depreciation 58 PART II: ON CAPITAL Introduction 71 4 Money as Capital 75 vii Vlll Contents 5 The Circulation Process of Capital 79 A. The historical evolution of circulation 79 B. General concept of circulation: circulation of money and circulation of capital 81 6 Simple Exchange v. Developed Exchange 91 A. Capital and value: the process of simple exchange 91 B. Capital and value: surplus value and developed exchange: the unequal exchange between capital and labour 92 7 The Circulation of Capital 127 A. The threefold character of circulation (circulation as a total process) 127 B. The turnover of capital 131 8 Fixed Capital and Circulating Capital 145 A. Problems of definition 145 B. Fixed capital and circulating capital: additional Marxian perspective 151 C. Labour and capital (fixed capital) 156 9 Value, Surplus Value, and Profit 171 A. Marx on value 171 B. A summary of Marx's review and critique of the classicals et al. views on value, surplus value, and profit 182 C. Marx on surplus value and profit 192 PART III: MARX ON VALUE AND PRICES Introduction 205 10 Marx, the Classicals, and the Theory of Value: Conclusion 207 A. Marx on value: conclusion 218 Contents ix 11 Marx on Prices and Price Determination: Conclusion 223 A. Marx on prices: the macro-economic approach 227 B. Marx on prices: the micro-economic approach 232 C. Marx on prices: the components of price 240 Bibliography 253 Index 254 Acknowledgements The attempt to read, understand, and interpret Karl Marx's Grun drisse, which is claimed by many to be Marx's greatest work, would have been a far more difficult undertaking had it not been for the inspiration, the encouragement, the counsel, and the steadfastness of the following individuals, to whom I shall be for ever grateful: Professor Marie Lavigne, of l'Universite Paris I; Professor Peter Wiles, of the London School of Economics; Professors Jalil Ahmad and Frank Mueller, of Concordia University; Milan Gilmore, for his untiring assistance; and the following past or present graduate or undergraduate students, for their assistance in research, indexing, and proofreading: Vonnie Gilmore, Noriko Haruta; and Julie, for her devotion to the arduous task of typing the manuscript. XI