Value-form and the mystery of money

an article by Kiyoshi Nagatani (Shinshu Daigaku, Japan) published in Capital and Class Volume 44 Issue 1 (March 2020)

Abstract

Value-form is a theory Marx first developed in Capital vol.1 [aka Das Kapital] to solve the mystery of money. He seemed convinced that he had finally solved the mystery of money by reducing the money-form to the general value-form.

However, his explanation of the transition from the latter to the former with the phrase ‘by social custom’ is not satisfactory.

I consider that, as long as a logical derivation of the money-form from the general value-form is unsuccessful, the mystery of money is not yet completely solved.

I attempt first to rehabilitate the simple value-form, comparing it with real value expression in price (money-form), emphasising the distinction between the expression of value and the measure of value, and the asymmetry of the value-form. Thereby, I explain that Marx’s complicated exposition of the value-form stems from his postulate of the labour substance of value in the first chapter of Capital vol.1, which can be proved and developed later in the production process of capital.

Rehabilitation of the value-form can expose a fundamental difference between the general value-form and the money-form, and provide a logical derivation of the money-form. To achieve this aim, it is necessary to reformulate the logical structure of the theory of commodity based on the concept ‘the world of commodities’, which comes to appear more frequently as Marx’s theory of value-form advances.

Hazel’s comment:
I would have liked to understand this better by reading the full article in the Brisith Library but at the time of writing this I a confined to home – and likely to be for a couple of months by which time my curiosity wil have moved on to other things!

Labels:
equivalent_value-form, general_value-form, money_form, mystery_of_money, relative_value-form, simple_value-form,

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