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KARL MARX FREDERICK ENGELS COLLECTED WORKS VOLUME 29
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COLLECTED WORKS
Volume 29
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KARL MARX: 1 857-6 1
INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
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INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS NEW YORK •
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This volume has been prepared jointly by Lawrence & Wishart Ltd., London, International Publishers Co. Inc., New York, and Progress Publishers, Moscow, in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism Leninism, Moscow. Editorial commissions: GREAT BRITAIN: Eric Hobsbawm, John Hoffman, Nicholas Jacobs, Monty Johnstone, Martin Milligan, Jeff Skelley, Ernst Wangermann. USA: Louis Diskin, Philip S. Foner, James E. Jackson, Leonard B. Levenson, Victor Perlo, Betty Smith, Dirk J. Struik. USSR: for Progress Publishers-A. K. Avelichev, N. P. Karmanova, V. N. Sedikh, M. K. Shcheglova; for the Institute of Marxism-Leninism L. I. Golman, A. I. Malysh, P. N. Fedoseyev, M. P. Mchedlov, V. N. Pospelova, G. L. Smirnov.
Contents
Copyright (C) Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1987
Preface
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K AR L M AR X ECONOMIC WORKS
1857-1861 ECONOMIC MANUSCRIPTS OF 1857-58
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Marx, Karl, 1 8 1 8- 1 883 Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: collected works. 1. Socialism-Collected works. 2. Economics Collected works. I. Engels, Friedrich, 1 820- 1 895. Works. English. 1975. II. Title. 73-84671 335.4 HX 39. 5. A 1 6 1975 ISBN 0-7 1 78-0529-8 (v. 29)
(First Version of Capital) ' Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy ( Rough Draft of 1857-58) [Second Instalment] ...........................................................
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[III. Chapter on Capital] .................................................................. .
[Section Two. Circulation Process of Capital. Conclusion] .............. .
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[Fixed and Circulating Capital] .................................................... .. [Fixed Capital and the Development of the Productive Forces of Society] ................................................................................... .
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Section Three. Capital as Bearing Fruit. Interest. Profit. ( Produc•
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Contents
VI I Value Gold-Weighing Machines
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Part O ne ........
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Preface
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Book O ne. O n Capital .......................................................................
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Section O ne. Capital in General .......................................................
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Chapter O ne. The Commodity .......................................................... A. Historical Notes on the Analysis of Commodities ...................... Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation ..................................
1. Measure of Value
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B. Theories of the Standard of Money ........................................
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2. Medium of Exchange ..........................................................
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a. The Metamorphosis of Commodities
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b. The Circulation of Money ...............................................
c. Coins. Tokens of Value
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a. Hoarding
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b. �feans of Payment c. World Money
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4. The Precious Metals
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C. Theories of the Medium of Circulation and of Money ...........
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Chapter Three. Capital .....................................................................
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A) The Process of Production of Capital .....................................
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1. The Transformation of Money into Capital ........................
7 Notebooks
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Invariable Va,lue of Money ...............................................................
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Money as Money (World Coin, etc.) .................................................
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Draft Plan of the Chapter on Capital ..................................................
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I) Value .......................................................................................
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II) Money
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III) Capital in General ..................................................................
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The O riginal Text of the Second and the Beginning of the Third Chapter of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy ..........
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[Chapter Two. Money] ......................................................................
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[2. Money as Means of Payment] .............................................. 3. Money as International Means of Payment and Purchase, .
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II. Circulation Process of Capital ...................................................
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References to My Own Notebooks .......................................................
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5. The Manifestation of the Law of Appropriation in the Simple Circulation .. . . . . Transltlon to C aplta · I ............................................................ .................
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NOTES AND INDEXES
Notes ..................................................... Name Index ............................................................................................. Index of Quoted and Mentioned Literature ............................................... Index of Periodicals ................................................................................. Subject Index ........................ �..................................................................
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ILLUSTRATIONS
32 of Notebook VI with the Outlines of the Critique of Political
Economy
Title page of the first edition of A Contribution to the Critique of
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Political Economy ................................................................
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FROM THE PREPARATORY MATERIALS Index to the
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TRANSLATORS: VICTOR SCHNITTKE: Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy; Index to the 7 Notebooks YURI SDOBNIKOV: The Original Text of the Second and the Beginning of the Third Chapter of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy;
Additional Notes; Draft Plan of the Chapter on Capital; References to My Own Notebooks
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Preface
Volume 29 of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels contains writings belonging to the cycle of Marx's economic works of 1 857- 1 86 1 . They include: the concluding part of the manuscript of 1 857-58 Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft); A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy and preparatory materials to it; two drafts of the Index to the 7 Notebooks; the original text of the second and the beginning of the third chapter of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy; a Draft Plan of the Chapter on Capital and the References to My Own Notebooks. Together with the manuscripts included in Volume 28 of the present edition these writings represent a definite stage in the shaping of Marxist political economy, a highly important preparatory period in the creation of Marx's main work, Capital. The concluding part of the economic manuscript of 1 857-58, with which the volume begins, embraces the end of the Chapter on Capital, namely the final subsections of Section Two, "Circula tion Process of Capital", and Section Three, "Capital as Bearing Fruit. Interest. Profit. (Production Costs, etc.} ", of which Marx only wrote the beginning. The seventh and last notebook of this manuscript also includes the "Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital", which are very extensive and significant in content. This part of the manuscript deals mainly with the circulation of capital .. Marx's novel approach to this problem compared with the way in which it was dealt with by bourgeois economists is manifested first and foremost in his considering production and circulation of capital as a dialectical unity. The functioning of capital, he stresses, represents a continuous movement, a constant •
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transition from one state to another, a variation and change of form. "This change of form and substance is similar to that in an organic body" (see p. 5 1 of this volume). In considering the circuit of capital, Marx traces the metamorphoses of its components: fixed capital (value of the instruments of production) and circulating capital (value of the raw materials and labour power). He shows that the first transfers its value to the product in parts, whereas the value of the second is reproduced in the product entirely. Taking these specifics into account, Marx establishes the relation between the time required for circulation and the time required for the production of the commodity, determines the effect of this relation on the rate of surplus value, and reveals other aspects of the law-governed connection between the various phases and forms of the move ment of social capital. In capital's circuit Marx singles out the exchange between capital and labour power, calling this the "lesser circulation". It is precisely at this stage that circulation of capital appears as an "exchange of equivalents which . is posited in form, but actually supersedes itself, which posits itself as merely formal (the transition of value into capital, where the exchange of equivalents turns into its opposite and, on the basis of exchange, exchange becomes purely formal, AND THE MUTUALITY IS ALL ON ONE SIDE) ... " (see p. 63). The very growth of capital, its valorisation, Marx again stresses, takes place in the sphere of exchange between capital and labour power through the appropriation of the surplus value produced by the worker. Exchange is here transformed into "the alienation of his labour" (see p. 64). For this reason Marx regards "lesser circulation" as the decisive link in capital's circuit, the link which determines all the others, as the substance of the whole process, the basic condition of the existence of the capitali3t mode of production. The specifics of capital's circuit determine the various ways in which capitalist income is formed and distributed, and the source of all kinds of capitalist income, as Marx proves, is surplus value. In Section Three of the Chapter on Capital Marx endeavoured to sum up the results of his analysis of the transformation of surplus value into profit and other forms of non-earned income (interest, etc.). He formulated here "the 2 immediate laws manifested to us by this conversion of surplus value into the form of profit" (see p. 146). The first of these laws is that the rate of profit is always less than the rate of surplus value. The second law that the rate of profit tends to decrease is characterised by Marx as the "most important law" of modern political economy, a law which, "despite
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.. en be as less till . � and ped gras been r neve has .. ty, . � lici simp its . h wit IS la � t ed lmk rx Ma 3). 13 (see p. d" late mu for ',V y usl cio cons . . the WIt Ity, u � ctIv rod our m lab e s re inc the � an ss gre pro y al nic � h tec . n of capital, wit. h the qUIcker change in the orgamc comp�SItIO . growth of its constant part, whICh cOI?pns� s the valu<;: of the. means the With son pan m com ls, ena mat raw the and n tio duc pro f s to pay for .labour pow�r. �ariable part, i.e. , the part whichregoe nly essa nec ital t cap stan con of sha the of ease incr tive rela This leads, as Marx shows, to a fall in the rate of profi,� , although �he amount of surplus value constantly increases due to the expanSIOn of capitalist production. . t t decrease In Marx's opinion, the tendency of the rate of �rofi ? gives rise, among other things, to the growmg dIscrepancy between the development of society's productive forces and the bourgeois relations of production, and this discrepancy inevitably leads to economIC cnses. His analysis of the transformation of. surplus val� e into prof�t here, as in other parts of the manuscnpt where thIS problem IS dealt with, led Marx to the understandmg of the law of average profit and the price of production, which regulates the . distri�u tion of surplus value between branches of productIon with different organic composition of capital. However, the study �f this process, as well as the investigation of the origin and econo�IC nature of the other converted forms of surplus value (commerCIal profit, interest, ground rent), was far �rom bei�g comp�eted in the first version of Capital. Marx contmued hIS analYSIS of these problems in his subsequent writings a.nd it was iI?- hi� . EconoI?ic Manuscripts of 1 86 1 - 1 863 that he achIeved the SCIentIfIc solutIon of many problems facing him in this connection (see present edition, Vols 30- 34) . Marx devoted serious attention in his manuscript to scientific and technical progress and its influence on production. He . noted capitalism'S inherent striving not only to constant expanSIOn . of production, but also to its technical improvement, to mechamsa tion and automation and to the application of scientific discoveries and inventions for this purpose. Looking into the future, he pointed out that this tendency leads to increasing transforrr;t ation of "the production process from the simple labour process mto a . scientif ic process, one forcing the powers of Nature into its service and tlm's p. 86) . At the same time Marx revealed the contradictory features in the application of science to production under capita!ism. He showed that under capitalism technical progress is subordmated to •
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the interests of increasing absolute and relative surplus value. The results of technical progress frequently turn against the immediate producers, from a means of easing labour technical progress becomes an instrument of its intensification, furthering the subordination of living labour to capital and turning the worker himself into an appendage of the machine. "The activity of the worker, restricted to a mere abstraction of activity, is determined and governed in every respect by the movement of the machinery, not vice versa" (see pp. 82-83). Capitalist relations with their inherent antagonistic contradic tions, Marx stressed, stimulate scientific and technical progress one-sidedly, limiting to a certain degree their harmonious and all-round development and the utilisation of scientific and technical achievements in the interests of all members of society. From the fact that machine production is the true basis of capitalism, Marx writes, "it in no way follows that its subsuming under the social relation of capital is the most appropriate and best social production relation for the application of machinery" (see p. 85). Elsewhere he points out: "Beyond a certain point, the development of the productive forces becomes a barrier to capital, and consequently the relation of capital becomes a bar rier to the development of the productive forces of labour" (see p. 1 33). The conclusion to be drawn from these arguments is obvious: only the communist system will give full scope to scientific and technical progress, only under the communist system will full development be given to the tendency towards the transforma tion of science, knowledge into an "immediate productive force" (see p. 92) . The application of science to production will really become a lever for satisfying the requirements of the working people and for saving labour time not for the purpose of increasing the capitalists' profit but for the benefit of society as a whole. With the establishment of communism Marx linked the elimina tion of that phenomenon inherent in class-antagonistic social formations which he designated as the alienation of labour. In his economic writings of the time, above all in the �tlines of the Critique of Political Economy, Marx continues to use the concept of "alienation" (in the original "Entausserung", "Verausserung") or "estrangement" ("Entfremdung"), although here in his analysis of economic relations this concept no longer plays such a universal role as in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1 844. The sphere of application of this category became less broad and more
of em the syst out ked wor had n he whe time the from nite defi the of on rati ope e cret con the g alin reve ts cep con ic nom eco mechanism of capitalist exploitation. However, Marx considered this broad concept quite suitable and accurately expressing the existing reality for a philosophical generalisation of the exploiter essence of the capitalist system and the destitution of those who produce the material values, in the first place, of the wage workers . Treating alienation as a historical category, he ex pounded its essence and peculiarity in capitalist society. Marx sees in the transformation of the conditions and products of labour into something alien and hostile to the work�r a p� ofound distortion. of the social nature of labour, a mamfestatIon of the glarmg contradiction between the social character of production itself in the capitalist epoch and the appropriation of its fruits by property-owners . Ma.rx stresses t�at capitalism · is a system un�er which "social wealth m huger portIons confronts labour as an ahen and dominating force" (see p. 209) . The emphasis is laid not on the mighty potential of social labour, its capacity to materialise or objectify natural resources, but on its "alienation ", on the fact that "this enormous power" belongs "not to the worker, but to the personified conditions of production, i.e. to capital" (p. 2 10). Seeing alienated labour under capitalism as the extreme form of alienation in general, Marx considered it a historically transient, temporary phenomenon. When capitalist production is replaced by collective production, he pointed out, the sources of all alienation of labour will be eliminated, the perversion of its social character will be overcome. On the basis of collective production there will be created the material preconditions not only for the powerful growth of the productive forces of society as a whole, but also for the integral and all-round c;levelopment of every worker. This, and not an increase in surplus time, will be the purpose of saving labour time under communism. On the other hand, leisure time will in its turn be a most important factor of social progress. It will broaden people's outlook and knowledge, giving them access to all the achievements of world culture, which is bound to have a favourable effect on their role in production too. "The saving of labour time," Marx wrote, "is equivalent to the increase of free time, i.e. time for the full development of the individual, which itself, as the greatest productive force, in turn reacts upon the productive power of labour. From the standpoint of the im mediate production process, it can be considered as the produc tion of fixed caPita� this fixed capital BEING MAN HIMSELF" (see p. 97 of this volume).
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is th in d he is bl pu s ng ti ri w ' ic om on ec s x ar M of The next series e th to n io ut ib tr on C A k or w s hi h it w d te volume is directly connec d he is � b pu as w ch hi w of rt pa t rs fi Critique of Political Economy, the e th m k ar m nd la a as w It 9. 85 1 of er in book form in the summ r fo ic bl pu e ad m x ar M at th ok bo is history of Marxism. It was in th he T . ch ar se re al tic re eo th s hi of gs in the first time some of the find s io ct se g in nd po es rr co e � th of n io at or ab book was not merely an el S hI ed en ep de d an ed ch ri en x ar M it In t. ip of the 1 85 7- 58 manuscr e th e ad m d an ed ys al an he ns understanding of the questio in e th gh ou lth A . ic at em st sy d an ed exposition more streamlin to is ys al an s hi e in nf co to m hi ed lig ob l ia er at creased bulk of the m ch ea to r te ap ch l ia ec sp a g tin vo de the commodity and money, ), xt te l na fi e � t in d ud cl in t no as w l ita ap � subject (the Chapter on C s m le ob pr r Jo m C, sl ba e th ed ac . n the exposition nevertheless embr hI. h serve� as �Its fou ?datio of political economy, the elements W � y B es n go te ca Its l al g m ys al an r fo e : ur . and points of depart nS tiO SI pO w ne lly ta en am nd fu om fr elucidating these problems , es r � ct do ic m on ec s oi ge ur � bo f e � os ? radically different from th al ic ht po of s sI ba ry ve e th d se m tio lu vo re Marx in substance .m economy as a SCIence. k ol V as D er ap sp w ne e th in ok bo s x' In his review of Mar ns ea m no by as w e os rp pu its at th t ou d te in po August 1 85 9, Engels e th n O n. io at ol is in r he ot or e su is ic "a discussion of some econom ic at em st sy a ve gi to ed gn si de g in nn gi be contrary, it is from the nt re he co a d an y om on ec al ic lit po of ex pl m co resume of the whole d an n tio uc od pr s oi ge ur bo g in rn ve go elaboration of the laws e qu iti cr a e tim e m sa e th at is n io at or ab el s hi .mg but bourgeois exchange. T th no e ar ts is om on ec r fo e, ur at er lit of all economic n, io it ed t en es pr ee (s s" w la e es th r fo ts is og interpreters of and apol . . . Vol . 16, p. 472 ). . e hq n C e th n to h bu tn � on C A of t pa � t rs � Marx' s preface to the fi ti re eo th d an al gI lo do ho et m l na io pt � ce ex of of Political Economy is e t � n ee tw be k lm � n ou � o pr e ,th s al ve . alIs cal significance. In it he re en at m d an al tic ec al dI e th of ns tio da un general philosophical fo � ci so of s w la l ra ne ge e th of ng di an tic world outlook, the u nderst c om on ec g i ys al an � of d ho et m ? ic if nt ie development and the sc s h of y Or St hI e th of � ey rv su e is phenomena. By giving a conc c m ga or an d te en es pr re ey th at th ed ow economic studies Marx sh he T . ity tiv ac y ar on ti lu vo re al tic ac pr d an al tic part of all his theore ry na tio lu vo re e th of t en em el nt ne po .m all the others. development of each com ss re og pr ed at ul im st d an ed in rm te doctrine de of n tio sa ri te ac ar ch e th is e ac ef pr e th The most valuable part of by ed er ov sc di y or st hi of on ti ep nc co t lis ia er the essence of the mat •
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�arx " The def,in�tion given here by Marx of the essence of histoncal matenah�m reflected a new and higher stage in the development <;>f hIS theory of the historical process since that , the form of a harmonious theory , was . fIrst expounded m concepti
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and its history". In so doing he "indicated the way to a scientific study of history as a single process which, with all its immense variety and contradictoriness, is governed by definite laws" (V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2 1 , pp. 55, 57). In his book Marx applied the method of materialist dialectics to the study of economic problems in all their aspects, in particular to analysing the commodity, labour, value and money. Unlike the bourgeois economists, who considered the commodity and value eternal and natural categories, Marx shows their historically transient character. He notes that the product only takes the form of a commodity under definite social relations, that commodity production appears at a certain historical stage and passes through various stages in its development from simple commodity produc tion to the capitalist type. Marx considers the commodity as an elementary particle of capitalist society, the "unit" of bourgeois wealth. He stresses that it is necessary to study the commodity in order to elucidate the very nature of the contradictions which manifest themselves in a more complex and developed form in capital. Economists prior to Marx had already noted the dual character of the commodity as use value and exchange value, but they were unable to clarify their actual correlation. Marx in his analysis was the first to establish that use value and exchange value form a contradictory unity reflecting the really existing contradiction between the private and social labour of the commodity producers. Analysing the commodity, Marx discovered that the contradiction . inherent in the commodity is conditioned by the contradictory character of the labour expended on its production. Here Marx formulated with great precision the proposition concerning the dual character of labour embodied in the commodity (concrete labour and abstract, general labour) which he had already established in his manuscript of 1 857-58. In his own words, this discovery was the "point of departure" which made it possible to explain the true nature of value and a number of other most important categories of political economy. Basing himself on his study of the commodity and labour and proceeding from the conclusions he had drawn in 1 857-58, Marx developed his theory of value. Sharing the view held by the classics of bourgeois political economy on labour as the source of value, he went further than his predecessors in analysing the nature of value, clarifying the qualitative nature and the specifics of the labour which creates it. He showed that value is the embodiment of abstract, socially necessary labour, which is its measure. By his
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theory of value Marx provided the premisses for understanding how surplus value arises in the process of exchange between labour and cap ital. It was i-? this book that Marx for the first time clearly disclosed the meanmg of the phenomenon which he later described in Capital as "co�modity fetishi�m'.' . In the world of commodity p roducers, espeCIally at the capitalIst stage, the external manifesta tion of economic laws, he stressed, is different from their essence. On the surface the exchange of commodities appears to be an exchange betw�en things, the capacity to be exchanged seems to be � natural, I�herent property of the object itself, whereas in realIty commodity exchange is the result of historically determined �roduction relatio�s betwee-? the producers. "Only the conven tIons of everyday lIfe make It appear commonplace and ordinary th�t social relations of . pro�uction should assume the shape of . thmgs : so that the relations mto whIch people enter in the course of the�r work appear as the relations of things to one another and of thI�gs to peo�le" (see p. 276 ). This illusory appearance by .whICh properties �xpressing relations between people ,are attnbuted to the thmgs themselves, an appearance which c�nfused even such perspicacious economists as Smith and RI�ardo, is int.ensified all the more, Marx points out, as the . veiled economIC relations between people are more complex an� more concealed by the surface phenomena of capitalist SOCIety. Marx achieved great perfection in elaborating the theory of �oney. In the chapter "Money, or Simple Circulation " Marx dI�cl.osed th� economic essence of money, analysed its historical ongm �nd Its role in bourgeois society. He demonstrated that money IS a necessary product of the development of commodity exchan.ge and serves as the complete expression of value, the � m��dIment of th�t form of value in which the particular mdlVldual labo�r w�ICh c�eate� the commodity appears, through a process of alIenation, as ItS opposite, impersonal, abstract, gen�ral a-? d only in this form social labour" (see p . 30 8). Marx elUCI?ates m detail. the cau�es determining the functioning of p� eCIous �etals, gold and silver, as money. In this chapter he dIsCl� sses m �etail. the functions of money as a measure of value, a �e dn� m of CIrculation, a means of payment, a means of hoarding, and �mally as world money. On the basis of his analysis of these �ncuons M�rx e�tab!ishes �he factors determining the amount of . oney reqUIred m CIrculatIOn and discloses other laws of money Circulation. 2'
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Each chapter in Marx's book is provided w�th historical . �nd critical surveys: in the first chapter of the analysIs of commodIties, in the second of theories of money as a standard of measure and a medium of circulation. In these surveys and in a number of notes Marx subjects to a critical analysis the views of bourgeois economists and the utopian doctrines built on the illusion that the contradictions of capitalism can be eliminated by reforming money circulation, replacing the existing monetary systems by "labour money", and so on. The book A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy holds a prominent place among the classical works ?f Ma� ism. Ma:x himself later regarded the first volume of Capttal as, In a certaIn sense, its continuation. He considered it necessary in the first section of that volume to summarise its contents for coherence of exposition, at the same time substanti.ally supplementi�g cer� ain aspects of the theories of the comm
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the same year. In the second draft he systematised in greater detail the material for the section on money. . The Index is of interest because it gives an idea of Marx 's method of scientific work and of the character of the initial outline for the first book of his intended study. In one of the drafts Marx outlined for the first time the subdivisions of the section "Capital in General", which anticipated in a rudimentary form the distribution of the material in the theoretical part of the future Capital in three parts. Among the preparatory materials is the extensive "Original Text of the Second and the Beginning of the Third Chapter of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy", written directly before the final text. It contains several sections which were not included in the final text because it was written before Marx decided to confine himself in the first part of the book to the chapters on the commodity and money and to publish the third chapter as the second part of the work. For this reason the last sections of the Chapter on Money "The Manifestation of the Law of Appropriation in the Simple Circulation" and "Transition to Capital" and also the beginning of the chapter on capital in the initial variant substantially supplement the final version as published by Marx. In these sections Marx shows in a systematic and precise form the conditions for money' s transformation into capital, the transition from simple money circulation to the circulation of capital, defines the directions and sphere of study of the sources of �ts growth, which are to be found in the exchange between capItal and the labour power of the producers and are realised in the very process of capitalist production. Here the reader becomes acquainted, as it were, with an intermediary stage in the analysis of the economic foundations of capitalist society, a stage which reveals the organic link between Marx's theory of value, exchange value, and money and his doctrine on surplus value. Marx's study of money' s metamorphosis, its transformation into capital, besides throwing light on the historical sources of capitalism, also shows the place of simple money circulation in the general movement of ' as a subordinate link in its circuit. "The examination of the capital simple circulation, ' : �e writes, "shows- us the general concept of c�pItal, because WIthIn the bourgeois mode of production the SImple circulation itself exists only as preposited by capital and as prepositing it. The exposition of the general concept of capital does not make it an incarnation of some eternal idea' but shows how in actual reality, merely as a necessary form, it has yet to flow •
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into the labour creating exchange value, into production resting on exchange value" (see p. 505). . Two other manuscripts from the pr�� aratory �a�enals were produced when A Contribution to the Cnttque of Poltttcal Economy had already been published and Ma:x had resumed w.ork on the second part, which he had now deCided to devote entIrely to the problems of "capital in general" . . ' A Draft Plan of the Chapter on Capital is a .detaIled t�� t m which the theoretical questions concerning capItal are dn,: Ide,? into three parts: "The Process of ProductIon of �apItal , "Circulation Process of Capital", and "Capital an� profIt" . �he first two of these are worked out in particular detaIl. The sectIon "Varia" contains separate remarks and references to t�e corr�s ponding material in the manuscript of 1 857-58, ?bVlOusly m tended to supplement the above-na��d t.hree sectIons. One of . the remarks is particularly charactenstIc; . It reveals �he � arxlan understanding of capital: "capita� not SImple relatIonshIp, but process" (see p. 5 16). . . . The plan as a whole s� rved Ma� as a general gUIdelme I� creating new variants of hIS economIC work. In th� course of th�s work the thought matured in Marx of concentra�mg. the expOSI tion of the problems of political economy not m SIX books as planned in 1 858, but around the questi�ns which he wanted to elucidate in the three above-named sectIons of the chapter on "capital in general". What formerly had been intende� as the scheme for one chapter or one part was now altered mto the structure of the whole work. The References to My �n Not.ebooks, which Marx drew up in this connection, r�flec.t hIS. mten�lOn to make use of the materials of his earlier manuscnpts, . mcludmg the original text of A Contribution to. the Critique of �ol.ttical Economy, which had a bearing on the gIVen theme, omIttmg what had already been utilised in the first part. The �eferences therefore represent a far more detailed scheme for workmg ou.t the pr?blem of "capital in general" than that drawn up by Marx I � 1 858 m �he Index to the 7 Notebooks and are based on more extenSIve matenal.
could not yet embrace Marx's main discovery his theory of surplus value, which crowned the revolutionary upheaval he wrought in political economy. However, in the form of a draft research paper intended to clarify things for himself, Marx had already evolved this theory as a whole; at least its main features had been elucidated the economic premisses for the formation of surplus value, the basic aspects of this process, and its determinant place in the entire system of bourgeois production relations. The published first part of the conceived work contained all the necessary postulates for expounding this theory. Nevertheless Marx himself did not yet consider his study of this central problem of political economy complete. Being an exacting scientist, he set himself new research tasks, aiming in particular at fully elucidadbg questions which he had only posed in his writings of 1 857-6 1 , namely the problem concerning the correlation between surplus value and its converted forms. This was the main cause of the delay in publishing the second part of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy and his subsequent decision not to publish it at all because of a change in the general plan of his intended work. M any years later Engels wrote in this connection to one of the Russian socialists: "Marx worked out the theory of surplus value in the fifties in solitude and stubbornly refused to publish anything about it until he had fully clarified all the conclusions to himself. That was the reason why the second and subsequent parts of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy were not published" (Engels to V. Y. Shmuilov, Feb ruary 7, 1 893). . All the same, during the years 1 857-61 Marx covered a gigantic, and one may say the decisive part of the road to the summits of the new economic science. This was a time of great scientific accomplishments in comprehending the economic laws of the development of capitalist society and in economically grounding the inevitability of its revolutionary communist reorganisation.
The 1 857-61 period, to which the works of Marx published in Volumes 28 and 29 belong, was thus marked by paramount results in the development of Marxist thought. In these years th�re appeared a whole cy�le of e�onomic manuscripts by Ma�x, the fIrst rough version of hIS Capttal was produced, and hIS . book A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy was pubhshed. It
This volume comprises rough manuscripts, partly unfinished, �nd . one work which appeared in print du ri ng ' th e au th or s hfetime. T .mcluhe translations of these writin gs , as of the manuscripts ded in Volume 28 , are' based on the text: MarxEngels Gesamtausgabe (MEGA), II , 1 ; II , 2, Berlin, 1976- 1 98 1 .
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The fact that these manuscripts were rough drafts explains many of their textual features and determines the principles of their publication in the present edition, which were expounded in a general form in the editorial preface to Volume 28. The specifics of each of them and the corresponding form of presenting them in this volume are mentioned in the notes. In this edition the manuscripts are printed in a new English translation. Foreign expressions including those in Greek and Latin are given in the original language. English quotations, phrases, expressions and individual words encountered in the original are set in small caps. Some of the words are now somewhat archaic or have undergone changes in usage. For example, the term "nigger", which has acquired generally but especially in the USA-a more profane and unacceptable status than it had in Europe during the 1 9th century. All the manuscripts included in the section "From the Preparatory Materials" are here published in English for the first time. The concluding part of the economic manuscript of 1 857-58Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft) is given in a new English translation. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy is published according to the first edition of 1 859 with the account being taken of the amendments made by Marx himself in his own copy and in a copy he presented to his friend Wilhelm Wolff. The English text is based on the translation by Salo Ryazanskaya published in K. Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1 97 1 . For the present edition this translation was checked and made more precise and the arrangement of the text was brought into conformity with the rules accepted in the publication of similar works in other volumes. The volume was compiled, the preface and notes were written and all the indexes prepared by Tatyana Vasilyeva and edited by Lev Golman (Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the CC CPSU). The translations were made by Victor Schnittke and Yuri Sdobnikov and edited by Svetlana Gerasimenko, Yelena Kalinina, Margarita Lopukhina, Andrei Skvarsky and Yelena V orotnikova (Progress Publishers). The scientific editor for this volume was Larisa Miskievich (Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the CC CPSU).
KARL MARX
ECONOMIC WORKS 1857-1861
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OUTLINES OF THE CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY (ROUGH DRAFT OF 1 857-58) [Second Instalment] I
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[III. CHAPTER ON CAPITAL] [Section Two] [CIRCULATION PROCESS OF CAPITAL]
[Conclusion] 2
[FIXED AND CIRCULATING CAPITAL]
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Written between late 1 857 and May 1858 First published in full in Karl Marx,
Grundrisse der Kritik der politischen Oekonomie (RohentwurJ). 1857-1858, Mos
cow, 1 939
Printed according to the manu scnpt
[VI -19] Retournons maintenant a nos moutons." Conceptually, the phases through which capital passes, which constitute one turnover of capital, begin with the conversion of money into the conditions of production , However, now that we proceed not from capital in its process of formation, but from capital as it has emerged from that process, it passes through the following phases: (1) The creation of surplus value, or the immediate process of production. Its result is the product. (2) Bringing the product to market. Conversion of the product into a commodity. (3) (u) The entry of the commodity into ordinary circulation. Circulation of the commodity. Its result: conversion into money. This appears as the first moment of ordinary circulation. (13) Re-conversion of the money into conditions of production: money circulation; in ordinary circulation, commodity circulation and money circulation always appear as allotted to two distinct subjects. Capital first circulates as a commodity and then as money, and vice versa. (4) The renewal of the process of production, which appears here as the reproduction of the original capital and the process of production of surplus [VI-20] capital. The costs of circulation are reducible to the costs of movement; �he costs of bringing the product to market; the labour time which IS necessary for effecting the conversion from one condition into the other. All these costs are, in essence, reducible to accounting operations and the time they take (this the basis for a special, a
Let us return to our subject (literally: " ...to our sheep").- Ed.
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technical money business). (It will emerge later whether or not the · latter costs are to be regarded as deductions from surplus value). In considering this movement, we find that the circulation of capital, mediated by exchange operations, opens up, on the one · hand, to release the product into general circulation and to restore itself by drawing from it an equivalent in the form of money. We are not concerned here with what becomes of this product, which has thus dropped out of the circulation of capital and reverted to ordinary circulation. On the other hand, capital again ejects from its circulation process its form as money (partly so, to the extent that it is not wages), or it moves now in the form of money after it has realised itself in it as value and simultaneously posited in i�self t�e measure of its valorisation but money only as means of cIrculatIon, and absorbs from general circulation the commodities necessary for production (the conditions of production). As a · c?mmo?ity, it ejects itse.J f fro� its circulation into general CIrculatIOn; as a commodIty, capItal also escapes from general circulation and incorporates it into itself, into its movement, in order to flow into the process of production. The circulation of capital is thus related to general circulation, constituting a moment of it, while general circulation itself appears to be posited by capital. This to be discussed later. The overall production process of capital includes both the circulation process proper and the production process proper. They constItute the two great divisions of its movement, which appears as the totality of the two processes. On the one hand, there is labour time, on the other, circulation time. And the movement as a whole appears as the unity of labour time and circulation time, as the unity of production and circulation. This unity is itself movement, process. Capital appears as this dynamic unit� of production and circulation, a unity which can be cons!dered both as the totality of its production process and as the partIcular process through which capital goes during a single turnover, a single movement returning to itself. The fact that capital needs circulation time; as well as labour time, is, however, only the adequate, ultimate form of a condition posed by production based upon the division of labour and exchange. The costs of circulation are costs of the division of labour and exchange, and are inevitably encountered in every less developed, pre-capital, form of production carried on on this basis. As the subject, as value which dominates the various phases of this movement and maintains and multiplies itself in it, as the
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a way ular circ a in r occu ch whi , ions mat sfor tran e thes of ct ubje lat circu is l pita c s ircle ing an � exp of ies se a nt, eme mov � � ral � : pi . , not a .tm cap tal IS, to b gm WIth 3 � � . ing capital. Hence CI�cula � as such, m a more hIgh ly tal capI It IS tal. capI of form r cula arti p de nt eme mov the of ect subj the as on, nati rmi dete ed p velo de scribed , which is capital itself as its own process of valorisation. In tal. capi g latin circu is tal capi y ever e, efor ther ect, resp is �h In simple circulation, circulation itself appears as the subject. One commodity is cast out of it; another enters it. However, a given commodity is only evanescent in it. Money itself, to the �xtent that it ceases to be a means of circulation and is posited as independent value, withdraws from circulation. By contrast, capital is posited as the subject of circulation, and circulation as its very life process. However, while capital as the totality of circulation is circulating capital, the transition from one phase to another, it is, in each phase, also posited in a specific determination, confined to a particular form, which negates it as the subject of the movement as a whole. In each particular phase capital, therefore, is the negation of itself as the subject of the various transformations. Non-circulating capital. Capital fixe, properly speaking fixed capital, fixed in one of the various determinations, phases, through which it has to pass. As long as it persists in one of these phases, that phase itself not appearing as a fluid transition and each phase has a certain duration capital is not circulating but fixed. As long as it is tied up in the process of production, it is incapable of circulation, and hence is virtually devalued. As long as it is tied up in circulation, it is incapable of production, posits no surplus value, is not capital-in-process. As long as it cannot � thrown onto the market, it is fixed as a product; and as long as It must remain on the market, it is fixed as a commodity. So long as it cannot be exchanged for conditions of production, it is fixed as money. . Finally, if the conditions of production remain in their form as conditions and do not enter into the process of production, capital is on(;e again fixed and devalued. Capital as t he subject which passes through all the phases, as the moving �lllity, the unity-in-process comprising circulation and production, IS circulating capital; capital as itself locked up in any one of these phases, as posited in its distinct forms, is fixed, or engaged capital. As circulating capital it fixes itself, and as fixed capital it circulates. Consequently, the distinction between � ircu.lating capital and . fzxed capital appears first of all as a determmatIOn of the form of
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capital, depending on whether it appears as the unity of the pro�ess or . as a particular moment of it. The concept of dormant · capttal, capItal lymg fallow, can only refer to its lying fallow in one of these . determinatio� s, .and it �s a feature of capital that part of it alw�ys lIes f�llo�. ThIs IS mamfested in the fact that part of the nat�onal C�PItal IS always tied up in one of the phases through whICh capItal has to pass. Money itself, so far as it constitutes a particular part of a nation' s capital, but always remains in the form of mean� of circulation and hence never passes through the other �hases, I� th;r�fo:e regard.ed by A. Smith as a pseudo-form of fIxed capItal. SImIlarly, capItal may lie fallow, be fixed in the form of money, of value .withdrawn �rom circulation. In crises after the moment of pamc at the tIme when industry lies stagnant money is fixed in the h�nds �f B�NKERS. BILL-BROKERS, etc., and pant� after a FIELD OF EMPLOYMENT m whICh It can be utilised as capital as the hart pants after the water brooks. b that t � e � eterminations of capital as The fact circulating and .fIxed are, to begm WIth, merely capital itself posited in the two dete:minations, first as the unity of the process, and then as a partIcular p� ase of it, capital distinct from itself as a unity, not as two p.artIcular types of ca�ital,. capital of two particular types, but a� dlff�rent formal determznatzons of the same capital this fact has gIVen nse to a grea.t deal of confusion in political economy. If on � aspect of a matenal product was seized upon according to w�lch It was to b� regarded as ci:culating capital, it was easy to �omt t� the opposIte asp�ct, �nd . vICe versa. Capital as the unity of CIrculatIon and productIOn IS Just as much their distinctness namely their falling apart in space and time. In each of thes� moments, capital exists in a form which is indifferent to the other moment. So far as the individual capital is concerned the transition from the one to the other appears to be a .mat;er of chance, depe-?dent upon external, uncontrollable circumstances. Th� sa�e capItal th�refore always appears in both determinations, whIch �s e�pressed m the fact that one part of it appears in one determmatlOn (VI-2 1] and the other in the other; one part as tied up, the other as circulating. However, it circulates here not in the sense that it is in the phase of circulation proper as distinct from the ph�e of production, b�t that the pha.se in which it happens to be is a flutd phase, a phase-m-process, leading on to the other phase. It is a A. Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. II,
London, 1 836, pp. 271-85, and Vol. III, 1 839, pp. 70-1 06. (See present edition' Vol. 28, p. 149.)- Ed. b Psalms 42: 1 .-Ed.
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its in d cke che t no is ce hen d an h as suc ase ph her eit in up tied not overall process. the t of par y onl tion duc pro in ys plo em list ria ust ind the , E.g . ant lev is irre n, ow his or ed row bor er eth (wh him to le ilab ava ital cap the ct affe this s doe , ital cap l tota rs side con one if , nor here; e tim n tai cer a s ed ne rt pa er oth the se au bec s), ces pro ic om econ is n ctio du pro ive in act t par e Th n. atio cul cir m fro s urn ret it before . one ed fix the is tion ula circ in t par the ; one g atin cul cir the then t par ; the ited lim s thu is ital cap his of ity ctiv du pro l ral ove The n ow thr is ich wh t par the o als ore ref the and , ited lim is ced u reprod into the market. is ital cap his of t par : ant rch me the to lies app also This s. ate cul cir t par er oth the DE, TRA IN K STOC of m for the in d lise obi imm l ita cap his t of par e on w no , list ria ust ind the of e cas the in as True, is ital cap al tot his t bu r, the ano w no n, tio ina erm det s thi adopts constantly posited in both determinations. of ure nat the m fro g sin ari it, lim s thi ce sin d, han er oth the On the valorisation process itself, is not a fixed one but alters with the its m fro r the fur or to ser clo y be ma l ita cap d an s, nce sta circum adequate determination as circulating capital, and since the splitting-up into these two determinations, with the valorisation process simultaneously appearing as the process of devaluation, contradicts capital's striving for the greatest possible valorisation, it invents CONTRIVANCES to shorten the phase of its fixity. Moreover, rather than coexisting side by side, the two determinations alternate. During one period, the process appears as a completely fluid one the period of the maximum valorisation of capital. During the other period, a reaction to the first one, the other moment asserts itself all the more violently the period of the maximum depreciation of capital and stagnation of production . The moments when the two determinations appear side by side are themselves merely intermediate periods between these violent transitions and upheavals. of s tion ina erm det se the of It e ceiv con to , ant is ort y ver imp . CIrCUlating and fixed capital as form determinations of capital in general, since (otherwise] many phenomena of the bourgeois e�o-?omy the period of the economic cycle, which is essentially dIstlllct from the time of the single turnover of capital; the effect of n ew demand, and even of new gold- and silver-prod ucing COUntries, upon general - production cannot be understood . There is no point in talking about the stimulus given by the �Ustralian gold 4 or by a newly discovered market. If it were not Inherent in the nature of capital to be never fully employed, i.e. to
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be always partly fixed, devalued, unproductive, no stimuli could impel it to greater production. On the other hand, there are the absurd contradictions in which those economists even Ricardo get involved who assume that capital is always fully employed, and who therefore can only explain an INCREASE in production by the cre�tion of new capital. �very INCREASE would then presuppose an earlIer one or an expansIOn of the productive forces. These limits to production based on capital are inherent to a still greater degree in the previous modes of production, in so far as they are based on exchange. But they do not constitute a law of production as such; when material production is no longer limited . by exchange value, but [solely] by its relation to the overall • development of the individual, all this business, with its convul sions and pains, comes to an end. We have already seen that · money transcends the barriers imposed by barter only by making · them general, i.e. by entirely separating purchase and sale from one another." Later we shall see that credit likewise transcends these ?arriers to the valorisation of capital only by elevating them t? theIr most general f�rm, by positing the period of overproduc tIon and underproductIon as two periods.
What we want to stat� first of all is t�at the costs arising from the such, as ts momen IC econom t dIfferen the of versing tra t�e ct, produ of the value to the ng nothi add such, as costs n latio ctrCU . ' Ived . not costs WhICh pOSIt value, whatever the labour mvo mere deductions from the value produced. Suppose there ��er areindivid ct, but produ own his ces produ whom each of als, u wo re a . they r, that so labou of on the divisi on based is ur labo elr . th · 0f their product for h til · u e IsatIon t and other, each with ge han c ex . ange exch this upon nds s depe need their of ction s atisfa . The . th. e mg h ' b argam eir e.g. t , them cost nge would excha the which e tim they must make to come to an ' WI'th each other and the calcuIatIons er ' h eIt nt to amou least the add not iously ob would ent, greem � a their products or theIr exchange value. If A claimed to B that he had spent such and such an amount of time on the exchange, B would claim exactly the same to A. Each of them loses exactly as much time in the exchange as the other . The time taken by the exchange is the same for both of them . If A demanded 1 0 thaler for his product its equivalent and 10 thaler for the time it costs him to obtain the 1 0 thaler from B, the latter would declare him ripe for the madhouse. This loss of time arises from the division of labour and the need for exchange. If A himself produced e."erything, he would �ot los.e any of his time on exchanging With B, or on convertmg hIS product into money and the money back into a product. The circulation costs proper (and they acquire a significa�t independent development in the money business) are not redUCI ble to productive labour time. They are by their very . na�ure confined to the time necessary to convert the commodIty mto money and the money back into a commodity, i.e. . to the time needed for the translation of capital from one form mto another. B and A might now find that they could save time by introducing a third person, C, as an intermediary between them, who would devote his time to effecting the circulation process. This could come a?out if, e.g., there were enough exchangers, enough subjects of circulation processes for the time taken by them in the successive acts of bilateral exchange over a year to be equal to a year. If ever individual in turn had to spend (say) 1/50 of a year in �he act y . . of cIrc ulation, and if there were 50 of them, then one mdividual c0 lld devote all his time to this occupation. If this individual were '; �aId only his necessary labour time, i.e. if he had to give up. all his . time In exchange for the NECESSARIES OF LIFE, the remuneration he 70UId be receiving would be wages. But if he charged payment or the whole of his time, the remuneration that he would receive
The val ue posited by capital in one turnover, ONE revolution , one . ctrcuzt, IS to the value posited in the production process, i .e. to the value reproduced + the new value. Whether we consider the �urnover to be completed when the commodity has been converted mto money, or when the money has been reconverted into conditions of production, the result, whether expressed in money or in co�ditio?s of production, is always ab�olutely equal to the value posIted m the production process. Here, we take [the cost of] the physical bringing of the product to the market as being zero; or rather as fOrmI. g pa�t of the immediate production . ? proces� . . The economIC CIr culatIon of the product only begins when It IS put on the market as a commodity only then does it circulate. Here we are only dealing with the economic distinctions determi?�tions and Io Ients of �i�culation, not with the physical ? th prereqUISItes for bn?ngmg e fInIshed product into the second phase, its circulation as a commodity. This is of as little concern to us as the technological process by which the raw material has been transformed into a product. The greater or lesser distance of the market from the producer, etc., is as yet of no concern to us. .
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. " would be an equivalent in the form of ob]ectlfl.ed labour time. Now, this individual would not have added anythmg to value; he would merely have shared in th�:�rplus �alu� of the capitalists A, B, etc. They would still have ga by this, smce by ass?mption a smaller amount would have been ?educted from their surplus �alue. (Capital is not merely a quantlty, or merely an operation; it IS both at. once.) . . Money Itself, [VI-22] in as mu h l io f a c a s IS e t It o e ? u e m r s p m . � : � e h as ?r, in gen ral, in as muc as it p ductlon mvolves expense . IS the case. even with ' e .g. , a paper currenc Y money Itself, in as . much as It costs labour time' adds nothmg to the value of the objects exchanged the hang; ;alu.es. Its . cost is, rather, a deduction from these va�:� ' a e uctlon .whICh must be borne proportionately by the exch g�rs The costlmess of the instrument f exchange, merely expresses the of circulation , of the instru�� costs of exchange. Rather than a�d�� to value, they subtract from it. E.g. gold and silver money are t emselves values like any others (not in the sense of mone ) t0 the extent that labour is objectified . in them. But the fact tha/these val ues serve as means 0if ctrculation forms. a deduction from aval'1able wealth . . ' costs 0f the CIrculation I t IS the same with the productlon ' of . I . CIrculatIon · adds n th'mg to values. The circulation costs as · capIta such do not posit value �hey a�e the costs of realisin. g values.' · latton [appears] as a sertes of transm n s lu u o va e . Ctrcu ded ctio s fr " ,f.ormattons m which capital tOSIts . Itself, but as far as value is concerned, it adds nothin al .but. merely posits it in the It p a � � fa ue whlch IS converted into money form o f value . The potent l by circulation is presupposed as �he result of the production O . c e e t s o o t s h h a t r t p e T ex n th t I� sen �s of processes takes place in time and involves costs' costs I.a our tIme or objectified labour the ' . costs of circulation are d e uctlons rom the f quantity d 0f value . . Assummg the costs of clrcu ' Iatlon ' to be zero, the result of one turnover of capital in terms �f va lue, IS' equal to the value posited in the process ;f pr0duCtIOn . I.e . the value preposited to , circulation is that which emerges from It. . At most, a smaller value may emerge from circulation because �f the circulation costs. ' From this angle, clrcuIatIOn ' than that which entered i nt0 It. time a"dds noth·mg to value ' it does not appear alon gSI'de labour time ' as tIme wh'Ich posits value If � commodity of a val�e of [10 has been produced, circula�ion s nec�ssa:y to set this commodity equal to the [10 ' its value' wh'ICh eXls�s m the form of money. The costs occasioned by this r��e:� this alter�tion of f?rm, are a � e commodity. The ctrculation of deduction from the valu .
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t n e r e f if d n i s e s s a p e lu a v h ic h w h g u o r th m r o f of n o ti o a t r e d lt e a ir e u q th e r is is h l ic h w r o , s e k a t s s c apita e c o r p is h t h ic e h th w e of m , ti n o e ti h la T u c ir c . of s ts s o c n o ti c u d . hase o r p e th of t r a p s m r o f , it . e g n a h c x e n o ffect d e s a b n o ti c u d o r p f o f , o r u e o g b a s la s a f p o e n n o o o t . e i. l, a it p divisi a c of r e v o rn tu e n o l a o t it p a s c e f li o p s p s a e c o r p is e h h T
f
. s T t n e m o m t n e r e f if d s it e s , e y h e t n o h g m u o in r s h t d n e l d n a e r u t r a p e capita d f o t in o p s it s a y a e n ly o e r m e s m a h is e c e n e r e lu f if d e h T a s va y e n o m . f o y it t n a u f q I r . t e t n a e e t r n g o c a a d e ir u in q c a s u h t but s a h M C M C t . in e o n p o e h t e t a iv t k a c it a t b e r a e w , quan t in o p is h t o t p u n io t o la ls u a c ir w c o n r is e id it s t n u o c B . y e n o m we e m o c e b in a g a s a h l a y it e p n a o C . m e r is u h t t t a r a h t p e , d n io it d n of o c a e m o c e b w o n s a lf h e s it it s , in d a e t s in a o m p d p n a s e li ip lt presu u m h ic h w y e n o m , in . a n g io a t l c a u it d p o a r c p f s o e s s e c m o r p beco e h t h g u o r h t g in o g y b , r u y o n b a la m e g h in t s f a o h c e r n u o p , y m r o f b a s a ly e r e m d e it s o p is y e n o m s a m r o . is s o Its f h p r o m a t e m s it in s e s s a e p w it s a h ic t h u w b , t in h o g p u d n e thro e h t s a t o n t in o p is h t r e t id in s o n p o c w e w n o n a r e o w , t If in o p e t ia d e m r e t in n a s a t i y r r e o it id s s n n a o r c t a W s o a n s s e t c o r p mus n io t c u d o r p e h t y b d e it s o is p it lf e n s e it h t , e , r e u r t u r t a r p a e p d e f d o f o t in o p t n e r a p p a ly e r e o t m in a y e d n n o a m t s in a o p d e it s end o p e lu a v e h t f o n io s r e v n o c n e a r c , e s h s t e c t o a r h p t n r io a t c cle u d o r p e h t o t in g in r e t n e e ly lu n a o v , n s a s c e c s o s e r c p o r p in e n o lu ti a c ,v u d o r p e th of l a w e n e r e only occur or that th part of the circulation process which is e h t n e h w . d e e t c le la p p m o c take n e e b s a h s s e c o r p n io t c u d o r distinct from the p of capital the reconversion of money into The second turnover newal of the production process, depends e r e . h t .e i r o , , n h c io t u s la s u l a c a it i� p c a s c it e t le p m o c o t s e ir u q e r l a it p a c e h h t ic n h O w . e e im im t t e on th n io t c u d o r p e h t m o r f t c in t on its circulation time, as dis hat the total value produced by capital t n e e s e v in a h d e s e li w , a d e r n e a is oth r h h ic h w , ) e lu a v d e c u d o r p ly w e n n io t c u d o r p (reproduced as well as e h t y b d e in m r e t e d y ll o h circulation as such, is w alues that can be produced in a given process. Hence the sum of v the number of times the production period ,Of time depends upon this period . But the repetition of g in r u d d e t a , e e p e im r t e n process can b io t la u c ir c e h t y b d e in m r e t e d id p a r e r the. production process is o m e h T . n io t la u c ir c f o y it c lo e v e �hICh is equivalent to th shorter the circulation time, the more . s s e c o r Circulation is and the p n io t c u d o r p e h t t a e p e r n a c l a it s e frequently the same cap lu a v f o m u s e h t l, a it p a c f o s r e v o n r u t f o e c in s , Hence, in a given cycle ll e w s a s e lu a v s lu p r u s f o m u s e h t r o f pro?uced by it (therefore y r a s s e c e n r u o b la s a ly n o r u o b la y r a s s e c ly e s r e v capItal always posits ne in d n a e m ti r u o b la e th to l a n o ti r o p o r surplu s labour) is directly p •
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Outlines o f the Criti ue o f p q o].ItIc . a] Economy
Chapter on Capital
proportional to the circulation tim . e (hence also the sum of the surpi In a gIVen cycle, the total value
uS values posited) is equal to th labou r time multiplied by the num e . b e Or, the surplus value osited bl� r .o f turnovers 0f the capItal. capItal n? longer a pears to be determined purely by the sur I? s la b ?� It appropnates in process o f production but bY � h ' the . number expressI'ng the freq e coeFfIclent of th. a. t process i . e. u e n c y 0f ' ts repetItIo n in a given e n � o � d of time. And this coefflc " lent IS determined by the . cIrculation time capital reqUIr e s f the . su� of values (surplus va or one turno."er. Consequently, lu e s ) is determmed by the value pos!ted m one turnover multi li e d b y th e n umber o f turnovers a p lt a l p e rforms in a given peri�d of tIme � . ?ne �urnover of capital I� equal. to t�e production time + . cIrculatIon tIme as given the t�tathe .clrculatlon tIme. Assuming the l depe�ds upon the prod�ction � t�e re�uired for one turnover : · ssummg the production time [�s gIv�n], the duration of o turnover depends upon the . cIrculatIon time. So far as CIr ' . c u I a tI o n ti me dete . rmmes the total mass of production time m . . . a . . the . repetItIon of the productigoIVen penod . 0f tIme, and so far as n rocess, ItS renewal in � given penod, depends upon it, it is it s e 1t � moment o f productIOn, or rather appears as a limit to p r 0ductlon . I t IS' the nature of capital f . rodu ctIO? .based upon it, that circulati?n time becomes a �o�e� t determmmg labour time the . productIon of value. The mde . . p e n d e n c e o f I a b u r tIme IS thereby negated, and the production r � . o c e ss I' �self IS posIted as determine by. exchange, so that the s� d thIS relation in immediate pr0al reIo atIO? and the dependence on d u maten'al moment, but as an ec ctl.on IS pOSI'ted not me. rely as a o n o m zc moment, a determmation . form. The maximum of CIrc o f u I atI' on th e IIm through cIr ' culation of the r ductl'on ' lt. to the renewal P!oces.s is obviousl; determined by the duration 0 f t�e productIon tIme during one turnover. S . . UI?pose that the production process 0f a gIV en. capital, i. e . the tIme It requires to reproduce its takes. three months. (Or the ti�evalue �nd to pOSIt surplus value, th IS necessary to complete a cer�am quantity o f product= the capIt� + surplus value.) In this caseto�� val�e of the producing any CIrcUmstances, renew the roce; the capItal . could not, under more frequently than four tinfes a y s o f t�oductl(:>n or valorisation e tur.novers this capital could make in � e maxImum number o f 4 , I.e. there would be no interru (IO�� course of a year would be S ?et';Veen the completion of one production phase and th� maximum o f turnovers would be e�p�lllng o f another. The eqUIva ent to continuity of the '
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new , ted ple com s wa ct du pro the as n soo as s; ces pro ion uct p rod material would be worked up into product. The process ra W of se ] pha -23 [VI gle sin a hin wit y rel me not us uo tin con be ld u wo es selv them ses pha . the of uity tin con be also ld wou e ther ; ion uct d pro ital cap the , ase ph h eac of end the at t, tha w no se po sup t Bu e e onc um ass to er ord in e tim n atio cul cir of nth mo one es uir req ld cou it e, cas s thi In n. ctio du pro of s ion dit con of m for the e mo r er mb nu the e, cas t firs the In r. yea a ers nov tur ee thr m for per only . e Th x 4; or 1 2 months divided by 3 ase 1 ph s ver no tur of e tim of iod per en giv a in ital cap by ue val of n ctio du pro m u xim ma n ctio du pro the of ion rat du the by d ide div iod per e tim is this ital cap the e, cas d on sec . the In e tim n ctio du ) pro e (th s ces pro w ould perform only three turnovers a year; it would repeat the val orisation process only three times. The sum of its valorisation al tot the is r iso div the re He . =3 12/4 = ore ref the uld wo es ess roc p circulation time required by the capital: 4 months; or the X by the ase ph n tio uc od pr e on for s ire qu re it e tim circulation r. yea a in ned tai con is e tim on ati cul cir s thi es tim of r be um n In the first case, the number of turnovers = 1 2 months,one year, , ase ph n ctio du pro e on of ion rat du the by d ide div e, tim en giv the or by the length of the production time itself. In the second case, it equals the same time divided by the [total] circulation time. 'There is maximum valorisation of capital, and maximum continuity of the production process, if circulation time = 0, i.e . if the conditions under which capital produces, its limitation by circulation time, the need to pass through the different phases of its metamorphosis, are transcended . Capital necessarily strives to posit circulation time as = 0, i .e. to transcend itself, for it is only capital that posits circulation time as a moment determining production time. It is the same as transcending the necessity of exchange, of money and of the division of labour based on them, i.e. the same as transcending capital itself. If for the time being we abstract from the conversion of surplus value into surplus capital, a capital of 1 00 thaler that produced a surplus value of 4% on the total capital in the production proces s, would in the first case reproduce itself 4 times, and would , by the end of the year, have posited a surplus value of 16. By the end of the year the capital would = 1 16. It would be the same as if a capital of 400 had made one turnover in a year, likewise producing a surplus value of 4% . In relation to the total prod uction of commodities and values, surplus value has quad rupled . In the other case, a capital of 100 thaler would only produce a surplus value of 12; the total capital at the end of the =
18
Outlines of the Critique o f PO ' ' IItlCaI Economy
Chapter on Capital
year= 1 1 2. In relation to the total OductI. or use values the difference 0 )� be ?n whether of values more significant. In the first case, a capital of 1 O; �0uld hstIll thaler's worth of leather m. to bootsi whilave. converted e . g . 400 would have converted only 3 0 0 tha er e m the second case it Hence the total valorisatio of ca �Italwo:th of leather. ermined by the �uratio� of the production h�se Wh�IC� wISe adet tIme bemg, to be identical �ith labour tIm ssume here, for the turn.overs, or renewals of the Pr0dUctI.On p e b.y the . number of of tIm. e. I f the number of turnovers were hase, m a gIV. en period d uratIOn of one production Ph ase, the totaonly determmed by the determ. ined solely by the number of prod l v" alorisation would be m' a gIVen period of time 0 the nU be uctIon ph ases contained absolutely determined b 'th/troductI?oIn tI� mofe �urnovers would be It s e lf . T h is the maximum of valorisarion . w o u . ld b e . O It that circulation time consi.dere. d absolutely, is a ded UCItI�Onclear vaIonsatlon < than absolute vaIon'satI.On Tfrom the m" aximum of' for. any veIOCIt' y of circulation or reduc'tI.oherefo:e, It' IS Impossible bnng about a valorisation > th n that n of cIrculation time to phase itself. The most that vel�CIt. y of PC?Irsited .by the production culatIOn co"uld effecta.nd then it w. ould have t0 n.se to tIm� . as = O, I.e. to abolish itself. Ther;fu�ld b. e to pOSIt CIrculation posItIve value-creating m oment sm' ce . e, It cannot constitute a WI' thout CIr' culation time- ld 'm ly Its ab0rItlo. n circulation val�risation ; its. negation w:�¥d i� fy the maximum .p�ssible cap�tal had attamed its highest Poss 'b)e lethat the productIVIty of capItal as capital is not the pr0d uctI�ve povel. liThe producti.vity of valu. es, It" IS capIt. al's capacity to d wer wh Ie' h muItIp' hes use val��s, the degree to WhIC� it produces values.11 The t1:r:� puce roductIVIty of capital =the duratIOn of one productio h t. he number . of times it is repeate.d during a certai� �e��d :;ytIm e. But thIS number is determmed by circulation tim Assume that a capital of 1 O� ak s 4 tur novers in a year, i.e. � cOT?pletes the production rocess� tIm takmg surplus value as 5 leach time, t�se. sAut the end of the year, would be 20. On the other hand , for rplu� value produced completed one turnover in a ea surplus a capItal of 400 that v a l e iven the same e r � c e n ta g e , would also be 2� �ence a capItal, gof � CIr�ulated 4 times a year would ' Ie· ld a gam 100 which . of 4 tImes as big which turned ove[ o I nce, 20%, while a capital only 5 % . (We shall see presentl �; c�oser would yield a profit of mination, that the surplus value is exactly the sam�') It apPea exa �s, ther�fore, that size of capital can be compensated f�r by velOCIty of cIrculation , and '
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s thu is e anc ear app e Th . ital cap of size by tion ula circ of veloacity st, e mu W e. tiv uc od pr lf in itse e is tim ion lat cu cir t tha re ted e, use this . up r tte e ma th ar cle to or �heref r question which arises is this: If 100 thaler is turned Anothe s ces pro tion duc pro , the 5% , say at, e tim h eac r, yea a es tim over 4be commenced at the beginning of the second turnover with could of g nin gin be the at ; 1/ 10 1 be uld wo t uc od pr its d an 4 , 105 thaler 61 ; 1 / 15 be uld wo ich 0 wh of t uc od pr the , 1/ 10 1 r, ove turn 8 rd the thi beginning of the4 fourth turnover, 1 1 5 61 / 0, and at its end, at the 8 nce ica nif sig ut ho wit are n ose ch 1 ers mb nu l ua act e 88 Th /1• 121 600, ns tur 0 40 l of ita cap a if t tha is int po e Th . nd ha in r tte ma the for a if as ere wh ; 20 be ly on can n gai the , 5% at r, yea a ce on over only e sam the at es tim 4 r ove ns tur e larg as r rte qua a capital 1 e th at s th ar 88 pe ap us th . It re mo / 1 , is in + ga e 00 th , ge ta 6 en 1 rc pe of repetition that is to say, mere moment of turnover the fact tim ation, a moment determined by circulation e, or rather by cirmscul. Th is, not merely realises value, but increases it in absolute ter too, must be investigated. circulation; the Circulation time expresses merely the velocityculofatio n atio cul Cir n. cir on up it lim a y rel me is n atio cul cir of velocity without circulation time i.e. the passage of capital from one phase cept supplants to another with the same speed with which one con dence of the another would be the maximum, i.e. the coincitio n. renewal of the production process with its comple s by ans of The act of exchange and the economic operation succesmesion which circulation takes place are reducible tot asa a commodity of to echanges- up to the point where capital relates no e us ic cif spe its to lue va as t bu , ity od mm co a to y ne mo y as ne mo or for. value in value, labour the act of exchanging value in one yforform mo y (and the other, money for a commodity or a commodit valueneof e these are the moments of simple circulation ), posits thechange valon ue, commodity in terms of another, thus realising it as ex equivalents or, to put it another way, it posits the commodities as values are. The act, of exchange thus posits value, in so far asof exchange presupposed; it realises the determination of the objects ue or, what as values. But an act which posits a commodity as val its comes to the same thing, which posits another commodity ofas the equivalent or, the same thing again , posits the equivalence t as two commodities obviously adds nothing to value itself, juslow �he sign neither increases nor decreases the number which fol s It. ual If I posit 4 as +4 or -4 , it remains, irrespective of the sign,3 eq to itself, 4, after this operation, and does not become either or 5 . CASE
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Similarly, if I [VI 24] x han e exchange value of 6d., fo: �d ., &"It . one .lb. of cotton, with posIted as value; and it equally be said that the 6d IS' osIted . IS as p value in the lb. of co in other words , the labour' tIme ' d . In' the 6d. (the 6d regar�ed here as value) is now contaIne expressed In terms of matenal representing th s excha�ge the lb. of cott:n :r::J !�bo�� tiTe. But since by the act to theIr value, it is impossible t� ' �. copper are each equated about a quantitative increase in t�t t If exchange should bring value of the 6d., or in the sum o e v� ue of the cotton or the f t h elr va lu es . Exch . ange , as the .It realis pos I 't' Ing 0 f eqUI v a I ents , merely alter es the s the for pote m' ntially , ex' ' IS t Ing . . va I ues reali ses � A pOSItIng of ' t h e pnce ' s, YOU obje cts e g 0 f � and b as equivalents cannot · · raIse the value of a for this ac . t POSItS ' a as equaI to Its own value hence not as unequal to it. It . . respe. ct to the form , in so far IS p�:>SIted as unequal only wit h . as It s not posIted as value preVIOUSIy. At the same time thi� � wa . to the value of b, and the val�e o ct posIts the value of a as equal a s equal to of valu that of es a. excha The sum nged _ . ,he va I . ue 0 f remaIns= to Its own value ' hen�e . a + the vaIue 0f' b. Each sum of their values. Exch�n ge� s thelr s�� remains equal to the tng of equivalents, cannot therefore, by its very nature alse . tht�epOSlt su.m of values or the value of the commodities exchan �d exchan�e with labour is d�e �o(��at thIngs are different in the labour Itself posits value, but is e f�ct that the use value of not dIrectly connected with its excha�ge value.) A sIngle exchange operation �::� . ot Incn�ase the value of what is exchan�ed, nor can a sum of lilt IS essential to make thIS' cleanarges. . . ' sl nce surpIus value among capitals the t h e dlst nbuti . on of �� On of aggregate surp ,:alue a�ong ' individual capi�als �ISculatl lus sec0 tlon gIves rise to phenomena th . ;tdary economic opera are confused with primary ones. t In ordInary political economy Whe.th�r I repeat an act which ld;oes or �n InfInite number of tim �� not produce any value once � of Its repetition. The repetiti�� � by virtu e value can never turn it into an t n. act whIch does not produce exp.r�sse� a definite proportio� 7h Ich does . E.p-, �he number 1/4 f I conv t 1 OSItIng It as 0.25, its form is altered but �� 4 In�O decimals, J t IS alteratIon of form eaves the valu ' e unchanged. Similarly, If. I conv .Into the ert a commodit form of money .In 0 the form of a commoditJ, -the �alue remains the ;a:e���7�t� � orm h as It IS clear, ther ed. . e It. chang efore, that circulatIon SInc comes down to a
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IF
ANNOT CHA GE ITS NATURE
_
Chapter on Capital
series of operations in which equivalents are exchanged cannot if labour increase the value of the circulating commodities. Hence time is required to effect this operation, i.e. if values must be con sumed for all consumption of values comes down to the con sumption of labour time or objectified labour time, products if circulation involves costs, and if circulation time costs labour time, then this is a deduction, a relative abolition of the circulating values, their devaluation by the amount of the circulation costs. Suppose we have two workers a fisherman and a hunter who exchange with each other. The time that both of them lose in effecting the exchange would produce neither fish nor game; it would be a deduction from the time during which they can produce values, the one by fishing and the other by hunting, objectifying their labour time in a use value. If the fisherman wished to compensate for this loss by demanding more game from the hunter, or by giving him fewer fish, the hunter would similarly be entitled to compensation. They would sustain the same loss. These costs of circulation, of exchange, could only appear as a deduction from their total product or the value they had created. If they commissioned a third person, C to carry on these and in this way avoided the direct loss of labour time, each of them would have to cede a proportional part of his product to C. All they could gain by this would be a greater or smaller [reduction of] loss. However, if they worked as joint proprietors, no exchange would take place, but, rather, joint consumption. The costs of exchange would therefore be elimi nated. Not the division of labour, but the division of labour as based on exchange. J. St. Mill is therefore wrong in treating the circulation costs as the necessary price of the division of labour: They are merely costs of the naturally evolved division of labour, a division based not upon community of property, but upon private property. The circulation costs as such, i.e. the consumption of labour timt; or of objectified labour time, values, occasioned by the operation of exchange and by a series of exchange operations, are therefore a deduction either from the time used for production or from the values posited by production. They can never increase value. They belong to the faux frais de production,b and these belong to the immanent-costs of production based on capital. The EXCHANGES,
a
J. St. Mill, Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy, London, 1844,
pp . 55 , 56 .- Ed. b Overhead costs of production.- Ed.
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Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
� the money business proper to merchant business .and t�e ext�nt that theIr sole functIon is to perform the operations of CIrculatIon as such,. e.g. the determination of prices (the measure ment and calcu�atIon of value�), in general, to perform these e::,c.h:'lnge operatIOns as a functIon rendered independent by the dIvIsIOn of lab<;mr, and hence represent this function of the overall pro�ess of capItal represent merely the faux frais de production of capItal. !n so far as they reduce these faux frais, they contribute to prod�ctlOn, not by producing value but by diminishing the negatIon. of th� value� produced. If they confined themselves to p�r�ormIng thIS functIOn, t�ey would always represent only the mInImUm of the faux frazs de production. If they enable the p :oducers . to . �r.oduce more values than they could produce wIth�ut thIS dIvlSlc.>n of labo� r, and so much more that a sur Ius �emaIns after payI�g for thIS function, then they have, in effect, �ncreased productIon. However, in this case, the values have Increased not because the operations of circulation have created value, but because. they have absorbed less value than they would have dO.ne otherwI�e. However, they are a necessary condition for productIon by capItal. The time los.t by a capitalisr in . carrying out exchange is not as such a de�uctIon fr�m labour tIme. He is a capitalist i.e. the representatIve of capItal, personified capital only in as much h � relates to . labour as alien labour and appropriates and posi�: a�Ien labour tIme. Henc� circulation costs do not exist in the sense t at they tak� away the tzme of the capitalist. His time is posited as superfluo� !zme: . not-labour-time, time that does not produce value. although It IS capItal that realises the value produced. The fact th�� the wor�er must work s� rplus time is identical with the capitalist s not havIng . to work; It follows that his time is posited as not-labour-tIme, and that he does not work even the necessary time.' !he w?rk�r must work surplus time to be allowed to reify utilise I.e. obJectIfy, the labour time necessary for his reproduction. O� the other hand, the capitalist's necessary labour time too i� therefo�e free time, time not required for his immedia�e subsis tence. SInce all free. time is time for free development, the capitalist . u.s� :ps . the free tzme created by the workers for societ� I : ClvIhsatIon, . and .Wad� . �s indeed right in this sense wh � h . equates capItal WIth cIvIhsation.a In so far as circulation time claims the time of the capitalist as STILL MO E
a J. Wade, History of the Middle and Working Classes, 3.rd ed., London, 1 835,
pp. 1 6 1 , 1 62 and 164.- Ed.
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ch u m as f o y tl ac ex t, in o p ew vi ic m o n o ec e th m o fr , is it , such to us as the time he spends with his doxy. If is concern , from the standpoint of c�pita!, only to alien. labour this appliicesh is, indeed, the nse se IC as b st o m e th In al It p ca f o tim e, wh ord. With respect to capital as such, circulation time can of the w with labour time only �n so f�r as it inter.rupts the t�m.e be equated capital can approl?nate ahe� labour tIme . and It . IS during which relative devaluatIon of capItal adds nothIng to Its clear that this ut can only detract from it or in so far as valorisation, b capital objectified alien labour time, values. circulation costs ause capital m st pay som�one else to perfc.>rm [VI-25] (E .g ., bec both cases, CIu. rculatI. on tIme only comes Into this functio n .) Inso far as it cancels, negates alien labour time, consideration in pting the process of appropriation of alien whether by interruital, or by obliging capital to consume part of labour time by cap e in order to accomplish the operations of the produced valuorder to posit itself as capital. (This must be circulation, i. e . in ed from the ) carefully distinguish comes into consideration only in its relation Circulation time ation of the production time of capital ; but to as a limit upon, neg es at ri ro p ap al it p ca h ic h � g n ri u this production timale ieisnthlaebtiomure tI�me pO"":SIted by capIt. al. It IS the alien labour, the n o t is al it p ca e th y b t n e sp e m ti d the greatest confusion to siretinggarva s lu rp su g n ti si o p e m ti , d ee d in r, o e circulation as time po has no lalubour time other than its production value. Capital as such oes not concern us here at all, except . as time. The capitalist d e is active only in the overall process whICh capital. As such, too, hOtherwise one could even imagine that the we have to analyse. mpensation for the time during which he does not capitalist is entitled to co e h at t� se el r o st li ta i p ca r he the wage worker of anot earn money . e h e m tI e h T s. st co n Io ct u d ro p e loses that time. That it belongs to th s nd fo a ce la p e, ti st lo , al er � loses or employs as a capoitinalt.istWise, inshgalen e th r te la SS CU IS d to e av h l perdu ,a from this viewp e th f o at th m o fr ct n ti is d as t is al it so-called labour time ofpthosee dcapto form the basis of the capitalist's worke r- which is sup ris. sui gene profit as so in ., tc e , rt o sp an tr e d u cl in to an on th Nothing is more comm f o st co re u p e th � g n o m a , e rc e m far as they are connected wpitroh dcouctm to market, commerce gIv. es It a circulation . By bringing aonly changes the spatial location of the new form. Of course, it ncerned with the way in which its form product. But we are not co TI M E
MONEY,
MONEY
E CAPITALIST. TH F O N IO PT UM NS CO E AT IV PR
as
WAGES
a A wasted fund.- Ed.
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
is altered. Commerce imparts a new use value to the product (and this is true right down to the retailer, who weighs, measures and packs it up, thus giving the product a form that makes it suitable for consumption). This new use value costs labour time and hence is simultaneously exchange value. The bringing to market is part of the production process itself. The product is a commodity, is in circulation, only when it is on the market.
c , en es. air sal new and � es tier ma � new ng asi rch pu in ce pri the d use has product and s ly lc qU re mo the s, � ect eff two � se the ut abo s ng bri n atio cul cir tly mp pro the more hls fit pro the er a gre the and n, ctio du pro his � nce me om rec . to on siti he in a po al lt ca e lOs w ion nat "A 2). � 1-1 . 41 p (pp e" tim of iod per en giv . a in capital yields III It set st fIr o w� him to r yea a es tim l era sev urn ret to h ug eno y idl circulates rap . a favourable chmat , who can � motion, is in the same position as the . labourer III 2, . 4 (pp r yea ach d � lan e sam the on n SIO ceS suc � in ts ves har r fou raise three or v ens exp re mo n tIo su con of � ts jec ob the kes � ma n;tI? n atio cul cir 413 ). "A slow ISt, e ld cou t tha Ies dIt mo com of � e um vol the ng shi ini dim . ( 1 ) indirectlyb by IS progressIVely u val its n i lat cu cir in is uct � pro a as � g ? lon as (2) directly, ecause . ItS production. T? more � increased by the interest on the capital employed III ng the sl ral ssly dle nee p, es pil st ere int s thi re mo the , � on s goe on ati . cul cir slo.wly of ion rat ele acc and g mn rte sho the for s ean "M y." dit mo com the f . 0 . commerce., pnce . class of w �ers solely occupled 11l ?� circulation: (1) formati?n of a speCial (2) ease of transportation ; (3) money; (4) credit (p. 4 13).//
24
•
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Chapter on Capital
//"In every species of industry the entrepreneurs become sellers of products, while the entire rest of the nation and often even foreign nations are buyers of these products... The continuous, constantly repeated movement made by circulating capital in departing from the entrepreneur and in returning to him in the form it first possessed, is comparable to its traversing a circle. Hence the name 'circulating' applied to capital, and 'circulation' applied to its movement" (Storch, COUTS d'economie politique, Vol. I, Paris, 1 823, pp. 404-05. Notebook,S p. 34)."In the broad sense, circulation includes the movement of every commodity which is exchanged" (p. 405, I.e.). "Circulation is effected by exchanges ... once money is introduced, they [commodities] are no longer exchanged, they are sold" (pp. 405-06, I.c.). "To put a commodity into circulation, it is sufficient to offer it [for sale] ... Wealth in circulation: commodity " (p. 407, I.e.). "Commerce is only a part of circulation. The former comprehends only the purchases and sales by merchants; the latter those by all entrepreneurs and even all INHABITANTS" (p. 408, I.c.). "Circulation is real, and its value increases the annual product, only as long as the costs of circulation are indispensable for getting the commodities to the consumers. From the moment when it exceeds this measure, circulation is artificial and no longer contributes in any way to the enrichment of the nation" (p. 409). "In recent years, we have seen examples of artificial circulation in Russia, at St. Petersburg. The stagnation of foreign trade had forced the merchants to adopt a different method of investing their idle capital; no longer being able to use it to import foreign commodities and to export domestic ones, they hoped to profit by buying and reselling commodities available on the market. Enormous quantities of sugar, coffee, hemp, iron, ete., passed rapidly from one merchant to another, and often a commodity changed hands twenty times without leaving the warehouse. A circulation of this type offers merchants all the opportunities of a game of chance. But while it enriches some, it ruins others, and the national wealth gains nothing from it. Similarly in the circulation of money... An artificial circulation of this type, which is only based upon the simple variation of prices, is called agiotage" (pp. 410, 41 1). "Circulation only benefits society in so far as it is indispensable for bringing the goods to the consumer. Every detour, retardation, intermediate exchange which is not absolutely necessary to bring this about, or which does not contribute to diminishing the costs of circulation, harms the national wealth by needlessly raising the prices of commodities" (p. 41 1). "Circulation is the more productive the more rapid it is, i.e. the less time it requires to enable the entrepreneur to dispose of the finished product which he offers for sale, and to regain his capital in its original form" (p. 41 1). "The entrepreneur can only recommence production after he has sold the finished _
•
Marx reproduces these and the following passages from Storch in German translation, using many French words and phrases.- Ed. _
!
\'
,'1',
or s ou ne a ult sim of e � tu lti mu a of ed ist ns co ion lat Simple circu . . . ion lat cu CIr as ty um eir th g, kin ea sp ly ict Str s. ge an ch ex successive ay m e ng ha xc (E e r. rv se ob e th of t in po nd sta e th om fr ly on existed . e er wh ter ac ar ch is th s ha s les or re mo it d an , ce an be a matter of ch t no s do d a , lus rp su e th � of � ge an ch ex e th to d it is confine of ion lat cu cir e � t In s.) es oc pr n tio uc od pr e tir en e th e embrac f ct a of , ns tlo ra ?p ge an ch ex � � of s rie se a e: capital, we have . vls -avI t en om m lve tat ah qu a es ut tit � ns co ich wh of ch exchange, ea l. A ta pi ca of th ow gr d an n tio uc od pr re e th in t en om m a r the othe gle an e th m fro en se if r, tte ma of ge an ch ex s, ge system of exchan as e lu va of gle an e � t m fro en se if , rm fo of ge an ch a e; of use valu to e lu va e us as lty �d m co e th t � ed lat re is <;> such. The product re He . ey on m to rly Ila Sim d lat re IS ity od mm co e th e; � . exchange valu ity od m m co e th to ed lat re IS ey on M . ak pe its s ain att s rie se the one to d an e, lu va e us to e lu va ge an ch ex as , ted er nv co into which it is re . y ne mo of ion lat re e th of e tru is me sa e th ee gr de ter an even grea . to labour. s s es oc pr e th of t en om m er ev � in � a t pi ca as y r fa [VI-26] In so . . IS d an e, as ph t ex r, he ot ItS to m on Iti ns ? tra of ity bil ssi po e itself th e th s se es pr ex ich wh s es oc pr ole wh e th of y lit bi . thus the possi ly lal nt t po as s ar p ap ts en om m � e th � of ch ea l, ta pi ca f life-act -o e th e sid ng alo � ta pl ca y ne mo l, ita p ca ity od mm capital hence co . . e Th s. es oc pr on ctl od pr e th tal p ca as elf � its s sit po � value which ted er nv co be n ca It as g lon as tal pi ca t en es pr re ay m ity od m com s lu rp (su ur bo l ge wa se ha rc pu n ca � it as ng lo as . into money, i.e . e ? t m fro g m nv de rm fo the of ect asp e th m fro is Th labour). . aspect, the commod ty enal � . circulation of capital. From the titmutates . ct stn th (m al en at m w ra � ns co it as ng lo as l ta pi ca s remain e en lst bs su f ns ea m d an t, en � um str in , d) se es ? oc pr sense or partly IS, ey on M l. ta pi ca l tia ten po is s rm fo e es th of ch Ea s. er rk wo for the m
3- 78 5
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26
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
or: the one han� , realised capital, capital as realised value. From thIS aspect (consId�red as the end-point of circulation, where mu�t also ,�e c�m�Idered as the point of departure ), money it is . capIt�1 � XT) It IS then once again capital, especially in relatIon to the production process, to the extent that it i exc?a� ged for living . labour. On the other hand, when th CapIta!Ist exchan&es It for commodities (purchases new ra ; � atena.ls, etc. ), It appears not as capital but as means ofw CIrc�la�lOn; merely a .vanishing mediator by means of which capI.tahst �xch.anges hIS product for its primary elements. the C Ir cu on IS not � merely external operation for capital. Just as .It ly labetIco Ies capItal by mea.ns of the production process, in (:m ? WhICh value IS perpetuated and mcreased, so it is reconverted into the p.ure forn: . of v�lue in which both the traces of its becomin g . use alue are ex and Its speCIfIc bemg m � ti n gu is hed only by . . means ?f the fIrst act of �Ircul�tIon. The repetition of th t, i.e . o f the l� fe-pr�cess [of capItal ], IS only made possible by thise ac second act o� .CIrculatIon , whic� consists in the exchange ,of money fo COndItlO� S of productIon and IS. the introduction to the acrt the pro?uctIon: . CIrculatI.on therefore belongs within the concept of capItal. . I,m tIally, money or accumulated labour appeared as of prereqUIsIte for, and hence preceding, the , exchange with fr a labour. . But. the apparent independence of the objective mom ee of capItal .m relatIon to labour was cancelled, and object ent labour, WhICh becomes in?ependent in value, appeared in evified er y es p ec t as th � product of aiten labour, the alienated product � of labour Itsel�. In sI. mIla. � fashIO. n, capIt. al now appears first as presu to ItS . CI.rcul�tIon (capit�l as money was presupposed ptoposed be�Ol�'lln� ca�Ital ; but capItal as the result of value absorbing its assIm�latmg hvm. g la?our appeared as the point of departureand th� Clrc�latw. n of capztal: n?t of circulation in general), as if cap of eXIsted mdependently, mdIfferent to and without this process ital the �?vement of the met?morphoses � t has to go through appears now. But as a condztzon of t�e produ;ctwn process Itself, just as m . u ch as it s re su lt . C ap It al .g ven erw.md. ItIts rIS�ahty thus appears as a series of turnovers in a ! � no . l.onger merely a single turnover, a single CIrc�!atlOn, but the posItmg of turnovers, of the entire process pos�tmg of �alue therefore appears as determined (and valu.e Its is ap It al on ly m S? f r as it i� valu� which perpetuates and multiplies � � Itself) (1 ) qu? ittatzvely : smce It cannot renew the phase productIon WIthout passing through the phases of circulati of on ; XU'T
€ O
v.
•
a In the true sense.- Ed.
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Chapter
27
Capital
since the quantity of values which it posits the number of turnovers it performs in a given � ends(3)upon :�iod ; since circulation �ime thus app.ears . from bot? aspects p a limiting principle, a barner to productIon tIme and VIce versa. �ence capital is essentially circulating capital. Wh.ile appearin� �s owner and in the workshop of the productIon p.rocess, It IS, from the angle of circulation, dependent and determmed by the social nexus, which at the P?int wh�re w� still fin� ours� lv�s causes capital to enter into sImple CIrculatIon and fIgure m It alternately as C over against M and M over against C. Yet this circulation is a mist veiling an entire world, the world of the interconnections of capital, which affix the property deriving from circulation, from social intercourse, to this intercourse and as Its rob it of the independence of characteristic feature_ Two views of this world, as yet lying in the distance, have already opened up to us: [firstly,] at the point where the circulation of capital precipitates from its circle the value which capital posits and circulates in the form of the product, and secondly, at the point where capital draws another product from circulation into its circuit, converting this product itself into one of the moments of its existence. At the second point, it presupposes production, though not its ?wn immedia�e pr?d.uction. At t?e. first point, it may presuppose eIther prod�ctIon, If ItS prod�ct IS !ts�lf the raw material for other productIon; or consumptIon, If Its product has acquired the final fOFm that ma�es it suitable for consumption- That much is clear that consump�I�n d?es n�t have to enter into its circle directly. The charactenstIc CIrculatIon of capital is, as we shall see later, still and identical with C retail trade, is a second circle, which does not fall within the immediate sphere of circulation of capital. It is a path it traverses after and simultaneously with traversing the first path. The simultaneity of the different paths traversed by ca�ital, like that of its different determinations, only becomes eVIdent when many capitals are presupposed. In the same war' the life-process of man consists in his passing through a succeSSIOn of ages; at the same time, all ages of man exist alongside one another, distributed to different individuals. In so far as capital's production process is, at the same time, a technological process production process pure and simple namely, the production of particular use values by means of particular labour, in short, production carried on in a way determined by this purpose itself; in so far as of all these 2) quantitatively :
MASTER
SELF-SUSTAINING PROPERTY
DEALERS.
3*
•
on
6
•
CIRCULATION BETWEEN DEALERS AND
IRCULATION BETWEEN DEALERS
CONSUMERS,
28
Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
,
pr�duction processes, the most fundame�ta l appears to be that by whICh the body reproduces for itself t e ne�essary exchange of . ' ph ' In matter,. i.e. produces means of su bslstence the o al g Y l , . ' so far as this rod ctl' (�n hrocess C In ides with sen�e , In agnculture, which either dir�tly � s In. t f �ase of COtton, flax, etc.) or indirectly, by means of th: ma s �t feeds (silk, wool, ��� tc.), simultaneously supplies a large p of/ e �aw materials for � �ndustry (in effect, all that are n0t . sup� Ied y the extractive Industries); in so far as reproductIon. In agr'ICUIture in the temperate zone (the homeland of capItal) IS" tIed up with the general telluric circulation ' I' . e. harvests are mostl f 0 Y annual . . nature-In so far as all this is ' �h�3:a; � �enerally taken as the per�od ?f time with respect tS:: h h urn of t overs of capItal IS calculated and r;:ea�ured (except that the year is c. alculated differently for th dIfferent branches 0f production), Just as the natural working day provid. ed su eh a n�tural unit as measure of labour time. AccordingIy, In th e calcu. latIon of profit' d f ' and ' even more in that ty Interest we see the 0 f um culation Cir . . �Ime and production time capitai . PosIte as such and acting as Its . own measuring-rod . CapI' taI ItseIf as ;ap 'tal-tn' -process- i .e. cap�tal performing a turnover [VI-27J is egarded as king PPO SED capltal, and the fruits a ;0 ca � e lc l ted with � respect to its working time t� o . Cl:culat�on . ti�e of one turnover. The mystification to wh�c� ��IS gIves nse IS Inherent in the nature of capital. . Before we embark u�on a mo.re detaIl�d an alysis of the . d"IstmctIons the arguments outlined' abov , let us fIrst examIne . ' d capital and circulating cap 't l gIven by th e econombetween flxe oment which we have already ists. Above, come across a new m . " mct from surplus value" e? t�rs In the calculation of profit as dIst SImIlarly, another new moment must eI?erge no� between profit and interest. Surplus value . in . r�Iatl�m to �lrculating apital obviously appears as profit, m dIstmctIon to mterest as surplus vaIue �" n relatIOn to fixed capital. ProfIt and interest are both forms 0f sur. plus value. Profit i s I'Ised as soon as r a contained in price and h l , ence ceases and : . . capItal has reached that point in its Clrcu�atIon at which it is ; se reconverted into money ' r its v �ro n: form as cOI?modity into the form otr:lO�: �h� s� 'k g a on ce up d� : ?� :TI :� �� e � [ s n' P t ic h r s ho t is m ns st in le ud ai ro ag po d] Iscusse � � � on . O
c
lC
SlO
an
urn
1
WHICH IT IS S
IELD
0
ua
wor
1 a
c
a
See present edition, VoL 28, p. 485.- Ed. •
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29
e h T : n o h d u o r P e c n o e r e h , it t e g r fo e w st le ll a (Yet, r fo le b u o tr h c u m f o e c r u so a is h ic h w r e k in problem of th ld o b is th y b d e lv so is s, n ia d r a ic -R ti n a d n a s en se o p Ricardian le je " , " s lu rp su n u se is la il a v tra t u o T " . it g in y if st y simply bybm basic formula to be looked u p in my notebook.' d e axiome " .. . The n r tu is r u o b la y r a ss e c e n of ss ce ex in e n o d is r u o b The fact that la to a mystical property of labour. Surplus value by Proudhon inined by the mere growth of the productive power cannot be expla while the latter may increase the quantity of of labou r ; for ed in a definite labour time, it can give n o products produc . It is only relevant here in as much as it sets free to them le so e h T . r u o b la y r a ss e c e n f o ss e c x e in r u o b la r fo r fo e m ti is h ll a d e e n t o n s e o d n a m t a th is e r e h ic l sa o p extra-econom is d is h t a e m ti e e fr s a h e h t a th f o the production labour time necessary for subsistence, and hence in excess of the for surplus labour. But there is nothing mystical is s a e r can use it also his su a e m e m sa e th in ll a sm e r a about this, since 8 in the primitive condition. And wage labour, in his labour powers appearance only when the productive power has general, makes it veloped to such an extent that a significant already been dehas been set free. This setting-free is already an amount of time t here. Proudhon's ignorance is only historical produc nte rate du profit qui est suppose d'etre l'equivalent B astiat's dicroissa croissante.C B astiat gives a dual expression to this t fi o r p f o te d 'une rate du salair a r e th , ly st r fi : y e r a C m o fr s w o r r o b e h which ; ) d e y lo p m e l a it p a c e th to e lu a v s lu p r su f o o ti a r falls (i.e. the fall, but value, i.e. the total sum of prices, secondly, pricesmerely means that what grows is the increases. This profit.) not the rate of . e v o b a it d e s u e v a h e w h ic h w in e s n e s e th in l a it p a c Firstly, fixed St. Mill (Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Defined by John,) (p. 55) as tied-down capital, capital which is not s it f o se Political Economy a h p r la u c ti r a p a in st a f k c tu s t no s e o d s a s, y sa y tl c e r r o c e h se n se is th n I . ss e c o r p n overall circulatio above quotations,d that a large part of a country's Bailey too in thliees idle. capital always a As regards.- Edes. rise to a surplu s" , " I take it as an iom. " Ed. our giv sing rate of more , ad vocenia
SURPLUS VALUE,
PLUS.VALUE
SURPLUS TIME. TIME FACT
NECESSARIES,
NECESSARIES
EQUALLED B Y
NONSENSE,
GROSS PROFIT,
AVAILABLE,
DISPOSABLE,
ax
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ri a f o "All lab t n le a iv u q e e th be to d se po p su t, fi ro p f o te ra g C Fallin M()'TIe'j ,] y e il a B Ed o [S m o fr , wages n io ct se s iou v re p e th in s, n o ti ta o u q e th to ed tl et ns U ome S This refers on s ay ss E , l il t. M S . J d n a , 7 3 8 1 , n o d n o L , ue al V . d E .6 3 5 3 5 , 4 ·0 3 0 5 and Its Vicissitudes in . p p , 28 l. o V , n io it d e t n se re p ee S y. om n co Questions of Political E b
d
.
-
.
30
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter on Capital
"The distinction into fixed and floating capital is more apparent than real. For example, gold is FIXED CAPITAL; FLOATING only as far as it is consumed for GILDING, ete . Ships are fixed capital, ALTHOUGH LITERALLY FLOATING. FOREIGN
According to Ramsay ([An Essay on the Distribution of Wealth, Edinburgh, London, 1 836,J IX, 83-84)
RAILWAY SHARES ARE ARTICLES OF COMMERCE IN OUR MARKETS; SO MAY OUR RAILWAYS BE IN THE MARKETS OF THE WORLD; AND SO FAR THEY ARE FLOATING CAPITAL, ON A PAR WITH GOLD" (Anderson, The Recent Commercial Distress, etc., London, 1847, p. 4)
II
.. CIRCULATING CAPITAL, because the capitalist MUST "only the approv!.Stonnementa is . of reproduction at all, PART. WITH IT IMMEDIATELY and t does not enter into the process . but IS exchanged direct for living labour, for consumptIon. All other capl'tal (raw rnaterial, too) REMAINS IN THE POSSESSION OF ITS OWNER OR EMPLOYER UNTIL THE " (I [ 2 1]) " CIRCULATING CAPITAL CONSISTS 0NLY OF
1
(Notebook I, 27).9
According to Say, [fixed capital isJ capital
:�����:N�E ���P�:::R NE�E�SAi;ES AD'VANCED TO THE WORKMAN, PREVIOUS TO THE COMPLETION OF THE PRODUCE OF HIS LABOUR" (I.e. [po 23]).
"so engaged in one kind of production that it can no longer be diverted from it to be employed in another kind of production" ( Traite d'economie politique, Vol. II, Paris, 1 8 1 7, p. 430).a
With res ect to the approvisionnemen� he is ri�ht in so far as it. is the o�y part of capital which circ�l�tes. dun�g the �roducitself' and from this aspect It IS CIrculatIng capital par h �::ell!'nc���n the other hand, it is wrong to maintain tha�IXEDCAPITt REMAINS IN THE POSSESSION OF ITS OWNER OR EMPLOYER no longer t a? or on y "UNTIL THE PRODUCE IS COMPLETED " . H ence later" too h e d efInes FIXED CAPITAL as
The identification of capital with a particular use value, use value for the process of production. The fact that capital as value is tied to a particular use value use value within production is at any rate an important aspect. It expresses more than does the inability to circulate, which essentially means only that fixed capital is the opposite of circulating capital. In his Logic of Political Economy ([London, Edinburgh, 1 844,J pp. 1 1 3-14) (Notebook X, 4), 1 0 De Quincey says:
Y O T WH;�� T�����:�:S;:C\'::�� ��� �;:�R��:���I���I� :��)N�/����A�� LABOUR" [po 59]. (But how many COMMODITIES DO NOT MAINTAIN LAB�UR! I. e. do n�t
IN IT S NO RM IDEA. MEANS ANY AGENT WHATEVER" (marvellous logician) "USED PRODUCTIVELY AL WHICH PERISHES IN THE VERY ACT OF BEING USED ." "CIRCULATING CAPITAL,
belong to the articl�s of th� worker's consumptIon. In Ramsay s view, these are all ftxed capttal.)
(According to this, coal would be circulating caPita� and so would be oil, but not cotton, etc. It cannot be said THAT COTTON PERISHES BY BEING
TRANSFORMED INTO TWIST OR CALICO, AND SUCH TRANSFORMATION MEANS CERTAINLY USING IT PRODUCTIVELY!)
interest on £ 1 00 at the end of the first y�ar or of t�e . (If tthe fIrS� hree months is £5, then at the end of the first year, t � capltal WI'11 be 105 or 1 00 ( l + 0.05); at the end of the 4th year,/t will = 1 00 ( 1 + 0.05) 4 = £1 2 1 . £ 55/ 100 and £ 1./ I,60? - £ 1 2 1 l Is /5 ' 6 farth. or £ 1 2 1 l Is. 0.6 farthing. Therefore It yields £1 l Is. / 10 farthing over and above 20.) [VI-28J (In the question posed above,b It' IS• as�umed that on the . In a. year, whIle on one hand a capl'tal of 400 turns over only once . the other [a capital of 1 00 turns overJ f.our tImes, In both c�ses at 5 7010 . In the first case the capital would yIeld. 5% once a ye�r, I.e. 2O On 400 ' in the second case, 4 5 x 70 , lI'keWlse 20 , on 100 In a year. 01 . . . The velocity of CIrculatIon would . comp�nsate for the size 0f the capital; just as in simple mon�y circulatIon, 1 00,000 thaler which circulates three times a year IS=to 300,�00, . but so also is . 3 ' 000 which Circulates 1 00 times. But if the capItal CIrculates four tImes a
"Capital is FIXED, if the object serves, repeat edly, again and again, for the same operatIOn, AND BY HOW MUCH LARGER HA EN THE RANGE OF ITERATIONS. BY SO MUCH MORE INTENSELY IS THE TOOL. ENSGIBE NE, OR MACHINERY ENTITLED TO THE DENOMINATION OF FiXED" (pp. 1 13-1 4) (Noteb ook X , 4). •
•
According to this, CIRCULATING CAPITAL would perish, be consumed, in the act of production; fixed capital which for greater clarity is defined as TOOL, ENGINE, OR MACHINERY (and which therefore excludes, e. g., the IMPROVEMENTS incorporated in the soil) would serve repeatedly for the same operation. The distinction concerns here only the technological difference in the act of production; it does not concern the form at all. CIRCULATING and FIXED CAPITAL, in the distinctions given here, may well possess features on the strength of which one agent, "any AGENT WHATEVER", is FIXED capital and the other CIRCULATING, but NEITHER OF THEM [possessesJ ANY QUALIFICATION
WHICH WOULD ENTITLE IT TO THE "DENOMINATION" OF CAPITAL. a Marx quotes in French.- Ed.
a b
•
j 1
,. •
31
Means of subsistence.-Ed. See this volume, pp. 1 8- 1 9.- Ed.
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter on Capital
year, it is possible that the surplus gain itself is added to the capital in the second turnover and turned over with it. In this way the difference of [I l Is. 0.6 farthing would come about. But this difference in no way follows from the presupposition . Only the abstract possibility exists. What follows from the presupposition is, rather, that three months are necessary to turn over a capital of [100. Then, if, e.g. , the month = 30 days, to turn over a capital of [lO S assuming the same turnover ratio, the same relation of the turnover time to the size of the capital -would take not 3 months 90 105 9,4 50 but * 105 : x = 100 : 90', x = 100 = 100 = 94 5/ days = 3 months 4 1 /2 days. The first difficulty is thereby completely resolved .) (The fact that a larger capital with a slower turnover does not produce more surplus value than a smaller capital with a relatively more rapid turnover, in no way means in itself that a smaller capital turns over more rapidly than a larger one. In so far as the larger capital consists of more fixed capital and must seek out more distant markets, this is indeed the case. The size of the market and the velocity of circulation are not necessarily inversely related. This relationship only occurs when the available physical market is no longer the economic market, i.e. when the economic market moves farther and farther away from the place of production . Incidentally, to the extent that this does not stem from the mere distinction between fixed and circulating capital, the moments determining the circulation of the different capitals cannot, as yet, be discussed here at all. It may be observed in passing that in so far as trade posits new points of circulation, i.e. brings different countries into the sph ere of commerce, discovers new markets, etc. , this is something quite different from the mere circulation costs, which are required to effect a definite number of exchange operations. It is the positing of exchange itself, not of operations of exchange. Creation of markets. This point will have to be considered specially, before we HAVE DONE WITH CIRCULATION . ) Let us now continue our examination of the views on "FIXED " and " CIRCULATING CAPITAL "
" es av lo to in e ak m to r . ke ba a by ed as ch ur · at w he · com. paratively a ftxed �aplt'plaesl to tpheltttcaI Ec�nomy, and Taxation, 3rd edition, London, the Princt f (Rlcard0, ( 2On 1 82 1 , pp. 6-27,] V I I I , 19 )
32
x
10
•
"Depending on whether
capital is more perishable @r less perishable, i.e. must be reproduced more frequently or less frequently in a given period of time, it is called circulating capital or fixed capital. Furthermore, capital circulates, or returns to its employer, in very unequal times. E.g ., the wheat bought by a farmer to sow is
* On the other hand, it could be assumed that, with continuity of the production process, the surplus obtained is converted into capital every 3 months.
0 1
33
0
Then h e also remarks:
. es; different
ad tr t en er ff di in l ta pi ca g tin la cu cir d an d xe fi of ns tio "D' fferent propor itself" (Ricar o, ] l � ta pi ca d xe fi �' !� of durabi:ity ry ve be ay m it t bu e, lu va al qu y 0 p em
I i ra ( �i �� ay m CE ER M M CO of s nd "Two ki is ich wh at th d an ' ed fix is h I h rt pa e th respect to differen. tly divided waith of d an l ta pi ca ed fix of e lu �a WI ua eq an rn y even empIoy e fixed capital may be very unequ�I . E .g ., circulatmg. Th. eyl; bu 0f th lty l bT ra du e th t ta pi ca g in at circul om
fr S hi (T s." ip sh r he ot e th 0 00 10 £ f . ue va e h t to s . ne '. gi n steam e ha may � � , ok ( ublished] by Say, (Des pnnctpes de I"economu one the' translat tdelonl ,;omfpo�t�:�o:d�l, VOI: I, (Paris, 1835 ,] pp. 29, 30). , . poIttlque e 1
0
"
, do ar i R to g in d co ac , at th � is , et ts ou � e th What is wrong, from hable " Capital as capItal, value, IS not capit. al is " more or less pvaerts'ue In ' ch . hi w in d, xe fi is e lu va ' e th h lC h w se u e th et Y e. l b a h s n pe l . .It eXIs. ts, IS " more or less pen. shab le" and must therefore. "b"e. e m tt of od ri pe en iv a in tl en reproduced mO.ret.!nre1Iuently or less {r��� c/ ital a�d circulating capital �en�euct�� ���; t� ��e�:;a��� or Iesse/necessity. to. rep:oduce a giv n IS r� . � y . e a rn n IO Ct tm ls d e on is d is h T e capttal, m a gwen pen'od o{ tim . Ri� �od f e o ty il du ra b of � ifferent �egrees � � � y ! �: �� � ;f �; tie � ;Z �! i t t e t s, capital, i.e. thsee dtndfferdle.nstt.mdect[foee. s0 t{:tafixed capital itself is fixed fixity, is the co e � � tw o in es s bu si n sa m e th e in rs sa he T . ss le or e or � ent �orms, part�tcut� g, in at ul rc ci d an d xe fi as e, nc te is e� p� e� a P�:d dIffer a a s ar pe ap g in at � ul rc ci or d hence eXIsts dou�ly. Toss bef ficaxeital apart from that of bemg particular de.termmater�;;f 0 st �oce�d to this particularity . � capital. But It necessa t e � s, te la u rc ci al it p ca at h "t on ti nc ti Finally, as .[regards] t Ird �e�. � Ricardo means by it, as his tim l a qu e . un ry ve m s, rn tu re r o ' ce n re fe If d e th y el er m , s ow sh r e m ar f e t . ess, exampI e. of the bake.r ancdaphI. tal I' different branches of busm ? in the time for whlCh �. flc: . of e as ph e th in ed a , according to th�ir . spctec ro t�at:t' c�;!u�tion . Fixed capital production as rsdlshtmere as we had it before, as fixedness in ea�h therefore occu . m ss ne d xe fi r te or sh or er ng 1 phase; except that theio. spn ,e�InIfIctah11IS.y cfefinite phase, is regarded as the ph ase of produ. ct. fea ure a articularity, of capi. ta1 . positing a charactenstIcO It. It� seIf at imperishable value, as eternal Money soug�t to p �ively to Circulation , i. e. to exchange with value, by relatmg negatle commodIt' Ie. S, which are dissolved in real wealth, perishab '
•
34
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
tran sien t enjoyments, as Petty very neatly and ry In capital, the imperishability of value is positedve naively PUts it." in that capital, while of cou rse embodying elf(TO A CERTAIN DEGREE) form of, perishable commodi ties, just as consitst in , adopting the alternately adopting its eternal form as moneyantly changes form, form as com modities. The imperish ability is and its perishable thing it can be, perishabili ty that is perishable posited as the only capital main tains this ability only by const process life. B ut vampire-like, living labour as its life-blood . antly sucking in, The imperishability the durability of valu e in its form as capital is only posited by reprodu ction , reprodu ction as commodity, reproduction as which itself is dual, these two reproduction processes. When prmoney and unity of modi ty, capital is fixed in a particular forerm oduced as a com hence is not universal exchange value, or inde of Use value, and should be. That it has posited itself as ed realised value, as it reproduction, in the production phase, it value in the act of circulation. The greater or lesser perishabilityonly proves through which [VI-29] value exists, requires slow of the commodity in reproduction of that valu e, i.e. repetition of er or more rapid The particular nature of the USe value in thiche labour process. which now appears as the body of capi tal, wh value exists, or pe ap s ar re he as determining the form and the elf its tio ac a particula r quali ty as compared win thof ancaotpital; as giving one capital Hence, as we have already seen on repeatehedr; as particularising it. more mistaken than overlooking the fact occasion s, nothing is between use value and exchange value, icthat the distinction h in simple circula tion, to the extent that it is realised, liewh determination of form , lies outside it in ges noutside the economic rather, that at the different stages of the deveeral. We have found , relations exchange valu e and use value lopment of economic different relations, and that this determinate are determined in a different determination of value as such ness itself appears as Use value itself plays a role as an eco . mi precisely it does so, emerges from the no l c category. Where opment itself. E. g. Ricardo, while believing that bourgeois deve only with exchange value and treats Use vapolulitical economy deals derives precisely the most importan t dete ine merely as exoteric, rm ations of exchange value from use value, from their mutual relat ion : for instance, rent, the minimum level of
. t hich �recisely he attributes a very important c i rculat i ng capz t�, c� ;;: (THROUGH THE DIFFEREN)T er at p io o m ri f n i ce e t s on ce n ue infl . PRODUCED L.PON THEM A RISE OR FALL IN THE RATE OF WAGES . . I relationship of etc y, demand an su pp d Sim ilarly m the " . ' . The same determl l�atI°n apPears once in the determmatIOn 0f m that 0f exchange value, but at differe. nt use value and I'ththendifferent significance. Using nsu�mg, is c � stages and W . whether for prod �ctIOn or for consumption. Exchange IS thIS act med·lated by a SOCIal process. The using itself may be posited by, and be a mere consequence f xchange ' on the other hand , exchange. may app�ar sI.mpl a� � �oment �f using, etc. From the � latI'on) , exchange appears as. the standpomt ?f capItal (m CIrcu . positing of ItS u�e vaIue,' while , on the other hand, Its use (m the act of productIOn) appears as positing for exchange, as the positi�g of its exchan�� va��� It IS . the same wit . p uction and consumption. !n t�e my) they are posited m (as In every econo bourgeOis economy . . . . " ' speCIfic dIstmctlO � s nd m speCI'fIe' uni'tl'es . The point' is, preCIsely, . to understand thiS diff�rentza. ecifica. Mr Proudhon s or the sociaI sentimentalists' [assertIOn] ttat they �re the same gets one nowhere.a . The good thmg about RIcardo's analysis is that, to begin with, the mo�ent is emphaslsed �! th:: �=�e�it� of more rapid or slower g a . r esser perishability, the reproductwn ; that, hen�e, t fe e ns sel of (in rapId consumptIOn th se slower 0: more . . . . d f I h d th respect to capital Itse1 . .e., e consumptIOn), IS conSI ere WI t . . relatIOnsh Ip' 0f use value for capttal I'tseI f. . . Sismondi, on the con.trary, a\o C introduces a determmatIOn � which . is in�tially exotenc �o C�PI a ' .�irect or indirect consumption by man,. I.e. whether the object . IS a dIrec t or an indirect means of . h' h' I ' th W the more t IS rapld or slower He assoCIates subSistence for . directly 'ects which serve as J consumption of the object Itself. The ob . · e are more penshable , because intended for means 0f subslstenc . consumption, than those wh'Ieh heI p to make means of subSistence. The latter type of objects are mean t to be durable; their perishability is, fate. He says: . REA cn
BY
or--
�
1m. .
.
. "Fixed capital is consumed slowly, . m a indirect manner, to help to reproduce what man destines for hIS use; C1rculatI �g ;.apital never ceases to be directly employed for the use of man. Whenever a thmg IS consu med , I't is consumed . for one person . . be a person for whom Its consumptIon sans retour!>; at the same tIme, there may .
wages, an d the distinction betw een fixed and
W. Petty, Several Essays in Political Arithmetick, London, 1 699, . 1 95-96._ Ed. pp 1 78-79 and
35
Chapter on Capital
a
..
a b
See present edition, V0I . 28, pp. 3 1 and 339-40.- Ed. Irrevocably.- Ed. •
•
-
34
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
tran�i�nt enjoy.ments: as ��tty very ne�tly a�d very naively puts it.a In capItal, the ImperIshabIlIty of value IS pOSIted (TO A CERTAIN DEGREE) in that capital, while of course embodying itself in, adopting the form of, perishable commodities, just as constantly changes form alternately adopting its eternal form as money and its perishabl� fo:m .as commodit�es. ��e impe:isha�ility is posited as the only thIng It can be, perIshabIlIty that IS perIshable process life. But capital maintains this ability only by constantly sucking in, vampire-like, living labour as its life-blood. The imperishability the durability of value in its form as capital is only posited by reproduction, which itself is dual, reproduction as commodity, reproduction as money and unity of these two reproduction processes. When reproduced as a com modity, capital is fixed in a particular form of use value, and hence is not universal exchange value, or indeed realised value, as it should be. That it has posited itself as value in the act of r�prod�ction, in the production p� ase, it only proves through cIr�ulatIon. The greater or lesser perIshability of the commodity in WhICh [VI-29] value exists, requires slower or more rapid reproductio? of that value, i.e. repetition of the labour process. The parttcular nature of the use value in which value exists or which .n ?w appears as the body of capital, appears here as i�self determ!nmg the f�rm and the action. of capital; as giving one capital a partICular qualIty as compared WIth another; as particularising it. Hence, a.s we have already see� on repeated occasions, nothing is more mIstaken than overlookIng the fact that the distinction �etween use value and exchange value, which in simple circula tIOn, to the extent that it is realised, lies outside the economic determination of form, lies outside it in general. We have found, rath�r, that at the different stages of the development of economic relatIons exchange value and use value are determined in different relations, and that this determinateness itself appears as a different determination of value as such. U �e val?e itself plays a role as an economic category. Where p�eCIsely It does so, emerges from the development itself. E.g. RICard? , while believing that bourgeois political economy deals onl� WIth ex.change value and treats use value merely as exoteric, derIves preCIsely the most important determinations of exchange value from use value, from their mutual relation: for instance, rent,
the minimum level of wages, and the distinction between fixed and a
W. Petty,
1 95-96.- Ed.
Several Essays in Political A rithmetick,
London,
1 699,
pp.
1 78-79
and
Chapter on Capital
35
capital, to which. pr�cisely he a.ttributes a very important , on the determInatIon of prIces (THROUGH THE DIFFERENT influencePRODUCED THEM A RISE ) THE RATE OR UPON WAGES . OF FALL IN N t� i ��l:rly in the relationship of demand and supply, et . � . . ' The same determination appears once In the determm�tIon of value, but at dIfferent use value and then in that of. exchange . . . . . stages and with different sIgmfICance: Usmg IS c�nsuI?mg, h ther for production or for consumptIon. Exchange IS .thiS act �e� iated by a social process. The using itself may be pOSIted by, and be a mere consequence of, exchange; on. the other hand, exchange may appear simply as a �oment of usmg, etc. From the standpoint of capital (in circulatIon), exchange a�pears �s the positing of its use value; while, on th.e. other hand, Its use (m the act of production) appears as posItmg for exchange, as the positing of its exchange value. . It is the same with production and consumptIon. ! n t�e bourgeois economy (as in eve:� eco.n.omy) they . are. posIte? m specific distinctions and in speCIf�c. umtIes. The pOII�t IS, preCIse�y, to understand this differentia speciftca . Mr. Proudhon s or the SOCIal sentimentalists' [assertion] that they are the same gets one nowhere" . . " with, The good thing about Ricardo's analy.sIs IS that, to b.egm the moment is emphasised of the necessity of more :aptd . �r slower pr duction'' that hence, the greater or lesser perIshabIlIty, the ;:o:er or mor� rapid consumption (in th� s� nse of self consumption), is considered with .res�ect to capttal Itself. I.e., the relationship of use value for capztal Itself. . . Sismondi, on the contrary, at once . introd�ce� a determm�tIon which is initially exoteric to capital: dzrect or md�rec� consumptwn by man, i.e. whether the object is a direct or an mdirect . means of subsistence for him. He associates this .with th� more rapz� or slower consumption of the object itself. The �bJects whICh ser�e dIrectly as means of subsistence are more perIshable, because mten�ed for consuniption, than those which help to make means of subsistenc� . The latter type of objects are meant to be durable; theIr perishability is, fate. He says: . "Fixed capital is consumed slowly, in an iI direct manner, to help t reproduce what circulating !
;
BY
!
� ? man destines for his use; circulatmg capItal never c�a.ses to be dIrectly employed for the use of man. Whenever a thing is consumed, It consumed, for one per�on sans retour!>; at the same time, there may be a person for whom Its consumptIon , See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 3 1 and 339-40.- Ed. b Irrevocably,-Ed. .
\S
a
•
•
"
- -
�---
--.-�� -
,
-
•
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Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
36
��:'Ii��/t� r;;�����t�� ' � (�������'3 [Nouveaux principes d'economie politique, 2nd . ,
---_ . .
(The capitalist gives back to the worker a part of his own surplus labour in the form of an avance, for which he must reimburse the capitalist not merely with an equivalent, but with surplus labour.)// (The formula for the calculation of compound interest is: S = c ( l + i) (5 is the total volume of capital c after the lapse of n years at an interest rate of i.) The formula for the calculation of an ANNUITY is:
He also represents the relationship thus:
•
. . "Th e firs tran t sfor mat ion of the ann ual con sum tion into e . ef t ;���:: is o:;::;:e:�:�hf !�;�u�tive fioTces of futur� labour [is fi:;::;�t�t��: ���� pi y a labour, represent. ed by a wage, exchanged for means 0f subsistence, which the worker consumes In the process of labour. Fixed capital is consumed aduall " C e . a ualIY �sed up). Second transformation : " Circulating capital c�nsists �f t�� ·se�ds �: z� )07:ke up by labour (raw material) and the worker's consumption" (I.e. [pp. 97-98, 9 ] .
n.
x
This is � ore �elevant to the origin [of capital]. First! the transforma�wn of. fIxed c�pital .itself into what is merely a statr�nar forII?- o� CIrculatmg . ca�Ital, ftxed circulating capital; secondly, th� purpose . . the one IS mtended to be consumed as means of pr?du�tIon, the other as product; or the different ways in which a thmg IS . cons,umed, determined by its role among the conditions of productIo?- m . the production process. . ' Cherbultez sImplIfIes the ' matter in the sense that CIrcuIatmg capital [is] the consumable, ftxed capital the non-consumable, part of . I .a (The one can be eaten up, the other cannot. A VERY EASY capIta METHOD OF :rAKING THE THING.)
rch, m a p.assage. already cited above b (34 in the Notebook 5t � . lCatfs for CIrculatmg capital in general the property of capit�i vmd
. to clrcu ate. But he refutes himself by arguingC that
. I and must "all fixed cap.ital. is originally derived from circulatl'ng capita constantIy be maIntaIned at the expense of the latter" .d
(H en ce it derives from circulation, or is itself circulating in its f Irst moment and con�tantly renews itself by means of circulation conseq�entl� , though tt does not enter into circulation, circulatio�' enters mto tt.) Storch adds further on :
"N fixed capital can bring in revenue ex ce p t b y means of ctr. culating capital" (26, b Notebook). 14 °
We shall come back to this later.
//" Reproductive consumption is not pro erI ' k n e , b t me�e1y , an advance, since it is reimbursed to him !t.o ;r:�: tt ?'sa; �pens Say [Considerations etc.], p. 54 (p. 5b, second notebook �n S���ch). po�em�lC agaInst : A. Ch�rbuliez, Richesse ou pauvreti, Paris, 1841 , pp. 16-19.- Ed. See thiS volume, p. 24.-Ed. � H. Storch, Cours d'economie politique, Vol. I, p. 246.-Ed. Here and below Marx quotes Storch in French.- Ed.
37
. I
(the
ANNUITY)
=
1
c(l + i) n
+ (I + i) + ( I + i)2 + . . . + ( I + i)n - I
See present edition, Vol. b First of aU.- Ed. a
•
.
)
nt sta con o int up l ita cap d ide div we sis, aly an ing ced pre the In correct when capital is value and variable value: Thisctiisonalwphays ase, i.e . in its immediate considered within the produ y ma , ue val sed po sup pre as lf, itse l ita cap w Ho s. ces pro ion valorisat e ris ts cos ion uct rod rep its er eth wh on up ing nd pe de , ue val its er alt or fall, or also as a result of a fall in profits, etc ., obviously does d, sse cu dis is l ita cap of t cep con l era gen the ere wh re, he g not belon the as l, ita cap l rea as l ita cap h wit g alin de n tio sec the in t bu reciprocal effect of many capitals upon each other. of on uti sol dis the as lly ica tor his ars pe ap on titi pe com se //Becau the d an s iff tar al ern int n, tio ula reg t en nm ver go , ion uls mp co guild like, within the country, and as the abolition of shutting-off, se cau be rt, sho in t rke ma rld wo the on , on cti ote pr or n prohibitio ers rri ba d an its lim the of n tio ga ne the as lly ica tor his ars pe ap it peculiar to the production stages preceding capital and because ed cat vo ad 0] I-3 [V d an d ibe scr de tly rec cor ite qu s wa it lly historica gly din or acc s ha it , ser pas z sse lai re, fai z sse lai as s rat oc ysi Ph the by been considered in terms of that, purely negative, its purely n eve the to led s ha s thi , nd ha er oth the On . ect asp l, historica greater stupidity of regarding competition as the clash of the un l tua mu the as est ter f-in sel by ly on ted ua act als du ivi fettered ind the as e nc he d an , als du ivi ind e fre the of n tio rac att d an ion uls rep absolute form of existence of free individuality in the sphere of the m fro r the fur be ld cou ng thi No . ge an ch ex d an n tio produc truth. r lie ear of ers rri ba the d ve sol dis n tio eti mp co e fre If (1) db bor a d' st mu e on n, tio uc od pr of s de mo d an s on ati rel on cti du pro take into account that what was a barrier to free competition, was 2 8;
pp.
9 2 1 -323
and
352- 53.- Ed.
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38
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Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
an immanent limit for earlier modes of production, within which they. spontaneously developed and moved. These limits became ?arners only after the productive forces and relations of mt�rcourse had attained a level of development sufficient for . capItal �s such to begm to act as the regulating principle of productIon. The limits it swept away were barriers to its mov:ment, de�el?pment, realisation. In so doing, it by no means abohshed all h�Its, or all barriers, only the limits that did not �or�espond to It, that were barriers to it. Within its own hmIt.s much as th�y may appear, from a higher viewpoint, as b�rne.rs to productIOn and be posited as such by capital 's own �Is�oncal develo�ment it feels itself to be free, unconfined, i.e . . lII�Ited. only by Itself, only by Its own conditions of life. Just as . . gUIld mdustry m Its heyday found in the guild organisation . d absolute!y the km o.f freedom which it needed, i.e . the . productIOn . relatIOns WhICh corresponded to it. Indeed, it posited t of itself and developed them as z' ts own �hese relations ou . Imm.anent condItI ' ons, hence not at all as external and restricting barners. From the historical aspect, the negation of the guild . system, �tc ., by capIta l through free competition merely means that capItal, once It ha� grown strong enough, tore down, by mea? s of t?e mode of mtercourse adequate to it, the historical . de ?arrIerS WhICh hm red and impeded the movement adequate to It. . Y�t competition is far removed from ha ving only this historical . . sIgmfIca�ce or fro� bemg only this negativity. Free competition is . elf the r�latIon of �apItal to Its as another capital, i.e . the real behavIour o� capItal �s capital. It is only at this point that the inner l�ws ?f capItal- wh Ich only appear as tendencies in the initial . deve hIstonc�1 stages of Its lopment are first posited as laws ' produc�lOn based upon capital only posits itself in its adequat� forms m so far and to the extent that free competition is developed. For f�ee competition is the free development of the � ode o� production based upon capital; the free development of Its c��dItlOns and of its process as constantly reproducing these condItIons. I fre e competition, it is capital that is set free, not the ? .mdI vIduals. As long as production based on capital is the necess�ry" hence th� most appropriate, form for the development of sOCIety s pr��uctlVe power, the movement of individuals within �h� pure condItI�ns of c�pital appears as their freedom. But then It IS also. dogm�tlCally affIrmed as such by continual references to the barners whIch free competition has demolished. Free competi-
ch � wh t tha it, of s an me By al. pit of ca nt me lop ve de l rea the tion is on ctI du ro of e � mo e th to al, pit ca of re tu J;> na e th to s nd po corres . an as ed sIt po IS al, pI ca t of nc c e th to � al, pit ca ? :� . based upon l ca ro cIp re he � al. pIt ca al du IvI md e th r fo ty ssi ce ne external . n by capItals upon one . tio compulsion exerted under free competi g on a rs ke or of n tio eti mp co e � (th . etc r, � ou lab on another, up ) als pIt ca of n tio eti mp co e th of rm fo er oth an ly re me is themselves s h alt we of nt me lop ve de l, rea e tim � e sam the at d an e, fre e is th IC om on ec d un of pr st mo e th at th se ca e th ch � mu so is capital. This e fre of ce an mm dO e lut so ab e th ose pp esu pr o, rd ca Ri . e.g . thinkers, .tm the adequ te � competition as essential for studymg and formula � Ies nC de ten al VIt e th as ar pe ap ly us eo an ult sim ich wh laws of capital, dommatmg It. e th f r fo te ua eq ad e th is n tio eti mp � ? co e fre , nd ha r he ot e th .IS On n tio eti mp co e fre er rth fu e Th al. pit ca of ess oc productive pr . 1 It p ca of nt me ve m e th of s rm � fo e th do r re pu ? e th , ., IS developed , luz e lgr ma d, tte mI a ? y eb er th s ha ., e.g o, rd ca Ri t ha W . ge emer ee f of te ac ar ch d cte stn re e th : d an : al, pit ca of e tur the historical na . I.e , als pIt ca of t en em ov e fre e th ly re me is ich wh n, � competitio y an of rt pa t no e ar ICh wh ns itio nd co in th wi nt me ve mo their he ,!, s . on ' iti nd co n ow s al pit ca e ar t bu s, ge sta . Ion , dissolved earlier tIt m co e fre r fo ion sit po up es pr p: e th is al pit ca of dominance r fo Ion SIt po up es pr e th s wa ism ot sp de l ria pe im n ma Ro e th just as the free Roman "private law" . of es ch u cr he r fo ks loo ll sti � elf its it , ak � we is al pit ca as As long ss pa ICh wh tIo uc od pr of s de mo of or n, ? tio uc od pr of s de mo past th ws ro th It , gh ou en g on : str els fe it as on so As e. away with its ris It as o so As s. law n ow its to ing � rd co ac s ve mo d an ay crutches aw to er rn ba a , b� to ow kn is d an is, elf its it ? begins to feel that tly r pa ap Ile wh h, I wh s rm :? fo in ge fu re es tak � it development, . n, tio eti mp co e fre g I rb cu ! by a pIt ca of ce I an mi ? do e th ing complet ? . de mo e th of nd al pIt ca f n Io lut So dIS e th m laI :a oc ? simultaneously pr . of re tu na th m t en er mh IS t ha W it � on . up sed ba n tio of produc by nly ty, ssI ce ne d ar tw ou an as , � ed lis na ter capital is actually ex . of als pit ca ny ma e th by mg rc fo e th ly re me is ich wh competition, ? an r he ot an e on on up al pit ca of ns tio na mi ter de nt ne ma the im Is eo rg ou ? e th of y or teg ca gle sin a t no e nc He s. . on of upon themselve atI mm ter de e th . e.g e, on sic ba st mo e th en ev t no y, econom ee f h Ug r th ] an th r he : [ot n ow its �) o int s me value, really co Ich wh al, pIt ca of s es oc pr al tu ac e th h ug ro th . i.e n, competitio .Itals and ll other � appears as the reciprocal effect of all ca� on up l ita cap by ed mm ter de e erc mm co d an n tio uc od pr of relations one another. •
r
I
39
•
•
•
40
Outlines of the Critique of Political Ec onomy
H e n c e , o n the o t h e r h a n d , the ab competition as the ultimate developm surdity of regarding free the negation of free competition as e ent o f human freedom, and individual freedom and of social pro quivalent to the negation of freedom. It is merely the kind of freduction based upon individual limited basis of the domination of ce development possible on the freedom is therefore, at the samapital. This type of individual abolition of all individual freedom e time, the most sweeping of individuality to social condition and the complete subjugation objective powers, indeed o f overpso which assume the form o f dependent of the individuals relatingwering objects objects in To bring out the essence of free co to one another. answer to its glorification by the pr mpetition is the only rational its anathematising by the socialists. ophets of the MIDDLE CLASS and to competition individuals, in pursuin I f it is argued that within free realise the common or RATHER theg their purely private interest, m�rely that they press upon each general interest, this means capitalist production and hence theother under the conditions of reprodl,lces the conditions under whir mutual repulsion itself only Incidentally, once the illusory view ich this interaction takes place. absolute form of free individuality of competition as the alleged that the conditions of competition, begins to vanish, this is proof capital, are already felt to be an i.e. of production based upon therefore already are barriers, a d thought of as barriers, and degree. The assertion that free c nd to a constantly increasing ultimate form of development of thompetition is equivalent to the of human freedom, boils down to t e productive forces, and hence he assertion that the rule of the MIDDLE CLASS is the terminal of world history -certainly an agreeable thought for the papoint rvenus of the day before yesterday. II [VI-3 1 ] B efore continuing our sur circulating capital, let us for a m vey of views on fixed and oment return to something discussed earlier. For the time being we assume tha with labour time. The CASE in t production time coincides production phase itself, interruptiowhich there are, within the nological process will be considered ns conditioned by the tech Suppose that the production phaselater. days, 40 of which are necessary lab of a capital is 60 working developed earlier, surplus value, our time. Then , under the law capital, i.e. the alien labour time apporr the new value posited by this surplus value ( = 20) be represenopriated, = 60 4 0 ; = 20. Let ted by S, and the production
Chapter on Capital
•
_
•
,
,
,
:t
41
. · o d lab the tI e d hase p � (;>UJ r;.�! ���ng the production phase by (w shall call , e.g p In a gIVen peno 0 I we Z) 360 . ' � d ys the total value pro.d�.ced Cj� r:::.�er be greater than the [sum of value produced �I� In the u er of production phases contained in 360. The hlg es� �O�:I·ble coefficient of S i.e. the ital can produce under the maximum of .surplu� value a given assumptIons IS equal �o the �umber of repetitio�s of th.e production of S in 360 .days. The imum number of tImes thIS process the reprodu�tIon 0f capt�Lx or rather, now, the repro duction of its productIon pr?cess �a be repeated is determIned by the rat.io of the prod�ctIon ��O: to the overall time period b eated. If the given time=360 within whIch the for?I�r ro days, days' andZ the �� � � e � uction phase=60 then p duratIo . . 360 or - , I.e · how many times p 6 S the coefficient whIch shows I , . p 60 . . is contained In Z, or how man times, given its own Immane? t Y 0f capital can be repeated In limits, the process of reproductIon 360 days. . Self-evidently, the maxlmum quantit of S that can be . � posited is determined t at can h produced, I.e. 0f surplus value . ' . . bY the number of processes In wh·ICh S can be produced In a gIVen . The quotient of -Z or q IS. .tIme peno . d . -z expresses thIS. relatIon. P P . . the largest :osslbl� coeffI;·e�t f S in the time penod 0f 360 days, z or q s :he maximum [surplus] value [that in general In Z. . .p can' be Produced In Z]. If !:...p - q, Z= pq, i.e. the entire duratIon of . . . . Z would be productIon tIme.. the J?roduction phase p IS repeated as many times as it is co�taIned I? Z· The total [surplus] value d of time would then be=to peno ' produced by capl·taI in a gIven . the surplus labour appro�nated by it. in one production phase X by the number of times thIS productIon phase is contained in the given time. Hence, in the above exampIe, = 20 . 360/60 =20x6= 120 days. The . Z magnitude q, I.e. p , would express the number of turnovers of capital; but SInce Z pq, p !:... , I.e. the duration of one production phase would be equal t? the total time divided by the number 0f turnovers. One prodUCtI0fo1 phase of capital would therefore equal one turnover. Turnover tIme ;nd production time would then be completely identical; hence t e number of turnovers would be -
.
.
-
-
-
-
q
.
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
42
determined exclusively by the ratio of one production phase to total time. However, in this case, circulation time has been assumed as= O. Actually, it has a certain length, which can never become=O. Now assume that for every 60 days' production time or 60 production days, 30 circulation days are required. This circulation time, required for p, can be designated as c. In this case, one turnover of capital, i.e. the total time it requires before it is in a position to repeat the valorisation process, the positing of surplus value, is equal to 30+60, =90 days (= p + c) (l U (turnover)= p + c). In a period of 360 days, a turnover taking 90 days can be 360 . . repeated on Iy 90 ' I.e. 4 tImes. The surplus value 0 f 20 could then be posited only 4 times; 20X4=80. In 60 days, the capital produces 20 surplus days; yet it must circulate for 30 days, i.e. it cannot posit any surplus labour, any surplus value, during these 30 days. For the capital this is the same (so far as the result is concerned) as if in 90 days it had only posited a surplus value of 20 days. Formerly, the number of turnovers was determined by � ; now it is determined by Z or � . Formerly, the maximum U p p+c 5Z [surplus] value was ; the surplus value actually produced now p 360 360 5Z IS = 20 ' (20 , =20x4=80). The number of ,
•
p+ c ' •
60 + 30
90
turnovers is, therefore, equal to the total time divided by the sum of the production time and the circulation time; and the total [surplus] value is S multiplied by the number of turnovers. But this formula is not enough yet to express the relations of surplus value, production time and circulation time. The maximum of [surplus] value creation is expressed by the 5Z formula p , the maximum limited by circulation time is given by
S: p c
get:
(or
: ).
5
5Z p
Subtracting the second quantity from the first, we
5Z p+c
-
5Z(p + c) - 5Zp p(p + c)
The difference IS therefore •
5Z p+c
oj the Critique oj Po
5Zp + 5Zc - 5Zp 5Zc p(p + c) - p(p + c) ' SZc P (P + c) ,
or
Page 32
c x + . p c P
SZ
The
magnitude or S' as we may represent [surplus] value in the second determination, is expressed by the formula '
tlines Ou e th h it w I V k o o b te o of N " caI Econo y Ilh
,
•
•
m
Chapter
Z ( S _ x
45
Capital
)
. B f we contInue t e ana ySIS h I · ore 0 f this e p p formula, others have to be brought in. If the quotient of p!c is designated as q', then q' expresses the number of times V=(p+ c) is contained in Z, the number of 'S-
-
sz
on
c . p+c
turnovers. = q' ; hence Z = pq' + cq' . In this equation, pq' expresses the total production time and cq' the total circulation tIme. Designate the total circulation time as C (so cq' = C). ( Z (360)=4x60 (240)+4x30 ( 120). From what has been presup posed, q'=4. C=cq' =4c; 4 being the number of turnovers. As we SZ saw earlier, the maximum of [surpl�s] value creation = p , but in that case Z was assumed to be equal to the production time. Yet now the actual production time is Z - cq', as also follows from the equation. Z = pq' (total production time) + cq' (total circulation time, z-c . or C). Consequently, Z - C=pq'. As a result, S · p IS the Z p+c
•
•
maximum of [surplus] value creation. For the production time is not 360 days but 360 days - cq', i.e. 4x30, or - 120; hence [the total surplus value produced is] ( 360- 1 20 ) 20x240 -
20·
60
=
--=80 . 60
[VI-32] Finally, as regards the formula •
•
s,
(
)
c = 360 X 20 _ SZ SZ = _ x p p c+p 60 3 30
eO X 360 x 60
30 30 + 60
)=
= 120-(l20X =20 X6-(20X6X )=6X20-(6X20X ) "3 g go . 1 = 120-(120X "3 )= 120-40=80, 1
or
it means that [surplus] value is equal to the maximum [surplus] value, i.e. to the [surplus] value determined purely by the relation of production time to total time, minus the number which expresses how many times the circulation time is contained in this maximum, and this number is the maximum itself multiplied by the number of times one turnover is contained in c, in the circulation time per turnover, or divided by the number which expresses how many times c is contained in c + p or C in Z.
46
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy SZ be = p
being the number of times the production time is contained in the total time minus the number of times the circulation time of one turnover is contained in this latter number.
If c were = 0, 5 ' would , and would thus be at its maximum. 5' grows smaller in the same measure as c increases , and hence is inversely related to it, for the factor � and the c p c SZ SZ c number X c + , or X TJ whi ch is to be sub trac ted from p p p SZ . , the maX Imu ' m [sur plu s] valu e, incr ease in the same measure. P
c = S qp = S Z u c ( � \ S l S ( q q u ) = 5q ( l _ if = q u u p +c ' -
'
la mu for . ans (3) .. la me mu for nce He la. mu for t firs the is which s value produced (1) : The total surplus value is equal to the surtotplu in one production phase multiplied by the al time, divided by sum the es tim er of mb nu the by lied ltip mu or e, tim er nov tur the of production time and circulation time is contained in the total tIme. Formula (2) : The total [surplus] value is equal to the surplus value multiplied by the total time minus the total circulation time, divided by the duration of one production phase.
•
c c r - TJ +p
.
c TJ
expresses the relation of circulation time to one turnover of capital. If we multiply the numerator and C cq ' 30 ( c denominator by q', we get: . c+ c
c c+p
(
1
p)q' - Z
+p
•
30 + 60
expresses the relation of circulation time to total . 360 tIme, since 3 = 1 20 . The turnover ( c + P ) is contained in c c c+p C or 1 /3 (or y ) [times]. , or
3" '
We therefore have th'ree formulas: =
(2)
Hence
S ' = sz sz p+c u s ' S(Z - C) p SZ _ ( S Z C = s fZ _ ( Z c X Xc p p +p 'P \jj c + p . =
(1)
(3)
47
Chapter on Capital
S'
)}
SZ 5q : 5'= - :: p
S(Z - C) ; p
or 5q : S'= Z:( Z- C ).
The
�aximum. [surph� s] value relates to the actual [surplus] value as a . gIVen period of tIme relates to this period minus total circulation tIme . Or also 5q : 5 ' = (pq ' + cq ' ); (pq ' + cq ' - cq ')=( P + c): p. Concerning (3): •
, S = SZ _ ( SZ X C ) _ S { Z p p c+p p -
-
-
(Z p
-
c x c+p
) } or, since
S ' = S (q - q . c = S(q - q�) c+p u .
.
Z
-
p
= q,
�he t?tal surplus va.lue is therefore equal to the surplus value posIted In one productIOn phase, the coefficient of the latter value
"
( The basic law developed under competition, as distinct from t tha is , ue val s plu d sur an ue val to t pec res h wit ed ish abl est that value is determined, not by the labour contained in it, or by the labour time in which it is produced, but by the labour time in for ary ess nec e r tim ou lab the by or , ced du pro be can it which reproduction . Only in this way is the individual capital in reality placed under the conditions of capital in general, although the s thu ly on is t it n. Bu row rth ove n bee e hav to ms see law al gin ori that necessary labour time is posited as determined by the . on titi pe com of ic law bas the is is Th lf. itse l ita cap of t en movem Demand, supply, price (production costs) are further determina tions of form; price as market price; or general price. Then the t rke ma the of is bas the On fit. pro of e rat l era gen a of ng positi price, capitals are then allocated to different branches. Lowering ar pe ap ns tio na mi ter de all re he rt, sho In . etc ts, cos on cti of produ in l ita cap in nce ara pe ap ir the h wit red pa com as er ord e ers inv in general: There price is determined by labour;. here labour is determined by price, etc., etc. The action of the individual capitals upon one another has the the l; ita cap as ave beh to m the g cin for of , ely cis pre , effect apparently independent operation of the individual capitals, and . l law era gen ir g the itin of pos the ly cise pre are s, on lisi col c oti cha their The market acquires yet another meaning here. The action of capitals as individual ones upon each other thus becomes preciselyt their positing as general ones, and the abolition of the apparen ls ita . cap l ua ivid ind of nce ste exi s ou om ton au d an e enc nd indepe •
48
Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
This abolition takes plac: to an even greater extent in credit. And the extre �e form to �hICh thi� �bolition proceeds, but which is, at �h � �ame tIme, t�e ulttmate POStttng of capital in its adequate form, IS Jomt-stock capItal.) (D.emand: supply, pri�e, production costs, the opposition of profIt and Interest, the dI�ferent relations between exchange value and use value, consumptIon and production.) S? .we ha�e seen '�hat �he surplus value that capital can posit in a defm.lte penod of tIme IS determined by the number of times the valonsatlOn pr.oc�ss can be repeated, or the capital can be reproduc�d, �Ithm tha.t period, but that the number of these reprodu.ctlOns IS determmed by the relation of the duration of the �roduc�lOn p.hase, !lot to the total time period, but to . this total t�me mI I1:us CIrc�latIon time. Circulation time therefore appears as tIme durmg WhICh the [VI-33] ability of capital to reproduce itself and the:e.fore �o reproduce surplus value, is suspended. Hence it� prOdUCtIVIty. I.e. . its J?roduction of surplus values is inversel related to CIrculatIon tIme, and would attain its maximum level i� the latter dropped to zero. Since circulation i � the passage of capital through the different, co�cep�ually determmed moments of its necessary metamor hosis of I.tS lIfe proc�ss" it is an indispensable condition for capit�l, on� �osIted by capItal s o�n nat�re. In so far as this passage takes · t IS· for time this during value ItS tncrease tIme, caplt�l cannot l , . . . . no�prod�ctIon . .tIme, It IS tIme in which capital does not �ppropnate IIvmg labour. Hence, circulation time can never I n;::�ase �he value p :oduced by capital, but can only posit time w tC POSt� n? v.a!ue, I.e. can only appear as a limit to the increase of value, ItS . IImItm� effe�t bei.ng measurable by the ratio it bears to lab�ur t�me. CIrculatIon tIme cannot be reckoned as value prod �cmg tIme, �he latter only being labour time which objectifies �tself m value. It IS not I;>art of the production costs of value; nor is It J?art . of the prO?U �tlOn costs of capital; but it is a condition whIch . Impedes capItal s self-reproduction. ObvlO�sly , the �b�tacles to the valorisation of capital i.e. to its appn?pr�atIon o� IIvmg: �abour-do not constitute a moment of its v�onsatIon, of ItS pos�tIng of value. Therefore, it is ludicrous to ta e the term produ�tton costs in the original sense here. Or we must se� the pr?ductI?n �?sts . apart as a particular form from the labour tIme whICh objectIfIes Itself in value (as we must set profit apart from surplus value). But even then, circulation time does not
as se sen e sam the in ital cap of ts cos tion duc pro the of t par form wages, etc., do. It is an ITEM which comes into the reckoning in the settling of accounts between individual capitals, because they share out the surplus value among themselves in certain general proportIons. Circulation time is not time in which capital produces value, but time in which it realises the value produced in the production process. Circulation time does not increase the quantity of value, but posits it in other appropriate determinations of form, of t tha o int ct du pro of n tio ina erm det the m fro it g tin ver con commodity, from that of commodity into that of money, etc. The in nce ste exi nal tio no a had y usl vio pre ich wh ce, pri the t fact tha the commodity, is now really posited, and that the commodity is now actually exchanged for its price, money, does not increase this price, of course. Circulation time, therefore, does not appear as time which determines value; and the number of turnovers, as far as it is t tha g tin ica ind as ear app not s doe e, tim n atio cul cir by d ine erm det capital introduces a new value-determining element, one which belongs to it, sui generis, as distinct from labour. On the contrary, ary ess nec the nce He . ple nci pri e ativ neg g, itin lim a as s ear app it tendency of capital is circulation without circulation time, and this tendency is the basic attribute of credit and the credit CONTRIVANCES in m for a o als , ore ref the is, dit cre , nd ha er oth the On l. ita of cap which capital seeks to posit itself as distinct from the individual capitals, or in which the individual capital seeks to posit itself as st mo , the ver we Ho it. lim e tiv tita an qu its m fro ct tin dis as l capita l. ita S cap IOU TIT FIC , nd ha e on e th E on LIN is, is th in ve hie ac n ca it t tha of nt me ele w ne a as ars pe ap y rel me dit cre , nd ha er oth On the al du ivi ind by ls ita cap of -up ing ow all sw the of n, tio tra cen con centralising capitals. e Th y. ne mo in ied tif jec ob is e tim ion lat cu cir t, ec asp e on om Fr attempt of credit to posit money as a merely f.ormal t;n0ment,I. sog be � f e Its ut th wI m or � of ge ? an ch the � tes dia me y ne that mo . etrculatton wtthout ctrculatton capita� i.e. value. This is a ucfort mof ofcircu er lat see all e sh W . ion lat od pr a elf its is y time. Mone it. � cre i ion lat cu ci of t uc od pr w ? ne s ate cre al : pit ca how � . ut tho wt ton lat cu etr for s ve stn al pIt ca , nd ha e on the But if, on of lue va the ute rib att to , er oth the on ks, see it e, tim ion circulat in it to lu va � production time to circulationichtimthee asprsuocchess, toofatCIr�ribcuute . d e an tIm Ion lat wh by ns ga or us the vario . a m d an y, ne mo as em th of all sit po to ; ted dia . circulation is me . dit cre of t ec asp er oth an is is Th al. pit ca as n tio na mi ter de further •
,
49
50 �ll
thi� springs from the �ame source. All the requirements of c�rculatlOn, money, conversIOn of commodity into money, conver SI?n o� mO.ney into commodity, etc., may be traced back to czrculatwn tzme, although they adopt various, appare nt ly qu ite � eter�gen�o�s, forms. The machinery designed to reduce circula tIon tIme IS Itself part of it. Cir�ulation time is that time of capital which may be re ga rd ed the tlm� of . its specific movement as capital, as distinct fro� productIOn tIme, dur�ng which it reproduces itself, exists not as already produced capIta! w�ich has merely formal transformations t? undergo, but as .capItal-In-process, creative capital, sucking its lIfe-blood from labour. The .oppositi�n of labo�r time and circulation time comprises the entIre doctrIne of credIt, as thIS. In. volves, i.a ., the problem of CURRENC:, etc. O f cour�e, apart from circulation time being a deduc�lOn fro?J the pOSSIble production time, real costs of circulation come Into eVIdence later, i.e. it emerges that values which have already be�n posited in reality, must be expended in circulation. But IN FACT capItal only burdens itself with all these costs - deductions from the surplus value already produced in order to increase the �um of surplus. values that can be produced, e. g. , in a year, that is, to I?CreaSe �he al�quot part of production time contained in a definite tIme penod I.e . to reduce circulation time. Tru�, it also emerges . that . in practice circulation time does not really Interru �t productIon tIme (except in crises and DEPRESSIONS OF TRADI;:) . But . thIS IS merely because each capital is divided up into portI�ns, w�th one part In the production phase and the other in the CIrculatIon P?ase. Not the . whole of a �iven capital is active, . ulatIon time to pr �ut, e · 9· (�epen�Ing O? the ratIo of CIrc od uc tio tIm�), /3, / of It, whI1� the ot�er part is involved in circulation.n Or I.t may be .that � gIven capItal is doubled (e.g., by means of credIt). F�r t? IS ca�Ital . [for] the original capital it is then the sa�e a� If CIrculatIon tIme dI. d not exist at all. But then the capItal It . has borrowed is in that PLIGHT. And if we abstract 'from the questIOn. �f OWN.ERSHIP, it is again quite the same as if one capital had bee� dIVI?t?d In�O two. Instead of a being divided into two and. b beIng dIVIded I�tO two, a draws b to itself and then divides up Into a and b.. IllUSIOns concerning this process are widespread among the credIt cranks (who are seldom creditors' but RATHER debtors). We have already indicated a that the dual and contradictory See the beginning of the previous paragraph.- Ed.
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condition of capital, continuity of production and the necessity for circulation time, or, also, continuity of circulation (not circulation time) and the necessity for production time, can only be fulfilled by dividing capital into portions, one of which circulates finished product, and the other reproduces itself in the production process, and these portions alternate; when the one returns to phase P (production process), the other leaves it. This process takes place day after day, and also within longer intervals (time dimensions). The whole capital and the total value have been reproduced as soon as both portions have gone through the production process and the circulation process, or also as soon as the second portion re-enters into circulation. Thus the point of departure is also the end point. Hence the turnover depends on the size of the capital, or RATHER, here, still on the total sum of these two portions. Only when it has been reproduced, has the whole turnover been completed; otherwise, only 1/2 , 1/3, 1/, of it, depending upon the proportion of the constantly circulating part. [VI-34] It was further emphasised that each part could be regarded in opposition to the other as fixed or circulating and that they did in fact alternately adopt these roles in relation to each other. The simultaneity of the different phases of the process of capital is only made possible by the fact that capital is divided and rejects portions, each of which is capital, but capital in a different determination. This change of form and substance is similar to that in an organic body. If, e.g., it is said that the body reproduces itself within 24 hours, it does not do so all at once; rejection in one form and renewal [in] another are spread out in time and take place simultaneously. Incidentally, in the body the bone-structure is fixed capital; it is not renewed in the same time as flesh and . blood. Consumption (self-consumption), and hence reproduction, proceed with different degrees of rapidity. (Here we, therefore, already have the transition to many capitals.) The important thing here aqove all is to keep in mind, as yet, only capital as such; for the determinations developed here are determinations which make value in general into capital, constitute the differentia specifica of capital as such. Before going any further, we shall once again draw attention to the important point that circulation time i.e. the time during which capital is separated from the process in which it absorbs labour into itself, i.e. the labour time of capital as capital merely transposes presupposed value from one determination of form into the other, but it is not an element which creates or increases value. as
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
B y converting a value o f 4 days' labour which of twist, into a .value of 4 days' labour which exexisted in the form is ts as money, or a symbol recogmsed as the represen tative of genera.I, 4 general working days, the presup 4 days ' labour in po se d an d m ea su re d al u e IS tr an sl ated from one form into the other, but it � is not mcreased. The exchange of equivalents leaves of value, t?e same �fter the exchange as they them, qua quantities w assume a. smgle c�pItal, or treat the various ca ere before it. If we p it al s of a country as . one capital (natIOnal capital) as distinct co� ntries, it is cle�r that �he ti e durin g w from that of other h ic h � this capital is not . active .as productIve capital, I. e . POSitS n o su rp lus value, is a deductIo? fr�m the valorisation time at its d is p o sa l. S u ch tI � e appears con�eived .in t�is abstract form, still wholly . disregardm g the costs o f CIrculation Itself . as a . negation, not of . t?e v�lons�tlOn tlll�e ac�ual�y posited, but o tIo� time, I. � . possIble If CIrculation time f the possible valorisa w er natI�nal �apItal cannot reg rd the time du e zero. Plainly, the ri � n g w h ic h . it d o es n o t u lt Ip ly It se lf as � time dunng which it does. Nor can, e .g ., an Isolated peasant regard the time in which h sow., in w�ich in general his labour is inte e cannot harvest or enn�hes . hlll� . That capital, used as it is, rrupted, as time which a n . considenng It�elf as pr�ductIve and yieldin d necessarily so, to g fr u it independently o f labour, of Its absorption of labour, assum at all times, and reckons its circulation ti es itself to be fruitful m e value as production cost - is QUITE ANOTHER TH as time producing IN G. One therefore sees the error when Ramsa y , e .g ., says "THAT
THE USE OF FIXED CAPITAL MODIFIES TO A CONSIDERABLE EXTENT THE PRINCI PLE THAT VALUE DEPENDS ON QUANTITY OF LABOUR. FO WHICH THE SAME QUANTITY OF �ABOUR HAS BEEN EXPENDED R SOME COMMODITIES ON PERIODS BEFORE THEY ARE FIT FOR CONSUMPTION. BUT AS. REQUIRE VERY DIFFERENT CAPITAL BRINGS NO RETURN, IN ORDER THA T THE EMPLOYM DURING THIS TIME THE ENT IN QUESTION SHOULD NOT BE LESS LUCRA TIVE THAN OTHERS IN WHICH THE PRODUCE IS SOONER READ USE, IT IS NECESSARY THAT THE COMMO Y FOR DI TY , WHEN AT LAST BROUGHT TO MARKET, SHOULD BE INCREASED IN VALUE B Y ALL THE AM OUNT OF PROFIT WITHHELD." (I t . is already presupposed here that capit a umform profit, as a healthy tree yield al as such always yields s fruit.)
" T�IS �HEWS HOW CA PITAL MA Y REGULATE VALUE INDEPEND ENTL Y OF LABOUR." E .g ., WIne In the cellar. (Ramsay, [An Essay on the Distr ibution Of 84.) 1 1 1 Wealth, p . 43 " ] IX
This is as i� circulation time alongside labour time, or on the same scale as It produced value. Capital, of course, includes both moments. ( 1 ) Labour time as the moment which produces value.
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(2) Circulation time as the moment whic� limits labour time and hence the total production of value by ca�Ital; a . mOI?e?t nec�ssary because value, or capital, in the for� m �hIch It Immediately results from the production process, IS certamly value, but v�lue which has yet to be posited in its . adequat� form . . The time required for this change of form.-I.e . . th.e time . whICh elap ses between production and reproduction IS tlI� e �hICh depr:CIates capital. While, on t?e
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Leaving production and its re-entry into it.- Ed.
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
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produced �ach time = 5 , the total surplus v al u e would = 5 (the 5 produc�d m one produ �tion phase) x 4 (the �etern:llned ?y the. relatIon of production tinmuemtoberthoef yetuarnr)o=ve2 rs 0 . ut smce CIrcula. tIOn time is, e g 1/ of . ' n tIme 1 turnover would = 3 + 1 months, i. e .' 4" m4on prod uctIO ' th s, a n d th e caPital o f 1 00 could turn over only 3 times a year [ . , 5 '] . = 1 5 . Therefore . although �he c�p�ta1 POSIts an 5 value of [5 s�me !or It as If It o?ly posited a [surplus] v in 3 months [it] is th� a lu :� n.ce It c�n only posIt one of 5 X 3 in a year. It ise othfe5sain 4 months me for it a� 1 It pro uced �n 5 0; 5 per 4 months; i. e produced only I /4 or 3 /4, and in the one m . as if in 3 months it o n th To the extent th�t the turnover is distin of circulation 1 1/ . ��SIt�d by the condIt�. ons of production itselfct, itfr=ocim the duratio� rculation time e atter, however, IS no� determined by la b o u r time. Hence th� sum o f surplus values .posIted by capital in appears . to be d�termmed, not simply a given period of time b y labour time but. bY labour tIme and cIrculation time [V I- 3 5 ] ' . in th e �bove. B. .ut th; deterJ?m. atI.On w'hich capital intrporodupceorts Iohneres gIVen into e pOSItIng 0 �alue IS, as shown above, a n . If , e . �., a �apItal of [ 1 ? 0 reqUIres 3 mo egative, limiting one. nths, say 90 da s, for . productIOn, It could, If cI rculation time = O , turn over 4 Jmes a . yea:, . and all of It would be continuousl y a ct �osItmg surplus labour, as value multiplying itivseelfa. sIfcapital, i. e . as 8 0 of the 90 ays represented necessary labour, 10 w o 1�bou:. ASsume now that circulation time wualds 3r3e1p/resent surplus , /'0 0f prod uc tIon tIme or 1 /3 0f It' ," I. e ., 1 month to 3 . . CIrculation time would .d then equal /3 ; one-thIr o f production time , or 3 0 days,. c -_ 1/ p. p (c - -· ...
3 Of
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WE�.
The 9uestion is : how large a proportion of this capital can now e contmuously engaged in prod uction - during the whole year? If the capital o f 1 00 had worked fo ' . r 9 0 d a y s, an d CIrcul ated as a product 0f 1 05 for a month, then d u ri n g this month it could not e m p1oy any labour at a ll . (O f �ourse, the 9 0 working days ca g�p�ndmg uton the number o f workers enmpbloe y3ed 4duri5�g X 90 t�os� ays. T ey would o n ly = 9 0 days if on ly 1 worker were . employed . B ut for the �Im ' e bemg, we are not concerned with this . ) (In a. ll these calculatIons, it is assumed th re-capItarIsed, but that the capital contin at surplus va1 ue IS. not u e s number of workers. Yet it is only wit to work with th a surplus [value] that the entire capital as h the realisation �; �: w e ll is again real'Ised as money.)
Chapter on Capital
I.e., for one month, the capital could not be employed at all. (The capital of 100 constantly employs, e.g., 5 workers; contained in it is their surplus labour, and the product which is circulated is never the original capital but that which has absorbed the surplus labour and hence has a surplus value. Strictly speaking, therefore, the circulation of a capital of 100 is to be understood as the circulation of a capital of, e.g., 105, i.e. of the capital together with the profit posited in 1 act of production. But at this point, that erreura is of no consequence, notably in dealing with the above question.) Suppose that twist worth [100 has been produced at the end of 3 months, and 1 month passes before I receive the money and can recommence production. Now to set the same number of workers to work during the 1 month when the capital circulates, I must have a surplus capital of [33 1/3 , for if [100 sets a certain amount of labour in motion for 3 months, 1/3 of [100 would set it in motion for one month. At the end of the 4th month, the capital of 1 00 would RETURN into the production phase, and that of 33 1/3 would enter into the circulation phase. Given the same relation, the latter would take 1/3 of a month for circulation, and hence would come back into production after 1 0 days. The first capital could only re-enter circulation at the end of the 7th month. The 2nd capital, which entered into circulation at the beginning of the 5th month, would return, say, on the 1 0th day of the 5th month, re-enter circulation on the 1 0th of the 6th month and return on the 20th of the 6th month. It would then re-enter circulation on the 20th of the 7th month, and return at the end of the 7th month. So the first capital would be resuming its course at precisely the moment when the 2nd would be returning. Beginning of the 8th month and return at etc. Beginning of the 9th etc. In a word: if the capital were 1/3 larger precisely the amount made up by circulation time it could give continuous employ ment to the same number of workers. But it can also continuously maintain itself in the production phase by constantly employing 1/3 less labour. Suppose the capitalist began with only 75 of his capital; at the end of the 3rd month production would be completed, and one month would be needed for circulation. During this month, however, he could still carry on production, since he has kept a capital of 25 on hand; and if he needs 75 to a
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Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
in at th to n io ct u d ro p in d ge ga en C The ratio of the part of by d te n se re p re y sl ou u n ti n co is g I/ circulation is always 1 : 1/ 3; this 4 3 l /g : 1 = C : p ; h c= ; / = 0 10 : 75 = C : p t u 4 varying component parts. B • /g :4 1 = M :4 M 3 = U : p ; M 4 r= ve o rn tu c : C = I :4 . The total
set a certain amount of labour in motion for 3 months he needs 25 to set � corresponding amount in motion for 1 �onth. He woul? contmuously have the same number of men working. Each of hIS commodities takes 1/ 1 2 of a year to sell. If the sal.e of �is commodities always takes [a time equal to] 1/3 of productIOn time, so etc. It should be possible to solve this problem by means of a very simple equation, to which we shall �o�e back later. Properly speaking, it does not belong here. But it IS Importa':lt because of the problems of credit later. time whd thus clear. Call production Mea much is pt, � � . CIrculatI�m time ct, an� c�pita.l C. C. cannot be simultaneously in its productIOn :ph �se �nd m ItS CIrculation phase. If it is to continue to pr�duce w�ile It clrcu�ates, it must divide itself up into 2 parts, of ,,:hICp �ne IS engaged m the production phase and the other in the clrc�latIon phase, �he c�ntin�ity of the process being maintained �hus. �hen :part a IS posited m the former determinateness, part b IS poslt�d m the latter. Let the portion always engaged in productI�n b.e x. �hen x= C- b (where b is the part of capital engaged m CIrculation). C= b+ x. If ct, circulation time, were zero, b ,,:ould also be z�ro; . and x. would be equal to C. b (the part of c�pltal engaged . m c!rculatIon): C (total capital) = ct (circulation tIm�):p� (p�oduct�on time). b: C= ct: pt; i.e. the ratio of the part of c.apltal m CIrcul�tIon to total capital is given by that of circulation time to production time . 100 If a capital of turns over at a gain of 5% every 4 months . WIth one month's circulation time per 3 months' production time : 5·12 / M (month) total surplus value will, as we have seen = 4 = 5 x 3 = 15; instead of 20 ' if c =O ' for. I·n that case, 5x12 S' = 3 = 20. But now 15 is the gain yielded at 5% by a capital of 75 . whC?se circulation time = 0; which turns over 4 times a year; WhICh IS always employed. At the end of the 1st quarter 3 3/ . at the end of the year, 15 . (But it would only turn over a tot�l ca�ital of 300, as against 40 � if, in the former case, ct=O.) Consequently, a. capI.tal of 1 00, with circulation time of 1 month per . 3 M production tI�e, can cont.inuously EMPLOY productively a capital of . 75; a capItal of 25 IS always in circulation and unproductI�e. 75:25=3.M: I M; or, if we call the part of capital employed m production p, that in circulation c and the corresponding time periods p' and c , then p : c = P' : c .
and
s u e an lt u m si a � s e er th � , al it p ca f o on ti [V I- 36 ] In the circula h It t W e er h m eg b st u � m � e W change of form and materia l." In . n O ti SI O p p su re e th as ss ce r p n io p � money, but with the product e th , ed rn ce n co S t e p as al en at .. m e th � production , so far as e h T u d ke P or w IS al en at m w ra e : . instrument is expended and th IS h IC h w e, lu va se u d te ea cr ly ew n result is the product a e th s rd ga re s A s. n io it os p p su re p l ta en different from its elem n io ct u d ro p e th i ed at re c is ct .tial maten�al ha ge. On the material aspect, first a produ . process. This is the first, and an essen, the product �IS ej..ec m o fr d te ey n o m h it w market, in the exchange p su n co f o e er h sp e th � in h it w lls the circulation of capital and fa al fm e th r fo er h et h w , n o ti p m su n co . al of another tion, becomes an object of en at m w ra e th as or d ee n al u id iv d in satisfaction of an . capital. al en at m e th , ey n o m r fo y it d o m m co In the exchange of the ly se ci re p ey o in r fo , d ci in � change and the change of form co om�IC deter � . rm � fo n o au m ? n o ec e � the content itself belongs to th f o S n iO It d n co al en at m e th to in al it p And the reconversion of ca i d o m m co to in ey n m of n i rs production implies here the reconve , �Just as IS? valu as such . .su t d ce u � d ro p re is e lu va se u e it in ef d A ty. to m y tr en S It at , et ts u o e th . m o fr t just as the material elemen f o d n e th at so , ct u d � ro p a circulation, was posited here as n posited as condIt. Ion of ai ag is y it d o m m co e th on ti la u rc ci f o s ea m as e er h s re u � g fi y n o m at th � production. To the extent r to Ia ed m e th y el er m , ct fa m , d circulation, it is , on the one h an on, in the echange, where between production and consumptie form of the prod�ct ; and, th in lf se it om fr e lu va s ct je re al capit d an n io ct u d ro p n ee w et b r to ia ed on . the other h an d , the m d n ey n o m f o rm fo e � th in lf production, where capital rejects itsetion in the form of condIt. ion la u rc ci s it to in y it d o m m co e th s w dra of production . as y el er m rs ea p ap ey on m , al it p ca From the material aspect of
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l ta pi ca , ly st ir "F : pt ri sc an m e th in t o d se .u os cr . � a H ere the following passage is of m � or e th m of ve ei nc co n ca ll su we ge sta . is exists as money, whichonateyth he ; al tIC en Id tly ac str ab � e ar t en nt co d an rm fo e . . Her undeveloped metallic mits form l ta pI ca ce sm t, ac str ab e th in n ke ta e; m sa e th e ar material of value and as."- Ed.
See this volume, pp. 40-47, but there time is reckoned in days, not months.- Ed.
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meaI?s o f circulation ; from th formal asp nomInal me�sure o f It. s valor. satI� on and, du ect, it appears as the ri n � g a particular phase, as value-f�r-�tself. Hence capItal is C M exte�1t as It IS M C C M, and in such M- C to just the same a . . o f SImple CIrCU�atIon are, at the same tim way that both forms here: M. M I IS money that produces m e, determined further o co�modlty whose use value is both rep ney, and C C I is a ro d u ced and increased. WIth respect to � oney ci culati n , whic bot� as en �en. ng Into the CI:rculatI<;>on o f cah . at this point appears p by It, we wIll on�y observe en passanta si Ital and as determined n ce a u fond b the issue can only be �ealt WIth after we have consid theIr a�tIon and reac�ion upon one ered the many capitals in a n . . money IS pOSIted here In dIfferent dete other that obviously rminations. U p to. this J:>oiI?t, we have assumed that p uction time and �abour tIme cOInc�de: However, in , e .g ., agricuroltudre , interruptions In labour occur WIthIn production itself, p ri o the p �oduct. The same l bour time may r to the completion of ? uratIon of the product�Ion phase may dbife feemr, pbloyed and yet the ecause labour is Interrupted. �f the �n�y difference is th a t in one case longer lab�ur IS reqUIred to flmsh the product an in the other, NO CASE AT ALL IS CONSTITUTED . For then it is clear thth a t, general law, the prod�ct which conta in conformity with the . in s a greater quantity o f lab<;>ur IS o� corres1?ondIngly greater valu a gIven penod o f tIme is less frequent, the, and if reproduction in e value reproduced is so m�ch the greater. 2 x 1 0 0 is precisely a s much as 4 x 5 0 . This is as valId for surplus value as for total valu The unequal duration [o f the productie. o products, although �xactly the same q n process] for different u a n ti ty o f la . b o ur time (i .e . c c u m u la te d a n d IIVIn� lab0.ur toget�er) is emplo � y e d u p s th e Q � ES T IO N . OstenSIbly, fIxed capItal operates here on them, � entirely by Itself, wltho�.It the intervention of hu seed com� I �ted to the earth's wom man labour, like, e .g ., the b . needed, thIS IS to be subtracted. The qu If additional labour is e st io n is to be posed in its pure form . If circulation time is the same here, the tu r is less frequent �ecaus� the prod�ction pha�e lasts longer. Trnhoevreefo re, production tll"?e � CIrCul�tIon tIme= l U IS gre ter th a n � . COInCIdes WIth labour tIme. The tIme re when production time quired here to bring the a b
In passing.- Ed. Basically.- Ed.
Chapter on Capital
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constiproduct to maturity , the interruptions of labour. involved, . . tute conditions of production here. Non-�abour tIme IS a condIt' �on labour time, necessary �o actually pos�t the latter as J:>roductIon for .tIme. Obviously , the questIon must be dIscussed later, In connec. tion with the equalisation of the rate of profIt. Yet we must cI ear the ground here. . . The slower RETURN-this is the essential POInt IS due. here, not to circulation time, but to the very conditions un.der WhIC? . labour becomes productive; it is part of the technologICal �ond�tIon � �f the production process. What must be absolutely demed, SInce I� IS erfectly absurd, is the idea that a natural c�rcumstance WhICh �revents capital in a ce.rtain ?ranch of productI�m from exch�ng ing itself in the same tIme WIth the same quantIty of l�bour tIm� , as another capital does in another branch of productIon, can In any way contribute to increasing its �alue. Value, aI?d hence surplus value too, is not equal to the time t�e pro�uctIon ph �se lasts but to the labour time employed durIng thIS productIon pha�e, both objectified labour time and living. The latt� r alon� ca? produce surplus value and do�s so in the proportIon �hICh It bears to the objectified labour tIme employed-because �t al.one yields surplus labour time. lilt is. cl�ar that other determll� atIOnS also come into play in the equalIsation of the rate of profI �. B.ut here we are dealing with the creation of surplus value, not WIth ItS distribution. II . " Hence it has been correctly asserted that from thIS VIeWpOInt, e.g. agri�ulture is less productive (productivity refers �ere to the production of values) than other industries. Just as In .another respect in so far as the growth of productivity �n it d 1 r e c t I Y
diminishes necessary labour time- it is more productwe th�n . all other industries. Yet in itself this circumstance can only be,;,-efIt It �here capital and the GENERAL FORM OF PRODUCTION correspon dIng to It are
already dominant. . . . This interruption within the productIo� phas� alrea?y .Imp!Ies that agriculture can neve: be t�e sphere w� th whIch. capItal beg�ns, where it originally establIshes Itself. The In!erruptIon contra�IC�s the most fundamental conditions of indust:lal .lab�)Ur. Hence I� IS only through its reaction. that �griculture. IS vIndI�ated to capItal and farming becomes Industnal. ReqUIres a hIgh degree of development of competition, on the one �an � , and advanced chemistry, machinery, etc., i.e. manu.factunng Industry, on . the other. Therefore, historically too agnculture never appea�s In a pure form in the modes of production that precede cap� tal . or correspond to the lower stages of its development. Rural SIdelIne 4*
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. industries, e g spinning a g et ., us e m MA ' K UP for the ' � � ' �� �t :n . it I lim ation on d e employ e labour tIme m thIS sphere a . " IIm ' ItatIOn resultmg from these interrup tIo ' ns. The non-com " cIdence of production time and labour tI'me can, . m . .o general, only be due 0 natur l c ndItI ns ich wh � � ; . directly . in. the way 0 the utIlISatIon o f labour here stand ' I. e . 0f the ap p ropnatIon o f surplus labour b ' ' It l. f O co e, rs r fa � om fr � f �: i . t sti on g in ut VA AD NTAGES, these obs ac m capItal s way rather � . Io mvolv. e it, de son point de vuea, In sses . Stnctly speaking, the whole CASE is o�Iy to be m . en tIoned here as . . an example of fixed ' I p�tal fIxed �n a particular ase ph . The only thing to be ����� h ::e IS th �� apItal cr eates n o surplus value as long as it emP10ys o lV�mg u bo la . � reproduction of the fixed capIta employed po r. The mere si ts no surplus value, of course. (I n the human body as in ca�ital the r p . ro ductIOn of the � ' ,:arious constituent part� does not ke piace . m eq ual penods o f tIme. Blood is renewed more qm. ckry than e cl us m , e cl us m or m e k ic qu ly an th ne bo · ' which In thIS respect may be conSI' dered a s the .fIx ' ed capital of the human bod y .) [V I- 37 ] As means by which Cl.rcuIatIO ' n may be accelerated, Storch lists: ( 1 ) the formation 0f a class of "w orkers " wh0 are . soIeIy occupied with tr( ade ' (2 ) Improveme t ) o f the means o f ' � transport; (3 ) money ' 4 credIt' . (See above. ) . ' This hi e r n tio ho s the entir.e conf.usion ; � :: � � �� � � :�� r� � ! of the p01� � st t e on m y . CIrculatI�� : �� � t wha we called simple circulation s e pr su of both capital itself and 0f the CI.rculatI. on pposItIon, condItIon o f ca p it I a . H ence, " money as It eXIsts, as a relation o f co . . m m e rc e b elongmg to a stage of production antecedent to capItaI , mo n ey as money, in its . immediate form cannot b/ saId t accele capital, but is, r;ther its p ::� P�� ? n. rate the circulation o f :� � � ��n we speak of capi�al ' and its circulation , we g development at which mon I' :: ���. nt�odWIt a stage o f SOCIal u ced as � disc<;>very, �te. , but is � presupposition. To t6e t . t at m o n ey m Its ImmedIate form Itself possesses value :� ' �ot erelY th� value o f other commodities, the symbol of elr V Tue f o r If so m et � h in g im m e d ia te in it se lf . is . to be someth m g else which IS I'1keWlse .1m me . g d'late, it can only represent the Iatter thm " b , e d u ' n e m a n ze re ou d"une autre a symbol t0 the exte ' nt that money itself possesses . . C
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value, is itself objectified labour in a particular use value, it retards the circulation of capital, rather than accelerates it. If one considers both aspects in which money appears in the circulation of capital, as means of circulation and as the realised value of capital, it forms part of the circulation costs to the extent that it itself is labour time, employed, on the one hand , to reduce circulation time, and, on the other, to represent a qualitative moment of circulation the reconversion of capital into itself as value-for-itself. In neither aspect does it increase value. On the one side, it is a form of representing value which involves expenses, costs labour time and hence constitutes a deduction from surplus value. On the other side, it can be regarded as a device that saves circulation time, and hence sets time free for production. But to the extent that money itself, as such a device, costs labour and is a product of labour, it represents faux frais de la production a in relation to capital. It figures among the circulation costs. The original circulation cost is circulation time itself in opposition to labour time. The real circulation costs are themselves objectified labour time machinery for reducing the original costs of circulation time. Hence money in its immediate form, as it is appropriate to a stage of production which historically precedes capital, appears to capital as a circulation cost, and capital therefore seeks to convert it into a form adequate to capital itself, and thus to turn it into a [mere] represen tative of one of the moments of circulation, a representative which costs no labour time and does not itself possess any value. The aim of capital is therefore to abolish money in its traditional, immediate reality, and to convert it into something which is posited, and likewise transcended, solely by capital, into something purely notionaL So one cannot argue, as Storch does, that money is in general a means for accelerating the circulation of capital. On the contrary, it must be argued that capital seeks to transform money into a purely notional moment of its circulation, and to elevate it into the adequate form corresponding to capital. The abolition of money in its immediate form appears as a demand of money circulation which has become a moment of capital circulation; because in its immediate, presupposed form, money constitutes a barrier to the circulation of capital. Circulation without circulation time is the tendency of capital. Hence also the positing of the instruments which only serve to a
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red�ce �irculation time, in determinations of form posited solely by cap� tal, m the �am� way �s the different moments through which capital passes m c.lrculatlon are qualitative determinations of its own metamorphosIs. Th� ��rmation of a special trading estate i.e. a development of ' the divIsIOn of labour. which has transformed the very busmess 0f " exchangmg mto a particular kind of labour naturally implies that �he sum of exchange operations must already have attained a certam level. (If l OO people spent 1/ 1 00 of their labour time on exchange each man would be an exchanger to the extent of 1 / 1 00' ' 1 00/ 1 00 exchangers would represent ONE SINGLE MAN. To the 1 00 there could then be one merchant. The separation of trade fro� production proper, or the fact that exchange itself is represented to the exchangers by a special person, in general presupposes A CERTAIN DEGREE of development of exchange and intercourse. The merchant rep�esents all buyers to the seller, and all sellers to the buyer; so he IS not one of the extremes, but rather the middle term , of the exchange; hen.ce he appears as mediator.) The . formatIon of a merchant estate, which presupposes the f:>rm�tIon of money, even if not developed in all its moments' is lIkeWise . presup�osed .by capital and thus cannot be adduced as t�at �hICh mediates ItS specific circulation. Since trade is, both hlstoncally and conceptually, a presupposition for the rise of capital �e sh �ll have to. come bac� to it before we conclude this chapter: smce I� bel�mgs m the sectIon on the origin of capital or the one precedmg It. The .i�p�ovement of the means of transport, as far as it means the faCIlItation of the physical circulation of commodities, does not belon&, here: where only the determinations of form peculiar to the CIrculatIOn of . capital are considered. The product onl becom�s . a commodity, only emerges from the production phasl when It IS put onto the ma:ket. On the other hand, the means of transpor� are �elevaI?t her� m s� far as the time taken by capital to r�turn I.e. C1rc�datIon tIme IS bound to increase with . the distance . separatmg the . market . from the place of production. From thiS angle, reductIOn of Circulation time with the help of means. of transp�rt the.refore appears as directly relevant to the analYSIS ?f the CIrculatIOn of capital. Yet, strictly speaking, this bel�ngs m the. theory of the market, which itself belongs in the sectIOn on capital. F�nally, credit. This .form of circulation, etc., directly posited by capital and hence denving specifically from the nature of capital,
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., t e , h rc to S b in � d e p m lu is � l, a it p ca f o a ic if ec sp a ti n re m this diffe g n lo e b h ic h w ., tc e , te a st e g in d a tr e . th , y e n o m h it w r e th e R O RE O M tog n Io ct u d ro p f o d n a e g n a ch x e f o t n e m p lo e v e d e th to l ra rt ene a p th o b re e h is a ic if ec sp a ti n re fe if d e th te a st o T . it n o p u d to �ESS base y e k e th d n a d a h ir; r e tt a m e th � . f o t t n e m p lo e v e d al ic g lo d fm of the e w , o to , y ll ca n to ls H t. n e m p lo e v e d l ca ri to is h s it g in d n to understa ts p m e tt a th ) ce n a F in � ly a il m � s � d n (a d � n la g n E ., .g e , in t n tha , o � s a l a it p ca � f o se n e th h It e d Ci : in co r e p a p � y b y e n o . m ce repla m ts is X e It s a · r fa s a l, a it p ca e IV g to ts p m e tt a e th , d n a h r , the othe d n a , lf se it l a it p ca y b ly e v si u cl x e d te si o p rm fo a e, lu a v f o rm the fo ) t. r e b le il u g is o B , y tt e P ., .g (E . it d e r c d n u fo to ts p m e tt a e th , y finall h is u g n ti is d n ca e w , ss ce ro p l Within circulation as the totalesser circulation. The for�er e th d n a r te a re g e th · between l a It p ca n e � w t n e m o e th m o fr . � d o ri e p re ti n e e th . s ce embra e h T . It to m s rn tu re It Il n u ss ce ro p � n io . ct u d ro p e th m o fr s e rg e em e th h It W y sl u o e n a lt u m sI ce la p s e k ta d n a s u o u n ti n o c latter is is h ic h w l � it ca f o rt a p e th p s e lv o v in It . lf se it ss ce ro p n io ct produ . y It C a p ca r u o b a � e th r f d e g . n a h c x e s, e � g a w s a t u o id pa ts le a v m q e � o e g n ? a ch x e IS th l, a it p a c f o ss ce ro p n o ti la u rc ci This h IC � w , lf se I s e d se r e p � su ll a u ct a t u b , �. rm fo in d te si o p is l, which a It p a c tO I e lu a v � o n tI � SI n a tr e h (t l a ? m r fo ly e r e m s a lf se it ts si o p n o , d n a te si o p p o S It to m s n r tu ts n le a iv u q e f o e g n a h c x e e th e wher E H T D N A l, a r fo ly e r u p s e � m o c e b e g n a h c x . e , e g n a h c x e f o s si a b e th e b to IS l a It p ca f o ss e c o r p n o ti la u c ir c is th , ) E D SI E N O N O LL A IS Y T MUTUALI .jectI. fi. ed labour developed thus: b o s y a lw a re a d e g n a h c x e The values which are se u a s (a t n se e r p u o b la f o ty ti n a � u q d se o p p su e r p y ll a tu u m time, a t, c e ff e n a s y a lw a IS h c su s a e lu a V . t. c je b o n a f o m r fo e th in ) e valu n a h IC h w y ? r u o b la f o ty ti n a u q e th s e ss e r p x e It . se .ICh assummg the same u a c never a h w y b t a th e c n e h d n a , d e c u d object is pro . d e c u ? o r p e r e b n a c it s e c r level of the productive fo ectl exchang� capital for labour �r The capitalist does not dir tIyme contamed , wor��d up m s e g n a h c x e e h ; e m ti r u r labo o b la g m v h e � th in p u d e k r o w , d e in ta n o c e m ti r fo s, ie it commod IS e g n a h c x e ? g u o r th ts e g e h h ic h w e m ti r u o b la g .1ty but ItS use value. in v li e h T . y it c capa C p a c r u o b la e th � f o e lu a v f o not the exchange se ca e th s a r f � Id a r o d e g � n a h c x p e t o n is e in h c a m a s e Just a th m e lu a v se u s It to n o tI la e r y b t o n t; c e ff e n a lf se it s a f effects but o ty ti n a u q e i n fi e ? a � t c u d r p a s a t u b � ss e c o r p n o ti r u produc o b la e h m d e m � ta n o c e m tI r u o b la .hvmg labour e h T . r u o b la objectified e th e c u d o r p to ry a ss e c e n e capacity, i. e . the tim
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capacity, is the same as is necessary given the same level of the productive forces to reproduce it, i.e. to maintain it. Hence the exchange carried on between capitalist and [VI-38] worker is totally in accordance with the laws of exchange; moreover, it is its ultimate development. For as long as the labour capacity itself is not being exchanged, production is not as yet based upon exchange, and exchange is, rather, merely a narrow circle resting upon non-exchange as its basis, as in all stages preceding bourgeois production. But the use value of the value which the capitalist has acquired in the exchange is itself the element of valorisation and its measure, living labour and labour time. Moreover, the capitalist has acquired more labour time than is objectified in the labour capacity, i.e. more labour time than it costs to reproduce the living worker. Hence, by acquiring in the exchange the labour capacity as an equivalent, capital has acquired labour time to the extent that it exceeds the quantity contained in the labour capacity without giving an equivalent for it; it has appropriated alien labour time without exchange, by means of the form of exchange. The exchange therefore becomes a merely formal one; and, as we have seen, a as capital develops further, even the appearance is eliminated that capital was giving in exchange for the labour capacity anything other than the latter's own objectified labour, i.e. giving anything at all for it. This inversion [Umschlag] is thus due to the fact that the ultimate stage of free exchange is the exchange of the labour capacity as a commodity, as value, for a commodity, for value, that it is acquired as objectified labour, but its use value consists in living labour, i.e. in the positing of exchange value. The inversion is due to the fact that the use value of the labour capacity as value is itself the value-creating element, the substance of value and the substance which increases value. Hence in this exchange the worker gives up his value-creating and value-increasing living labour time in exchange for the equivalent of the labour time objectified in him. He sells himself as an effect. As cause, as activity, he is absorbed by and incarnated in capital. Thus exchange is inverted into its opposite, and the laws of private property liberty, equality, property property in one's own labour and the ability to freely dispose of it are inverted into the propertylessness of the worker and the alienation of his labour, his relation to it as alien property and vice versa. a
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The circulation of the part of capital posited as wag� s anies the production process, appears as an economIC p ac com . INTERWOVEN and re.latIon 0f form alongside it ' and is simultaneous . . . . h t e suc ; It IS h as WIth I't. It is this circulation that pOSIts capItal . condition of its valorisation process and pOSItS not mereIy a f. orm aI rmination of that process, but its substance. It IS the d c,���inuously circulating part of capital, w?ich does not . for a ent enter into the production process Itself, and contmually ��:mpanies it. It is the part of capital t.hat .does not for a m.oment enter into its reproduction process, WhICh IS not the case wIth the raw material. The approvisionnement of t?e worker emerges as a roduct from the production process, as Its resultant. � �t as such It never enters into the production pro�ess, because It. IS FINI�HED PRODUCE intended for individual consumptIon. It enters dIrectly mto the worker's consumption, and is directly exchanged to ser."e that purpose. Hence it is, in distinction from b�th r�w materIal and instrument of labour, CIRCt:LATING CAPITAL. 'Xu: £�OXT)v.a . . This is the only moment in the CIrcUIt . of c�pltal at whICh consumption directly enters into it. At thIS pomt, where the commodity is exchanged for money, it may . be exchanged by another capital as raw material for new produ�tIo.n .. Further, under the presuppositions of capital, it is not the mdlvldual consumer but the merchant that confronts capital, a� d he buys . � he commodity merely to resell it . fo: money. (ThIS presuppOSItIOn concerning the trading estate IS m gene:al t? be developed. It implies that circulation among DEALERS IS dIfferent from that between DEALERS and consumers. 6) Therefore circulating capital appears here dIrectly as capIt�1 intended for the individual consumption of . the workers; m general, as intended for immediate consumptIon .and therefore existing in the form of finished product. Hence, If, on the one hand capital appears as the presupposition of the product, th.e finished product appears, to the sa�e extent, as the presl!ppo�I tion. of capital which in terms of hIstory means that cal?Ital dId not create the world afresh, but rath�r fo� nd productIon a�d products already in existence before It sU�Jugat�d ther,n to I:S rocess. Once in motion, setting out from Itself, It contmuous y �resupposes itself in its different forms as consumable product, raw material and instrument of labour, in order to contmu.o� sly reproduce itself in these forms. They appea.r first as the condItIons presupposed by capita� itself, and t�� n as Its result. In reproduc ing itself it produces Its own condItIons. •
See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 38 1-83 .- Ed.
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th wi ge an ch ex its by , lue va as ly: ub do elf its es uc od pr re capital n tio isa lor va the g cin en mm co re of ity bil ssi po labour as the , by ion lat re a as d an al; pit ca as g tin ac ain ag ce on p rocess, of as m hi es uc od pr re ' ich wh , ion pt um ns co s er rk wo e th of means of rt pa as s ge wa r fo al, pit ca r fo le ab ge an ch ex y labour capacit capital. , ws llo fo e er th r ou lab d an al pit ca n ee tw be ion lat cu cir is th From tly tan ns co as al pit ca of rt pa of n tio na mi ter de therefore, the to tly tan ns co ; ed um ns co tly tan ns co t; en em nn sio ovi pr ap circulating, e th is ion lat cu cir is th in d ye pla dis ly ng iki Str . ed uc od pr re be of ion lat cu cir e th n ee tw be y, ne mo d an al pit ca n ee difference betw e th s; ge wa ly ek we ., e.g , ys pa al pit Ca y. ne mo of at th d capital an or tly ec dir o wh ., etc r: cie epi e th to s ge wa his es tak worker e th , ek we ng wi llo fo e th d an ; ER NK BA e th th wi it s sit po indirectly de to ain ag r de or in , ain ag er nk ba e th m fro it es tak r ne ow factory me sa e Th . on so d an c., et s, er rk wo me sa e th g on distribute it am t Bu al. pit ca of s on rti po w ne es lat cu cir sly ou inu nt co y ne sum of mo al pit ca of s on rti po e th ne mi ter de t no es do elf its y ne mo of m the su ing lat cu cir e th , es ris s ge wa of lue va y ne mo e th If . thus circulated um di me ing lat cu cir e th of e lum vo e th t bu o; to e ris ll wi medium did y ne mo of sts co n tio uc od pr e th If e. ris e th ne mi ter de t no es do y an ve ha uld wo y ne mo of nt ou am e th in ase re inc not fall, no e er H . ion lat cu cir is th to in g in ter en it of on rti po e th effect on ge lar a is e er th ce Sin . ion lat cu cir of ns ea m re me as money appears of m su in rta ce a , sly ou ne ta ul sim id pa be to s er rk wo number of eir th th wi es as re inc at th m su a , ry ssa ce ne ly us eo an ult sim is y mone a ly, ick qu er ov ed rn tu is ey on m e th if , nd ha r he ot e number. On th e er th ich wh in ns tio ua sit in an th ry ssa ce ne is it of y tit an smaller qu is ion lat cu cir y ne mo e th of ry ine ch ma e th t bu are fewer workers, not so well ordere d. d an s es oc pr n tio uc od pr e th of e sit ui eq er pr a is ion lat cu cir This r he ot e th On ll. we as s es oc pr 9] I-3 [V ion lat cu cir thereby of the ion lat cu cir is th , ion lat cu cir m fro rn tu re t no d di l ta pi ha nd , if ca r fo is, it e nc He . ew an gin be t no d ul co tal pi ca d between worker an e th h ug ro th s sse pa tal pi ca at th ct fa e th by ed on iti its part, cond n tio uc od pr e th de tsi ou is os ph or tam me its of s nt me mo nt differe nt cie ffi su in an to e du be t no d ul wo so do to re ilu process. Its fa al pit ca er eit e us ca be t bu , � ion lat cu cir of s an me as y ne mo of supply of rt pa iS th .] [i.e ts, uc od pr of rm fo e th in le was not availab ed sit po t no d ha tal pi ca e us ca be or ; nt se ab s wa tal pi ca circulating t Ye l. ta pi ca as elf its d se ali re t no d ha . i.e y, ne mo of itself in the form
because that of the relation of capital to the ence we find � .hvmg labour capacity, and to the natural conditions of the maintenance of the latter . circulating capital is also determined in r� spect of us� value, as directly entering into individual consump tion a.nd subject to be consumed as a product. It has therefore been mcorrect�y concluded that circulating capital is, in general, co"!su.mable capital, as though coal, oil, dyes, etc., instruments, etc., soIl Impro�ements, etc., factory buildings were not all equally con.sumed, If by consu �ption one is to understand the abolition of their use value �nd . th �l: form. But, just as much, none of these are consumed : If mdlvldual consumption, consumption in the proper .sen.se, IS .meant thereby. �n t.h�s Circulation, capi �al continuously rejects [part of] itself as o?Je�tlfIed labour .so that It may assimilate living labour power, the air It needs to hve : Now as for the worker's consumption, it repro?uces . one . thmg th� work�r himself as living labour capacity . . Smce thzs reproductwn of hzm is a condition of capital, the con�umptwn of the u:orker also appears � the reproduction, not directly of capztal, but �f the czrcumstances m w.�zch alone it is capital. The living labour capactty forms part of the condztwns for the existence of capital just �s much as r?w . material and instn:ment do. Hence capital reproduces ztself doubly, m zts own fOrm, [and] m the consumption of the worker, but . only to the extent that zt :eproduces him as living labour capacity. .
Cap�tal, therefo�e, calls thiS consumption productive- productive not m so far . as It reproduces the individual, but the individuals a� labour capaCity. If Rossi objects to wages being included twice in the calculation . fIrst as t�e reven �e of the worker and then as reproductiv� consumption of capital; his objection is valid only in reference to those who ca? se wages to enter directly into the production �rocess . of capI�al as value. For the payment of wages is an act of Circulation, whICh .takes place . simult�neously with and alongside the act of productl�n. Or as Sismondl says in this connection, the worker consumes hiS w�ges non-reproductively; but the capitalist consumes t.hem productively,b in so far as he exchanges them for labou.r, which repro?uc�s the wages and more than the wages. ThiS refer� to . capItal Itself only considered as an object. But in so fa� as capital IS a relation, notably a relation to the living labour capacity, the worker's consumption reproduces this relation; or · . P. Rossi, Cours d'iconomie politique. Annie 183 6-18 37. I n.. Cours d"econo mle polz�lque, Brussels, 1 843 , pp. 369-7 1 .- Ed. . .a
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this too would not be due to the quantity of means of circulation, but to . the. fact that capital ha� not posited itself in the qualitative determznatlOn as money. For It to do so, it need not at all be posited in the form of HARD CASH, in the immediate money form, and whether or not it posited itself in this form would once again depend not on the quantity of money in circulation as means of circula�io � , but on the exc�an �e of capital for value as such. Again a quahtatI�e, not a quantItatIve, moment, as we shall argue in more detaIl when we come to speak of capital as money. (Interest, etc.)
•
Considered as a whole, circulation therefore ap pears in three form s: ( 1 ) The total process the passage o f capital . through its d.Iffere� t moments. Here capital is posited CIrculatmg. To the extent that each of the mo as in flux, as m virtual interruption of th: continuity, and can ents constitutes a se t itself up as an . . obstacle to the transltlon mto the next phase, appears to be fixed in different relation s, and capital here likewise th o f this fi�ity con stitute different capital s: e different modes co m m odity capital, . money capItal, capItal as conditions of prod u ion . (2) The lesser circulation between capital anct d la bour capacity. It accompanies the pr�duction process and ap p exchans:e, a form of mtercourse, which is a preears as a contract, su p p osition for the prOdUC!IOn p�oc�ss to J;>e set in motion. The p en ters mto thIS CIrculatIon approvisionnement art of capital which is ci rc u la ti al % a 'T' €�ox�v" Not only is it determined in regard o ng capi � f form, but Its us� valll:e, i.e . i �s m �ter�a� determination as a co entenng dIrectly mto mdIvIdual consumption, nsumable product it se lf constitutes part of its determination of form. (3 ) T�e greater circulation, the movement o f p.roduc�IOn phas� , the time during which it d capital outside the o es so appearing as CIrculatIon tI� e m contras� to labour time. F betwe�n capItal engaged In the production rom this opposition p h . em�rgm� from It, there results the distinction ase and capital between fixed and flu ld capltal. The former is capital which is fi xe d p.rocess . and co? sumed in it; certainly it derives to the production CIrculatIOn, but It does not return into it, and in from the greater so it only does so in order to be consumed in , to far as it circulates, be confined to, the production process. •
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The three different forms of circulation of c�pital gi�e rise to h three distinctions between circulating and fIxed capItal; they t ;sit one part of capital as circulating %a'T'£�ox1j v, because It pever enters into the production process, but constantly �ccom �anies it; and, thirdl�, they riel� the distinction be�ween fluld and r ed capital. Circulatmg capItal m form No. 3 also mcludes No. 2, s;�ce the latter likewise forms a contrast to fixed capital. Yet No. 2 does not include No. 3. . The part of capital that as. sl!ch belo.ngs to the productIOn process is the part o! it which, .m Its matenal �s pect, serves only as means of production; IS the medIator betwee? hVIn.g labour and t�e material to be worked up. A part of the flUId capItal, e.g., coal, 011, etc., also serves only as means of product�on. Ev�rything th�t only serves as a means to maintain in operatIOn a gIven .ma: h�ne, . or nother machine that keeps in motion the former. ThIS dIstmctIOn �ill have to be examined more closely. D'abord, this does not contradict determination 1 , for fixed capital a� valu.e al �o circulates, in the degree in which it is used up. It IS p:eCI�ely �n this determination as fixed capital i. � . .in t�e. dete:mmatIo� �n which capital has lost its fluidity an� .IS IdentIfIed wIth a deflmte use value, which deprives it of the abIhty to be transformed . that developed capita!, in as m�ch as we h �v: so far �n.0wn l� as productive capital, presents Itself most stn �m�ly : and It. IS pre�Isely in this apparently inadequate form, and m ItS mcreasmg ratIo to the form of circulating capital in No. 2, that the d�v�lopment of capital as capital is measured. A pretty contradICtIOn. To be developed. . . . . . The different kinds of capItal, WhICh m pohtIcal econom� come in from without like snow from the sky, appear here as Just . so many precipitates of the movements to which !he n�tu:e o� capItal itself gives rise, or rather of this movement Itself m Its dIfferent determinations. Circulating capital constantly ' ;PARTS" from the capitalist in order to return to him in the first form. Fixed capital does not do this (Storch). " CIRCULATING CAPITAL THAT PORTION OF THE CAPITAL WHICH DOES NOT YIELD PROFIT TILL IT IS PARTED WITH; FIXED ETC. YIELDS SUCH PROFIT. ':HILE IT REMAINS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE OWNER " (Malthus). "Circ � latin g capit� 1 Yle�ds no re�enue or . . profit to its owner, while it remains in his poss�s�zon. �!xed caP!t� 1 YIelds prof!t to hIm without changing owners, and WIthout reqUlrmg CIrculatIOn (A. Smtlh). H . Storch,
Cours d'economie politique, Vol. I, pp. 405 and 420 : Th. R. Malthus, Definitions in Political Economy, London,. 1 827 , �p. 237-38; A. SmIth, Recherches sur la nature et les causes de la richesse des natzons, Pans, 1 802, Vol. II, pp. 1 97-98 .- Ed. a
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Chapter on Capital
From this viewpoint, the definitio correct, since the departure o f capit n given above cannot be a l from its OWNER (partir de son possesseur) is precisely the alien a ti o n o which occurs in the act o f exchange, f property or possession all exchange value and hence o f all and since it is the nature o f c a p it al to become value for its owner by being alienated. I f fixed without the mediation of exchange capital existed for its owner a comprises, fixed capital would IN FA nd of the exchange value it CT merely be use value, consequently nQt capital. and But what underlies the above defi n it ion is this: as value fixed capital does circulate (even though m e r e ly in a piecemeal fashion, successively, as we shall see). As use v alue capital, it does not. Fixed capital, considered in its mate r ia l a sp ect, as a moment o f the production process, never goes alienated by its possessor; remains beyond its BOUNDARIES; is not in with respect to its formal aspect a his hands. It only circulates s c a pital, perennial value. I n circulating capital, there is n o such content, use value and exchange va distinction between form and lu e be, exchange value, it must enter in . I n order to circulate as, to alienated as such. Use value for cap to circulation as use value, be Circulating capital is realised as v ital as such is only value itself. a lu e for capital only by being alienated. As long as it remains in th e capitalist 's hands, it only has value in itself; it is not posited; only 8u vaf.tEt, not actu: Fixed capital, on the c o n tr a r y , is only realised as value as long as it remains in the hands o f expressed as a ph ysical relation, the capitalist as use value, or, a s long as it remains in the production process, which can be movement o f capital, its relating regarded as the inner organic to movement, its existence for othe itself, as against its animalistic r p u rposes. Hence, since fixed capital remains in the produc ti o n p it, it also vanishes in it, is consum rocess once it has entered in to e d in it. The length of the time taken by this vanishing does not a s y e From this angle, therefore, wh t concern us. at Cherbuliez calls matieres instrumentales,b such as coal, w o o d , o il, tallow, etc ., which are completely des troyed in the produ c only use value for that process itse tion process and which possess lf , a re part of fixed capital. But the same materials have a use va can also be consumed in other waylue outside production too and s, are not necessarily intended for pr just as buildings, houses, etc., oduction. They are fixed capital Only potentially, not actually._ Ed. In b strumental materials. See A . Cherbuliez, Ed. a
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. ue articular mode of their existence, �ut by not by vIrt of t virtue. of . the use �aJe of. them. They become fixed capI.tal by proc ess They are fixed capttal . as entenng mto the productIon . soon as they are poslted as moments of the production process. 0f ' 0f bemg capital; because then t.hey [VI-40] lose their qualIty potential circulating capI.tali Just as the part ?f capIt; which enters into the lesser circulation of capi�al or capItal, s a s it enters into this movement-the c�rculat�on between capi�al :n� labour capacity, the part of capital Clrculatmg as wages . taken in its material aspect, as use value . ' and never enters into the productwn never departs from ctrculatwn . process of capital, but. is always reJ;ct d by that process as a produ ct, as the result of a pnor p,rocess 0 P;oduction , so the part of capital trary never departs as use determined as fi�ed capztal, on the ��� rod�ction process and never value, in �ts ma.tenal �XIS��.� , f tal enters into circulation re-enters mto czrculatwn. 1 e ;i�r;:d ca only as vaIue . (as part .0f the va1ue 0f the finished product), circulating capItal ente�s I�to the roduction process only as vaIue, since necessary labour IS t. e �epr�duction of wages, of the part of the value of. ca�ital tha� Clrcu at.�s �s wages This is therefore, the first determmatIon of fIxed carl al ' . and se�n from �his angle fixed capital a1so embraces . the matures mstrumentaIes. Secondly: Fixed capItal, h�wev�r, c n only enter into circulation as value to the extent t at It v �ishes as use value in the production process. It enters as va�ue into the product i.e. as labour time worked up or Preserved in it to the extent that it value In consequence of m a vanishes in its independent or s use f ' . . . its being used It IS u d u P. ' but m such a way that its value is �rr.n I�t� th�t of the product. If it is not transfe.rred from its r pr duction process itself if the used, IS not consume . m machine is .idle, if �he �ron rust� and the wood rots its value of course vamshes WIth ItS transltory eXI'stence as use value. Its . circulation a� value corresiond S t its consumption as use value m the · productIon proces� . ts taf value is fully reproduced, i.e. returns from ClrculatI?n, 0��y when it has been comp�etely consumed as use value m th.e prod uction process As soon as It has been compIete1y resolved. In value and, henc�, has completely entered into circulation, It ha� C�':�letelY disappeared as a use a as necessary oment of e e d b value, and must therefore P � . l va ue 0f the same kind i.e. It must be productIon by a new use ' . . reproduced. T�e necessIty o.f its .reproduction, i.e. its reproductIOn time, is determmed. by the tIme m which it is used up, consumed, within the productIOn process. _
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I n the case of circulating capita1 the . r e p roductI'On IS .determined by circulation time ' in the case f' f. ed capital , the ClrculatIO' n is determm · ed . by the time in Wh IC' h0 It' Ix . . IS m.ate. n'al eXIstence , withI'n the act f used u.p as .use val ue, In ' It s wIthm which it must be r p�od�ce0 pArod uctlon, I. e . by the time be reproduced as Soon as � as eed . thousand Ibs of twist can for it re-exchanged for cott n , tc. n .sold and the money received � ' . m short for the elements of production of twist . Its re r0�uctlo circulation time . A machf!me val uedn IS therefore determined by its years, I.. e . is only used up after 5 at £ l ' OOO, wh IC' h lasts for 5 merely scrap iron is used � chYears has passed, and then is if we assume the AVERAGE [ra� � year to .the .extent of, say, 1/5, process. Only 1/5 of its value t�eretoonsUmptIO? m t.he pn;>duction re, enters mto CIrculatIon each year, and it is only u on th ' g P of f it has entered into and r:t��:� �r �thc�lrc5uye�rs that the whole ? l�tlOn. [The rate of] . Its entry into circulation therefor ? length of the time duri�g wh IC' h �, . IS etermmed solely .by the It IS u.sed u p, and the tIme It. s va1ue ta. kes to enter wholly m . ' to determmed by It. s overall reproduCcIrculatIOn and re. turn from. It" IS tIO" n tIme' the tIme m . whIch it mu�t be reproduced. FIxed capital enters into the hrodu use value of circulating capital as ct ?nly �s value, whereas the su bstance, . and has merely acqUIr. ed persIsted m the product as its . " ctlOn in trodUces an essential modTIcat 'o a. nother form. Th IS' dIstm al capital divided into fixed and n�rcn m �o the turnover time of a totuI atlng cap 'ta1 . Suppose that the tota1 capIt. al is S ,· the Clr' culatm ' g p a r t of it is , and the fIx' ed part . f. Let th e fIxed . capIt. al c onstitute 1 S '. th e Clr. culatm ' g capital � . 7 Let the circulating capital turn ov . er 3 times a year, the fIx . ed capItal only twice in 1 0 years. ithin 5 W 1 0 y e a r s , . o r t u r / n s o ver tWICe, whIl' e m . the same 1 0 years 5 tu r n s o v e r 3 x 1 0 = 3 0 times . I f Y 5 . S were =to y ' I." e f th . e c a p It a l wholly consisted of circulating capita . l' Its turnover U would be 3 0 ; an d the total capit-al turned over in 5 1 0 years would be = 3 0 x y ' B U t the rIxed c a pital turns over only . . tWIce m 10 years. Its U'= 2 , an d . th e to ta l f Ix e d c a p it a l tu 25 r n ed 5 5 over = . B ut S = - + - an d It. s tota l turnover time = the sum of the turnover times of these tw . over twice in 1 0 years, 2/ 0 or 1 /50 f�rts. I f the fIxed capital turns It turns over in one year; while 1 1
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the circulating capital turns over one year. turns 5x over once a year. The question boils down to this: assuming that a capital of 1 ,000 circulating capital and 400 fixed capital, i.e. thaler consists of 600 3/5 circulating and 2/5 fixed capital, that the fixed capital lasts for 5 years, hence turns over once in 5 years, and that the circulating capital turns over 3 times a year, what is the average turnover number, or turnover time, of the total capital? If it were wholly circulating capital, it would turn over 5 X 3, or 1 5 times; the 2total capital turned over in the 5 years would be 1 5,000. However, /5 of turns over once in 5 years. Consequently, these . the capital only of 4 400 thaler 0%, i.e. 80 thaler, turn over in a year. Of the 1 ,000 thaler 600 turn over 3 times a year, and 80 once a year. That is to say, only 1 ,880 would turn over in the whole year; in the 5 years, therefore, 5 x 1 ,880=9,400 will turn over; i.e. 5,600 less than if the capital wholly consisted of circulating capital. If the latter were the case, the total capital would turn over once in 1/3 of a year! [VI-41] If the capital = 1 ,000, with c=600 and turning over twice a year, and /=400 and turning over once a year, then 600 e/5 S) 4 turns over in half a year; and °°/2 or ( 5�2 ) similarly in half a year. Hence in half a year, 600+200=8 00 (i.e. c + � ) turns over. Correspondingly, i n a w h o l e y e a r 2 x 800, 2or 1 ,600 thaler, turns over; 1 ,600 thaler i.e. 1 00 in 1 /16 months, and ear; in a r therefore 1 ,000 in 1 2°/ 16, or 7 /2, months. The entire capital of 1 ,000 thus turns over in 71/2 months, as compared with the 6 months reguired if5 it consisted wholly of circulating capital. 7 1/2 :6= 1 : 1 1/4 or 1: /4•b Suppose the capital= 100, made up of 50 circulating and 50 fixed, with the former turning over twice a year and the latter once. Then 1/2 of 1 00 turns over once in 6 months, and 1/4 of 1 00 likewise once in 6 months. Therefore, 3/4 of the capital turns over in 6 months, 3/4 of 1 00 in 6 months; or 75 in 6 months, and 1 00 in 8 months. If 2/4 of 1 00 turns over in 6 months and 1/4 of 1 00 e /2 the fixed capital) in the same time, this means that 3/4 of 1 00 turns over in 46 months. Consequently, 1/4 turns over in 6/3 or 2 months, and so /4 of 100, or 1 00, in 6+2, or 8 months. The total turnover time of capital=6 (the turnover time of the · · 3 Urnes m
Here Marx crossed out several lines containing another version of this calculation.- Ed. b Thus in the manuscript.- Ed. a
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Outlines o f the Critique o f Political Economy
entire circulating capital and 1/ f the f . total capital) + % , i. e .+ this tur;o�er tI. IXe? . capItal or 1/4 of the which expresses the ro ortion f theme dI�I�ed �y the number the capital turned o�er �n the �u n rem.ammg fIxed capital to capital. So in the above exam ple�. ?/5vero tIme of the circulating months' ditto 1/ 0f 1 00 ,' therefore 4 f 1 00 turns over in 6 therefore the remaining 1/ f 100 'n /5 of 1 00 in 6 months; total capital in 6 + 6/4 months� 6 + 1 1/ � /4 :n0nths; th�refore the Expressed in general terms : The2 , avorera7g/2, months. . e tu r n o turnover time of the Clr' culatm v e r t lm e = th e ' g c a i ta p l+ th is tu r n o v e by the. number of tIm r ti m e . d iv id e d ' e s t h e r e m . a m contaIned in the total sum of capIt. amI g p'art 0f th� fIx' ed capItal is whIch was cIrculated in this turnover time. . . SuPP?se there are 2 capitals ea clrculatmg capital, the other is halfchfxof 1 00 �h aler. One IS' entI.rely gain of 5 % . The one turns over / efd capItal. Both . operate at a the circulating capital likewise t:c� � t;Ice a r.ear; m t�e other, once. The total capital turned o r I. ' n the fIxed capItal only and the profit 10; in the seco;� t� the fIrst case would be 200, e w o u ld b 8 m �nths, or 1/2 in 4 , i. e . e � tu rn o v e r in 1 5 0 w o u' ld be; turned over m 1 2 months and I.tS profit would be 71/2 , ThIs sort of calculation has tended delusion that circulating capital or �o ha:den .the common fixe c�pltal YI�lds gain by means of some Malthus's statement that "Clr. culatm '' ga cdaepl�ItsIon .mamfest even in a l le . ld s ' ga " m Y If ItS '1 I ' , e ' tc . " , . SImI ar from hIS· Measure of Value t : my': m. the passages cIted above accum�lation of the P;o�i��' � � y � the �ay he describes the x capItal.c The greatest confUSIon and mystification h . ene from failure of the ?mitIt?erto economic doctrines to ��n:��e the the.othe ry o� surplus gain S purity. Instead, they have lum�:J . It together. WIth the theory of real profit, which is all about share in the general rate of profit. T way . the dlffere�lt .capitals he profIt of the capItalIsts as a class, or the profit of cap'tal h must c e distri before it can buted, and it is t�e he7g�� of absurd�Itythere ? . to wIsh to explain ItS origin by its distribution . I t follows from the above that prof ' " It dI�Imshes because the turnover time of capital incr ses m. the component part of it w��ICh IS. c propo�tlOn to the increase of alled fIxed capital. a Here Marx cro 5
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POSSESSORS PART W ITH IT
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ssed out several lines conta' . mmg a formula for determ tur�over time of the part ining the o f capital- Ed. Here Marx crossed out a . fo rm u la r e r e se P nnng thiS proposition._ E See present edition, Vo . 8 4 8 d. . l 2 , pp. 7-99 and thIS volume, p . 69.- Ed. C
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Chapter on Capital
//The size of capital is assumed to be permanent, but this does not concern us here anyway, since the proposition is valid for capital of whatever size. Capitals differ in size, but the size of each individual capital is equal to itself. Hence as long as capital is only size. But considered in its quality as capital, it may be of if we consider 2 capitals in distinction from one another, the difference in their size introduces a relation of qualitative determinations. Their very size becomes a quality distinguishing them from one another. This is an essential aspect showing how the consideration of capital as such differs from that of one capital in relation to another, or from that of capital in its reality and size is only // A capital of the same [VI-42J size, 100 in the example above, would turn over completely twice a year, if it consisted entirely of circulating capital. But it is only turned over twice in 16 months, or only 150 thaler is turned over in a year, because half of it is fixed capital. As the number of times a capital is reproduced in a given time declines, or as the quantity of it reproduced in a given time declines, there is also a decline in the production of surplus time or surplus value, since capital in general posits value only to the extent that it posits surplus value. (At least, this is its tendency, its adequate action.) As we have seen, fixed capital circulates as value only in the degree in which it is used up or consumed as use value in the production process. But the time in which it is thus consumed and must be reproduced in its form as use value depends upon its relative durability. Its durability, or its greater or lesser perishabili ty i. e. the greater or lesser length of time for which it can continue to repeat its function within the repeated production processes of capital this determination of its use value, therefore, becomes here a form-determining moment, i. e. a determinant of capital with respect to its formal, not its material, aspect. Hence the necessary reproduction time of fixed capital, just as much as the proportion it constitutes of the whole capital, modify here the turnover time of the total capital and therefore its valorisation. A greater durability of capital (the duration of its necessary reproduction time) and a higher proportion of fixed capital to total capital, therefore, have precisely the same effect on valorisa tion as a slower turnover, occasioned either by the fact that the market from which capital returns as money is more distant, and hence more time is needed for it to run the course of circulation (e. g., capitals which work in England for the East Indies market return more slowly than those which work for less distant foreign ANY
ONE SINGLE INSTANCE.
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
markets or for the HOME MARKET) ' or becaus� the production phas itself is interrupted owin to �' t��aI cond�I.f.ns, as i agriculturee . � Ricardo at first emphasis!d th� n Ix ed ca pI l upon. the valorisation process; but then h� 'u:�te� aII t?ese detetarm together, as can be seen fr t�e passages cIted above. a InatIons In the first case (fixed �;ital [th� f te of] the turnover capital is diminished because KxeJ �apIta �IS only slowly consum of within the production pro S o� ecause of the length of ed required for its reproducti�� \� he sec md cas , the imin time [rate of] turnover is due to th engt�7m�I g of cz�rculatzo?n timished the first case the fixed capital :ecessan y Cl? culates always wit e (in h th � e . sa m e ve lo ci the produ ct, zn so fa.r It does Cl.rcuIate, enter .Into cI.rculattyion,as be . It. s mater cause it doe.s not clrcul�te In of existence but onl as value, � e. as a notI?nal componeniat l form of the total value of the p!oduct) t ) � eC ls e, to h � of the circulation time of �h� s:c:;�a of the Clr eulelan.tIgthening ess proper, the reconversion of mon� . In the th�Ird caon . proc diminished [rate of] turnover IS' d ue �o t e longer tI. me requ se, the capital to emerge from the od Ion rocess as a pro ired by as in the first case, the Iong�� ti:� capl?Ital takes to pen?shuc�, not, production process . The f'Irst case IS. pecuIIa. r speCl'flC' ally In the capit. al ' the other beIongs to the category 0f non-flUI"to fixed capItal, capital fixed in anY Phase of the total circulatio d fIxed n e oc pr ss ED FIX PIT CA AL OF A CONSIDERABLE DEGREE OF DURABILITY CI�CULATING CAPITAL ( RETURNABLE AT DISTANT PERIODS McCulloch The Przn es zpl ] of Political } � ' 5 Economy, [London, 1 82 , p. 30 0 Note oo , p. 15):l ] . � Thzrdly: U p to this oint we hav c n s d er ed fI xe � pital only � � . from one angle in atm u ch t d tInctIon re podsitca of its particular, specific relat:: :o :�e Cl.rcutat�IOn proceedssinp terms ro p er . C. onsidered from this angle, I't shows further d ' stIn . " Its value returns piecemeal whereas e ch portI�on ctofIocins. FIrstly, rculating � capital is exchanged wh�IIi'' bec�us� In th e ca se capital the existence of ue �OInCI s with that ooff circulating use value. � Secondly, we have hither� on y c msld e d re e th f c fe ef t o � t pi ca al upon the average turnover tIme f a gIv' en capIt. aI . B ufixed � we must also examine the effect it has on It. s own turn over tIm. e. . portant The latter circumstance becomes Im w h er e f'Ixed" capItal . appears . not as a m ere Instrument of pr d uctIo ' n W It h In productIon process, but as an In . . dependent fOrm f c�pItaI , e. g. ,thine the form of railways, canals , roads, waterworks, as capItal wedded to the soil, etc. a See this volume, pp. 32-35.- Ed. 0
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ect to This latter determination is especially important with isresp ntry divided the proportions in which the total capital ofinga cou the en Th ]. ital cap ulat circ and ed [fix ms for two se the into up ntained; the way in which fixed capital is renewed and mai means of economists argue that it can yield revenue only by side ration circulating capital, etc. Au fond, this boils down to a con ticu not as a par lar, of the MOMENT in which fixed capital appears cul t , bu ital cap g atin cir ide outs and ide ngs alo nce ste exi ent nd epe ind ital. as circulating capital transformed into fixed cap But what we want to consider first at this point is the relation oft fact tha fixed capital, not towards the outside, but as given by thecap ital is it remains locked up in the production process. Fixed pro posited by its being a particular moment of the production cess itself. every //We are not in any way arguing that fixed capital is, in sum p determination, capital which does not serve individual con d for tion but production alone. A house can just as well be usep or a production as for consumption; similarly all vehicle s: a shians of wagon can be used both for pleasure trips and as me n for atio transport; a road can be used as means of communicare production proper, as well as for strolling along, etc. We atnotthiats all concerned with fixed capital in this second relation ; for s and ces point we are discussing capital only as valorisation pro en we production process. The second determination will enter whina come to discuss interest. Ricardo can only have this determ tion in mind when he says: "Depending on whether capital is more perishable or less perishable, i.e. must be reproduced more frequently or less frequently in a given period of time, it is (Ricardo, [ On the Principles of Political called circulating capital or fixed capital" ) 12 . a 9 1 I, VII 26] p. n, Economy, and Taxatio
the On that basis, a coffee pot would be fixed capital, and ' s social ple peo ard reg ists nom eco e Th . ital cap g coffee, circulatin by things relations of production, and the determinations acquiredthe s. ng thi of ties per pro l ura nat as s, on ati rel se the der un ed sum sub eed a This crude materialism is an equally crude idealism,ermind inations fetishism which ascribes to things social relations as detdifficu lty of immanent to them, and thus mystifies them. The by refere defining any thing at all as fixed or circulating capital here, as nce an sts mi no eco the ht ug bro has ter rac cha l ura nat its to exception, to the idea that things themselves are neither fixed nor a
See this volume, pp. 32-33 .- Ed.
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
circulating capitaJ, hence probablY not capIt' aJ at all, as . lIttle as it is the naturaJ property of gold t be money.II (Lest we forget It' , we must add to the pOll. ts enu era te.d above � � the circulation of fixed caPital as cl.rculatm transactions by which it changes It. s owners.) g capItaJ, I.e., the "Fixed capital-engaged: capital so . en�aged . km d of production that it longer be diverted from it to be no [ T��i� d'ic�ie politique, Vol. II, ;��3d,;� J�6 another kind of production " (Say, I )a . Fixed �apltal IS consumed in order to hel to reP.r<><1:uce what man desu. nes for his use ... consists of permanent installatio . ns U ·tabtj.or I�e ��g the productive J " forces offuture labour" (Sismondi, [Nouveaux p 0
m one .
can
rincil:" "� d economu POll ttque; Vol. 1 , pp. 95, 97-98J VI) � I� ; l(vr.ed caP tal IS the capital whic . h is necessary to mai.ntain J the instruments, machIn�s, etc., of labour " (Smit h, [Recherch&5 sur la nature et les causes de la ric�e des atlonsJ, Vol. II, p. 226). .? as
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USED IN THE GREAT WORK �g,A�r�oLveMERELY mber 1 84
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7, p. 12 7 1 J Notebook VI, p. 1) .1 7 . . . "I t will be shown that the first stick or stone he too� In to his hand to help him In the pursuit of those objects by . pe for llng part of hiS work, fu lfilled exactly the same function as the capital� ern at present y the mercantile (Lauderdale, [ Recherches sur la . ? nations " natu ori gme de la nche�e publique' Paris, 1 80 8,J p. 87, Notebook 8 , a) .c 14 "I t I'S o ne 0f the characten"stic and dIs " tIn�ishing features of the human species thus to su . pplant labour b c ltal transf ormed Into machinery " (p. 1 20) (p. 9, Notebook Laude � Y rdale) · "N w It WI be seen that th e profit of capital always derives either from it s su l n a portio of lab0l!r which w othe�ise have to be performed ould bY h � d f man,� or from Its performing a poruon of labour which is be yo nd the reach 0 the personal . exertion of man to accomplish " (p. 1 19, 1. c.).
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Lauderdale takes issue with SmIt. h and Locke, [V I4 3 ] w h o se belief that labour is the e o f p r ofit has, according to Lauderdale, the following r:����
"If this notion of the profit of ca ital were stToI.ctl correct, it w ould follow that � profit i� not an original source of we h b?t a denvaUve one; and capital could not be considered a source of wea . lth (II'ts Proftt b m g only a transfer from the poc et labourer into that of the capitalis k of the t'" . c ' pp. 16 , 1 1 7) . : "The profit of capital alwa . v e er from its supplanting abour a portion of which would otherwise v ! o med by the hand of man; or ItS performing a portion of . from labour whOc IS eyond the reach of the personal exertion of man to accomplish " 1 1 ( 1 9. ' I : c., [NotebookJ p. 9, b). "It should be noted that if th ' Pl talISt' by the use he mak es of his money saves a certain amount of labo ur to t class 0f consumers, he does not substitute for It
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a See this volume p. 30 . Mar . x quotes In French . Ed. b See this voIume, pp. 35 -3 6. M . arx quotes partIy In French.- Ed C This and th e followin S de dale are q�oted in F�ench in the manuscript. In one quot t : 7;� rom p. ) arx occasIOnally uses Germ words.- Ed. an ,
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79
Chapter on Capital
that elf, hims not and l, capita his is it s that prove which own; his of n portio equal an performs it" ( 1 0, Notebook, I. c., p. 132 ).
"If Adam Smith had not imagined that the effect of a machine was to facilitate (it is r labou of r powe e uctiv prod the ase incre to elf, hims essed expr he as or, our lab al a strange confusion of ideas that has led Dr. Smith to describe the effect of capit as increasing the productive power of labour. According to this logic, one could very well claim that shortening a circuitous road between two given places by half means doubling the velocity of the walker), he would have seen that it was by supplanting labour that the funds paid for the machine yielded profit, and he would have attributed the origin of profit to this very circumstance" ([Notebook,J p. 1 1 ; p . 13 7 ). "Capital, whether fixed or circulating, in home trade, far from serving to set labour in motion, or adding to the productive power of labour, is, on the contrary, only useful and profitable in these two situations : either it supplants the necessity of a portion of labour that would otherwise have to be performed by the hand of man, or it performs ' a certain kind of labour that is beyond the powers of man himself to accomplish."
This, Lauderdale says, is not a purely verbal distinction. "The idea that capital sets labour in motion, and that it adds to its productive power, gives rise to the opinion that labour is everywhere proportioned to the quantity of existing capital; that the industry of a country always corresponds to the funds employed; from which it follows that the increase of capital is by far the best and unlimited means of augmenting wealth. If, instead, we admitted that capital can have no other useful and profitable employment than that of supplanting or performing a certain kind of labour, we would draw the natural conclusion that the State can derive no advantage from possessing more capital than can be employed in performing or supplanting labour in the production and manufacture of things required by the consumer" (pp. 150-5 2, [Notebook ,) pp. 1 1 , 12).
To prove his proposition that capital is, independently of labour, a source sui generis OF PROFIT and thus OF WEALTH , he points to the surplus profit which the owner of a newly invented machine derives before his brevet d'invention expires, and competition depresses prices, and then concludes with the words: a
"This alteration in the rule of charging does not prevent the profit" (for the use value) "of the machine from being received out of a fund of the same nature as that which it was paid from before the expiration of the patent: this fund is always
that part of the revenue of the country which formerly was destined to pay the wages of the labour supplanted by the new invention " (I. c., p. 125, [Notebook,) p. 10, b).
Ravenstone, on the contrary, argues (IX , 32)
I
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that:
MACHINERY CAN SELDOM BE APPLIED WITH SUCCESS TO ABRIDGE THE LABOURS OF AN INDIVIDUAL; MORE TIME WOULD BE LOST IN ITS CONSTRUCTION THAN COULD BE SAVED BY ITS APPLICATION. IT IS ONLY REALLY USEFUL WHEN IT ACTS ON GREAT MASSES, WHEN A SINGLE MACHINE CAN ASSIST THE LABOURS OF THOUSANDS. IT IS ACCORDINGLY IN THE MOST POPULOUS COUNTRIES WHERE THERE ARE MOST IDLE MEN THAT IT IS ALWAYS MOST a
Patent.- Ed.
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Outlines of the Critique of P olitical Economy
Chapter on Capital
ABUNDANT. IT IS NOT CALLED IN TO ACTION B Y A SCARCITY OF M WITH WHICH THEY ARE BROUG HT TOGETHER " (I. c.) [ houg EN. BUT B Y THE FACILITY hts on the F T and Its Ef fects, London,
unding System,
1824, p. 45].
6�I;t� ���J�CLTAIVNDE FTOHRE DEVELOPMENT
CES OF SOCIETY]
"Division of machines into (1 . ) th e a Iied o produ ce power; (2) those is simply the transmission of whose aim power d.1 e per ormance o f labour " (Babbage [ T:.aJ'. sur l'economie des machines et 1: ", des manu,actures pp. 20 ' 2 1 ,] Notebook, p. 10).a 14 ' " F:ACTOR Y signifies the . coo eration dIfferent classes of worke non�adults, skilfully and d s, adults and � ilige watch ver a system of productIve contInually kept ;In operation machinery b a centr s u rc e of] p?wer, and exclud workshop the mechanism es any of which does not orm a contInUOUS system or w does not depend on a sing hich le drivinl? f rce. Examples � of the latter are dy ng w brass foundries, etc.-Th . orks' is term In Its stnctest se ' nse, impIies a vast auto made ?P 0f a Iarge num maton, ber of mechanical and znte . . g llec!ual organs workIn and w�thou t Interruptio together n, to produce the same object, all these organs subordInated to a self-p being owered drivin force" (U . re, [Ph,losophie des manuf Vol. Brussels, 18 3 6 , pp. 1 8- 1 actures, 9J p. 14).
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The capital which is consume . d in h t e productIon process proper, or fixed capital, is emp . h a ti c a ll y m ea n s of productwn. I n a broader sense, the entire rod . P u c tI o n process and each of its moments, as well as each mo ent 0f circulation so fa r as . maten'al aspect IS' considered m It s ' IS m ereIy means of production for c. apital, to which value alone eX . ItseIf, from its material aspec Ists. as an end in 1'tseIf. Raw material t, IS means o f production for th product, etc. e B u t to determine the use val . u e ' 0f fIx e d capItal by its being consumed in the production p . r o c that it is used only as a mea �ss P �oper IS the same as saying n merely as an agent for the tr s In thIS process, and itself exists a n . product. As such means of r0 sformatIon of raw maten'al m t o d . u P c tl " . o n " ItS use value may .conSlst m its bem ' g merely a technological d on ' tIon f or � lace (the � p place in which the P ro uct on ro th� process to take � p ces. s IS carried on) as m the. case of buildm ' gs, etc . ., : o r m It s b e m g an ImmedIa cond'ItIon for the operation of te th all matieres instrumentales are� B�� means .of production proper, as presuppositions for carrying n h ared m .turn, merely material or for the application and m . e pro uctIon process in general' a mtenance o f the means 0f Iabo And the means of labour m ur. ' the stn'ct sense serves only within Marx quotes from Ba bba�e. part1y In . German and partly following quotation fro U in French. The m re IS In French .- E d.
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use value. other no on, has producti and and for uction rod p Initially, when we discussed the transition of value into capital, the labour process was simply included into capital, and with respect to its physical condition, the material form in which it existed, capital appeared as the totality of the conditions for this process , and accordingly fell into definite qualitatively different portions: the material of labour (this, not raw material, is the correct and conceptual expression), means of labour and living labour. a On the one hand, capital, according to the material form in which it existed, was divided up into these thre� elements; on the other, the moving unity of these elements was the labour process (or the entering of these elements into process with one another), and their inert unity was the product. In this form, the material elements material of labour, means of labour and living labour appear merely as the essential moments of the labour process itself, which is appropriated by capital. But this material aspect of capital- or its determination as use value and real process diverged completely from the determination of its form. In this determination itself ( I ) the 3 elements in which capital appears priOl to the exchange with labour capacity, prior to the actual process, appeared merely as quantitatively different portions of capital itself, as quantities of value, whose unity is formed by capital itself as their sum. The material form, the use value, in which these different portions existed, did not affect the homogeneity of this determination . From the viewpoint of their formal determination, they only appeared as reflecting the fact that quantitatively capital fell into distinct portions. (2) Within the process itself, the distinction between the element of labour and the other two, as regards form, consisted only in that labour was determined as positing value, and the other two as constant values. Yet as far as their distinctness as use values, the material aspect, was concerned, it was quite extrinsic to the formal determination of capital. Now, however, in the distinction between circulating capital (raw material and product) [VI-44] and fixed capital (means of labour ), the distinction between the elements as use values is, at the same time, posited as a distinction of capital as capital, in its formal determination . The relationship of the factors to each other, which was only quantitative, now appears as a qualitative distinction of capital itself and as determining its overall movement (turnover). In terms of physical substance, too, the a
See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 224-27.- Ed.
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material of labour and the product of precipitate of the labour process, as raw m labour, the neutral no longer determined as the material and praterial and product, are the use value of capital itself in different oduct of labour but as As long as the means of labour remains mphases, strict sense, as it was directly, historicall eans of labour in the into its valorisation process, it only undergy - included by capital that it now appears not merely as mea oes a formal change in material aspect, but at the same time a ns of labour from its existence of capital, one determined by s a particular mode of the overall process of capital as fixed capital. Once included into the production process the means of labour passes through a se of capital, however, until it ends u p as the machine, or rather ries of metamorphoses as an automatic system of machinery (system of machine r y ; a u atic merely means the most complete, most adequate form of matocmhin machinery into a system), That systemery, and alone transforms automaton, self-moved motive power; this is set in motion by an large number of mechanical and intell automaton consists of a workers themselves cast in the role of m ectual organs, with the of it, In the machine, and to an eerely conscious members machine[ry] as an automatic system, ven greater degree in transformed, with respect to its use v the means of labour is character, into a form adequate to fixedalue, i, e, to its .material general. And the form in which it wa capital and to capital in means of labour, into the productios included, as immediate sup,erseded by a form posited by capital n process of capital is itself and corresponding to It, In no respect does the machine appear of the individual worker, Its differenti as the means of labour mediate between the activity of the workae specifica is not at all to case with the means of labour, On th r and the object, as is the activity is posited rather as merely me e contrary, the worker's machine, its action upon the raw materiadiating the labour of the guards against obstructions, Not as in thl he watches over'it and which the worker animates with his ow e case of the instrument, organ, and whose manipulation is th n skill and activity as an virtuosity, On the contrary, the machine us dependent upon his , which possesses skill and power in contrast to the worker, is itself th soul of its own in the laws of mecha e virtuoso, It possesses a operation s ; and to maintain its continuo nics which determine its coal, oil, etc. (matieres instrumentales), uas self-motion it consumes food stuffs, The activity of the workers the worker consumes , restricted to a mere
Chapter on Capital
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, " is determined and governed in ,every abstractIon of actIvity, respect by the movem�nt ?f the a h'nery' not vice versa, SCIence, which comp�ls th� mamm a�e ::m�ers of the machinery, by means of their design, to op rate pu,rposefully as an automaton , ' , , the worker's conSCIousness, but acts upon him does not eXist ' through the machme as an arlen f rce as the force of the machme itself. ' g labour by objectified labour " f rIvm of th The appropnatIon � , , value-creating power or actIvity by value-for-itself an appropnation inherent in ,the conctt f 't I is posited in production based upo� machmery �s , t c� a�:��: �f the production proc�ss itself, and IS also poslte m terms of its material elements and Its material move�ent, The pr�d�ct'� Process has ceased to be a labour pro,cess the sen�e t at �� I��o longer embraced by labour as the umty whICh domll.�ates I , Now on the contrary, labour appears me�eiy a s cO� SCl�)uS org��� dispersed at many points of the mechamcal system m Isolated in workers, It is subsumed under the overall process of the , ;nachi�er itself and is merely a membe� ?f the sfstem , w�?se u nV :xists Jot in living workers but in the hvmg (ac�l\:e) mac mery, h latter confronts the isolated, insignificant acuvlty of the worker as a mighty organism, In mach'me;y, b'Jectified labour confronts living labour i n the la, bour ' process Itself as the power which dominates it, a power WhICh: m terms f Its ' f , ' as the appropna' t'Ion of living labour, is capital, , , The incorpora�lOn of the Iab��r r:�cess into the valonsatIon moments is also pos�ted process of capital as mrely o, o mate�ally by the �r�ns Of the means of labour mto machmery, and f IIVmg f:��, ���to, a mere living accessory of this mach'mery, as the means of Its actIon, , As we have seen"a It" IS the necessary tendency of capitaI to increase the productIv� pow;r �f I�bour and to bring about the greatest pOSSible negatlon , n ces ary labour, This tendency is f ormatIon the means of labour into f reaI,Ised by the trans , f t ron s In machmery, b'Ject'f' d labour phYSICally con machinery, Ie i ' "hvmg Iabo,ur as the power wh IC, h dominates it and actively , ' f lf not merely by appropriatmg rIv�' ng subsumes I� under ItS labour, but the , actua p�oduction process itself, In fixed cap�tal existing , as machmery, t e , :eIation of capital as value which appropnates the, value-�eatI g activit is posited, at the same time, as the reiatIo? of t e use valu lcapital to the use value of the labour capacity, M oreover, ;h� value objectified in the III
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
machinery .appears as a presupposition in comparison to which the value-�reatI? g . �ow�r of the individual labour capacity disappears as bem.g mfm!tesImally small. With the enormous rates of productIOn posIted by machinery, there also disappears in the product eve �y refe�ence to the immediate need of the producer, �nd thus to ImmedIate use . �alue . . The form in which the product �s produced: �nd the condItIons m which it is produced, already Imply that It IS only pro?�ced as a bearer of value, and its use v�lue only as th� condItIon for this. Objectified labour itself dIrectly appears m the machine not only in the form of the product, or of the product employed as the means of labour but m that of productiv� power itself. The development of the m'eans ' machmery . is not a matter of chance for capital, but of la�our .mto the hIstorIcal transformatIon of the traditional means of labour as handed d ?wn from the past, into a form adequate to capital. The accumulatIon of . kno�led �e and skill, of the general productive forces of the socIal mmd, IS thus absorbed in capital as opposed to labo�r, and ? ence appears as a prop�rty of capital, more precisely, of fzxed capzta� to the exten � th�t It enters into the production process as means of productIOn m the strict sense. �he �efore, r;"achinery . appears as the most adequate form of fixed capzt�l, an� fIxed capItal, as far as capital is considered in its relatIon to Itself, as the ",:ost adeq�ate form of capital in general. On the ot�er hand, as far as fIxed capItal IS confined to its existence as a p.artIcular us� value, it does not correspond to the concept of capItal, for capItal as value is indifferent to every particular form of use val �e, �nd can .with equal �ndifference adopt or shed any of the � as Its mca�natIon : In. thI� respect, in terms of capital's relatIon to what IS o� tsIde It, �zrculating capital appears as the adequate form of capItal as agamst fixed capital. Further�ore, to the extent that machinery develops with the accumula.tI�n of . social knowledge and productive power in general, . It IS not m the worker but in capital that general social labour IS . represented. .The p�oductive power of $ociety is m <:asured m terms of fzxed capzta� exists in it in the form of o�Jects;. and conversely the p�od l!ctive power of capital develops wIth thIS general pr�gress, whICh IS appropriated gratis by capital. We need not e.nter mto t�e development of machinery en detail here, but o ?ly m general, m so far as in fixed capital the means of labour, consIdered in its physical aspect, loses its immediate form �nd con �ronts the �orker physically as capital. Knowledge appears m machmery as abe? a?? external to him, and living labour as subsumed under objectIfIed labour operating independently of
85
him. The worker appears as superfluous unless his action is conditioned by the needs [of capital]" [VII-I] Hence, the full development of capital only takes place or capital has only posited the mode of production corresponding to it when the means of labour is not merely formally determined as fixed capital but is superseded in its immediate form, and fixed capital confronts labour within the production process as machinery. The entire production process then appears no longer as subsumed under the immediate skill of the worker, but as technological application of science. Capital thus tends to impart a scientific character to production, and immediate labour is reduced to a mere moment of this process. Just as we found when discussing the transformation of value into capital, a more detailed analysis of capital shows that, on the one hand, it presupposes a definite given historical development of the productive forces these including science, too and, on the other, spurs them on and accelerates their growth. Hence the quantitative volume and effectiveness (intensity) of the development of capital as fixed capital indicates, in general, the DEGREE to which capital is developed as capital, as power over living labour, and to which it has, in general, subjected to itself the production process. It is also indicative as expressing the degree of accumulation of objectified productive forces and similarly of objectified labour. But if capital gives to itself its adequate form as use value within the production process only when it adopts the form of machinery and other physical forms of existence of fixed capital, e.g., railways, etc. (which we shall take up later), it does not in any way follow that this use value machinery in itself is capital, or that its existence as machinery is identical with its existence as capital. Just as little as gold would lose its use value as gold if it ceased to be money. Machinery would not lose its use value through ceasing to be capital. From the fact that machinery is the most appropriate form of use value of fixed capital, it in no way follows that its subsuming under the social relation of capital is the most appropriate and best social production relation for the application of machinery. b
In the same measure as labour time the simple quantity of labour is posited by capital as the sole determinant of value, a Manuscript damaged. - Ed.
hapter "C g in ad he e th th wi k oo teb no t, las h, nt ve se e th ge 1 of b Marx opens pa end of e th at n gu be ] as [w k oo teb no s hi "(T te no e th d an on Capital (Continuation)" February '58 )". - Ed.
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i�m�diate labour a!ld its quantity disappear as the determining pnnCIple of productIon, of the creation of use values. It is reduced both quantitatively, in that its proportion deClines, and qualitative ly, in that it, though still indispensable, becomes a subaltern mo�en � in comparison to ge I?eral scientific work, the technological applIcatIon of the natural SCIences, on the one hand, and also in comp�ris�m to the �ene:al productive power originating from the or�amsatlOn of sOCIety m ov�rall production, a productive power w?Ich. appears as a natural gIft of social labour (although it is an histoncal product). Thus capital works to dissolve itself as the form which dominates production. Thus if, on the one hand, the transformation of the production process �rom the simple labour process into a scientific process, one forcmg the powers of Nature into its service and thus setting them to work in the service of human needs, appears as a pro'p�rty of fixed capital as against living labour; if, further, mdivIdu.al labour as such ceases in general to appear as productIve, but . rather is productive only in collective labours which subjugate the powers of Nature to themselves, and this elevation of immediate into social labour appears to reduce individual labour to helplessness compared to the concentrated collectivity represented in capital, then, on the other hand, the maintenance of labour in one branch of production by COEXISTING LAB�UR 1 8 in another now appears as the property of circulating capttal.
In the lesser circulation; capital advances wages to the worker, �ho exchanges them for the products necessary for his consump tIon. The. money he has received can effect the exchange only because sIm.ultaneously oth�rs wor.k alongside him; and it is only because capItal has appropnated hIS labour that it can give him in m.oney .a draft upon alien labour. This exchange of his own labour wIth alIen does not appear here to be mediated and conditioned by the simultaneous coexistence of the labour of others, but by the advance which capital makes [to him]. The part of the CIRCULATING CAPITAL which is handed over to the worker, and CIRCULATING CAPITAL in general, appear to have the property of enabling the worker to undertake during production the exchange of matter necessary for his consumption. It appears not as an exchange of matter between simultaneously working labour powers, but as' an ex ch�nge of matter effected by capital; a consequence of the eXIstence of CIRCULATING CAPITAL. a See this volume, pp. 63-68.- Ed.
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Hence all the powers of labour are transp?sed into powers of capital. Fixed capital stands for the productIve 'po�er of labour (which is posited outside. lab�)Ur an.d appe�rs to eXIst mdependently of it, objectively). And In CIrculatmg C�PItal, the fac� , . on the one hand, that the worker has himself pOSIted the condItIons for the repetition of his labour, and, on the o�h�r hand, that the exchange of s ear , app ers oth of our lab g tm xIs coe the by ted dia me is our lab his this in the form that capital makes the advance to him and , on the other hand, posits the contemporaneity of the d�ffe�ent branch�s of labour. (Strictly speakiI?g, the latt�r two d�ter�InatIons belong I� the section on accumulation .) CapItal POSItS Itself as the medIator between the different LABOURERS in the form of circulating capital. Fixed capital, in its determination as means of prod�ctio� , whose most adequate form is machinery, produces value, 1. e. mcreases the value of the product, only in two respects: ( 1 ) to the extent that it possesses value, i..e. is . its��f a product . of labour, � certain quantity of labour In objectIfIed form; (2) In so far as It by r, ou lab y sar ces n to ur bo l us pl sur f n rtio po pro � the ses increa � � . enabling labour, through Increasmg Its productIve po�er, to pro duce a larger quantity of products necessary for the mamtenance of the living labour capacity in a shorter time. It is, therefore, an �tterly absurd bourgeois phrase to claim that the wo:ker sha�es wIth .the capitalist because the latter, by means of . fIxe? capItal (�hICh, moreover, is itself the product of labour, IS a�ten labour sImply appropriated by capital ), alleviates or abridg�s hIS labou� f<;>r hIm . (In fact, by setting him to work with a mac�me, the capItalIst robs his labour of · all independence . and attractIv�ness.) . Capital employs the machine, rather, only m so far as It enables the worker to work a larger part of his time for capital, to relate to a larger part of his time as not belonging to him, to work a longer time for another. By this process, the quantity of labour necessary for the production of a certain object is. in fact reduced to the minimum, but only in order that a maxImum of l�bour can h,e valorised in a maximum of such objects. The fIrst aspect IS important because capital in this way quite unintentionally reduces human labour, the expenditure of [human]. energy, to a minimum. This will be to the advantage of emancIpated labour and is the condition for its emancipation. What has been said above shows the absurdity of Lauderdale's autonomous source of value, attempt to make fixed capital into an 1 9 It can be so only to the e. tim our lab of nt nde epe one ind extent that it itself posits objectified labour time and surplus labour time. The employment of machinery itself historically
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presupposes [VII-2] see Ravenstone, above a superfluous hand � . Only when there is a superfluity of labour powers, does �achmery mte�ene to replace labour. It is only in the imagina tion of economIsts that machinery assists the individual worker. It can only operate with masses of workers, whose concentration vis-a-vis capital is, as we have seen, one of capital's historical presuppositions.b Machinery is not introduced to make up for a shortage of labour power, but to reduce abundantly available !abou: pow�r to the nece �s�ry .volume: Onl � where labour capacity IS avaIlable m large quantltles IS machmery mtroduced. (This to be reverted to.) Lauder�ale believes to ?ave made a great discovery in asserting t?at �achmery does not mcrease the productive power of labour, smce It rather replaces labour or performs tasks which labour cannot p�rform on its own: It is inherent in the concept of capital that the mcr�ased productive power of labour is posited rather as the aggrandIzement of a power outside it and as its own enfeeblem�nt. !he means o� labour makes the worker indepen den.t p.OSItS hIm as a propnetor. Machinery as fixed capital POSItS .hlm as dependent, as appropriated. However, machinery has thIS effect only to the extent that it is determined as fixed capital; and it is determined as such only by the fact that the �o�k�r relates himself to it as a wage labourer, and the active ll1dIVIdual in general as a mere labourer. Hitherto, . fixed capital and circulating capital appeared merely as dlffer�nt trans�tory determinations of capital. Now they �ave h �rdene� mto particular modes of existence of capital, and Clrcula�mg ca �Ital appear� alongside fixed capital. There are now 2 p.artI�ular km?s of capItal. In so far as one considers a single �apItal m a partI�ular branch of production, it appears divided up mto these 2 portions, or it falls in definite proportions into these 2 kinds of capital. The different elements within the production process, originally means of labour and material of labour, and finally product of lab�ur, now appear as circulating capital (the last two) and fixed capIta! . The differentiation of capital according to its purely ma�enal aspect has now been assimilated into the very form of cap�tal and �ppears as a differentiator of capital. FIxed capItal notably that whose material existence or use value is machinery is the form best suited to give some a See present edition, Vol. 21>, pp. 324-25 and this volume, pp. 79·80.- Ed. b See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 504- 1 0.- Ed.
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semblance of truth to the shallow FALLACIES of those who, like Lauderdale, etc., believe that capital as such, divorced from labour, can produce value, and thus also surplus value (or profit). One may answer them, as was done, e.g., in Labour Defended,a that the road-maker may indeed share with the road-user, but the "road" itself cannot do SO. 20 Circulating capital assuming that it actually passes through its various phases causes the decrease or increase, the shortening or lengthening of circulation time, the easier or more arduous cour se through the various stages of circulation, a diminishing of the surplus value that could be produced in a given period of time if the process were not subject to these interruptions either because there is a decline in the number of reproductions, or because the quantity of capital continuously engaged in the production process contracts. In neither case is there a reduction in the initially posited value; but, in both cases, a reduction in the rapidity of its growth. Yet, as soon as fixed capital has attained a certain level of development and this level, as we have already indicated, is the measure of development of large-scale industry in general, and therefore rises in proportion to the development of the productive forces of large-scale industry (fixed capital is itself the objectifica tion of these productive forces, is these forces themselves as a presupposed product) from this moment onwards, every inter ruption of the production process directly reduces capital itself, its presupposed value. The value of fixed capital is only reproduced to the extent that it is used up in the production process. If it is not used, fixed capital loses its use value, without its value passing on to the product. Hence the larger the scale on which fixed capital develops, in the sense in which it is considered here, the more the continuity of the production process or the continuous flow of reproduction becomes a compelling external condition of the mode of production based upon capital. In this respect, too, the appropriation of living labour by capital takes on an immediate reality in machinery: on the one hand, it is the analysis and application of mechanical and chemical laws originating directly from science that enables the machine to perform the same labour as was previously performed by the worker. However, the development of machinery takes this course only when large-scale industry has already attained a high level of a (Hodgskin, Th.,] Labour Defended against the Claims of Capital; or, the
Unproductiveness of Capital Proved....- Ed. 5-785
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development and all the sciences have been forced into the service of capital, and when, on the other hand, the machinery already in existence itself affords great resources. At this point, invention becomes a business, and the application of science to immediate production itself becomes a factor determining and soliciting SCIence . However, this is not the way in which machinery has come into being on a general basis; and still less is it the way in which it develops in detail. The actual way is that of analysis through the division of labour, which increasingly transforms the workers' operations into mechanical ones, so that at a certain point the workers can be replaced by a mechanism. (Ad. ECONOMY OF POWER.) Therefore, a definite mode of labour appears here to be directly transferred from the worker to capital in the form of the machine, and this transposition devalues his own labour capacity. Hence the workers ' struggle against machinery. What was the activity of a live worker now becomes an activity of the machine. Thus the appropriation of labour by capital confronts the worker in a gross-sensuous way; capital as absorbing living labour into itself "as though it had love in its bosom "" The exchange of living labour for objectified, i.e. the positing of social labour in the form of the antithesis of capital and wage labour, is the ultimate development of the value relationship and of production based on value. Its presupposition is and remains the sheer volume of immediate labour time, the quantity of labour employed, as the decisive factor in the production of wealth. But in the degree in which large-scale industry develops, the creation of real wealth becomes less dependent upon labour time and the quantity of labour employed than upon the power of the agents set in motion during labour time. And their power their POWERFUL EFFECTIVENESS in turn bears no relation to the immediate labour time which their production costs, but depends, rather, upon the general level of development of science and the progress of technology, or on the application of science to production. (The development of science itself, especially of natural science, and with it of all the other sciences, is, in turn, related to the development of material production .) E.g. agriculture becomes mere application of the science of the exchange of matter in terms of how that exchange can be regulated to the maximum advantage of the social body as a whole. Real wealth manifests itself rather and this is revealed by •
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a Goethe, Faust, Part I, "Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig".- Ed.
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large-scale industry in the i� mense disproporti<;>ll . betwe�n the labour time employed and ItS product, and simIlarly m the qualitative disproportion between labour ;educed to a . pur� abstraction and the power of the production process which It oversees. Labour no longer appears so much as included in the production process, but rather man �elates himself �o tha.t process as its overseer and regulator. (What IS true of machmery IS equally true of the combination of human activities and the d�velopment of human intercourse.) No longer does the worker mterpose a modified natural object as an intermediate element between the object and himself; now he interposes the natural pr�cess, [VI ! -3] which he transforms into an industrial one, as an mterm�dIary between himself and inorganic nature, which he makes himself master of. He stands beside the production process, rather than bemg Its mam agent. Once this transformation has taken place, it is neither the immediate labour performed by man himself, nor the time for which he works, but the appropriation of his own �en�ral productive power, his . com� rehension. of Na.ture .and dommatIon of it by virtue of hiS. b�m � . a sOCIal entity m a word, the development of the social mdlvldual that apI;>ears as th� corn�r stone of production and wealth. The theft of alt�n labour ttme, w�tch is the basis of present wealth, appears to be a mlsera�le foundation compared to this newly developed one, the �ou� d�tIon c:eated by large-scale industry itself. As soon as labour m ItS lI?medlate form has ceased to be the great source of wealth, labour time ceases and must cease to be its measure, and therefore exchange value [must cease to be the measure] of use value. The surplus labour of the masses has ceased to be the condition for the development of general wealth, just as the non-labour of a few has ceased to be the condition for the development of the general powers of the human mind. As a result, production based upon exchang� valu.e collapses, and the immediate material producti? n process Itself IS stripped of its form of indigence and antagoms� . Free develop ment of individualities, and hence not the reductIo� of necessary labour time in order to posit surplus lab�ur, but m �e� eral the reduction of the necessary labour of SOCIety to a mlmmum, to which then corresponds the artistic, scientific, etc., development of individuals, made possible by the time thus set free and the means produced for all of them. . . . . By striving to reduce labour time to a mmlmum, whIle, on the other hand, positing labour time as � h� sol� measure and source of wealth, capital itself is a contradlctlon-m-process. It therefore •
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diminishes labour time in the form of necessary labour time in ord�r to increase it in the form of superfluous labour time; it thus pOSIt� . superfluo� s labo�.Ir time to an increasing degree as a conditIon questwn de vze et de morta for necessary labour time. O? the one hand, therefore, it calls into life all the powers of sCIence and Nature, and of social combination and social inter �ourse, in order to make the creation of wealth (relatively) mdependent of the labour time employed for that purpose. On the other ha nd , it wishes the enormous social forces thus created to be measured by labour time and to confine them within the limits necessary to maintain as value the value already created. The productive forces and social relations two different aspects of the development of the social individual appear to capital merely as the means, and are merely the means, for it to carry on produ.ction o� . its restricted b�sis. I N FACT, however, they are the matenal conditIons for explodmg that basis.
aimed at the production of fixed capital does not produce immediate objects of enjoyment or immediate exchange values; at least it does not produce immediately realisable exchange values.
"A nation is truly rich if 6 instead of 1 2 hours are worked. WEALTH is not command over surplus labour time" (real wealth) "but DISPOSABLE TIME in addition to that employed in immediate production, for every individual and f�r the whole society." 21
Nature does not construct machines, locomotives, railways, �LECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, SELF·ACTING MULES, etc. They are products of hu ma n mdustry; natural material transformed into organs of man's will over Natl.�re, or ?f man's activity in Nature. They are organs of the human mznd whzch are created by the human hand, the objectified power of knowledge. The development of fixed capital shows the de gr ee ' to wh ich soc iet y s general science, KNOWLEDGE has become an .zmm �d�ate productlVe for�e, and hence the degree to which the conditIons of the SOCial hfe process itself have been brought under the control of the GENERAL INTELLECT and remoulded according to it. It shows the degree to which the social productive forces are produced not . merelY in the form of kn owledge but as immediate . organs of SOCIal praXIS, of the actual life process. .
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here is yet another aspect from which the development of fixed capital � . zndzcates the degre.e of development of wealth in general or of the development of ca,pzt?,l. The. object of production directly aimed at
�se value: an.d .sImilarly directly at exchange value, is the product Itself, which IS mtended for consumption. The part of production a A matter of life or death.- Ed.
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So it depends upon the level of productivity already attained upon a mere part of production time being sufficient for immediate production that an increasingly large part of production time is employed in producing means of production.
This presupposes that society can wait, can withdraw a large part of the wealth already created both from immediate enjoy ment and from production intended for immediate enjoyment, and employ it for labour which is not immediately productive (within the material production process itself). For it to be able to do so, productivity and relative excess must already have attained a certain level, and indeed a level directly proportionate to the scale on which circulating capital is transformed into fixed capital. Just as the amount of relative surplus labour depends upon the productivity of necessary labour, so the amount of the labour time employed on the production of fixed capital living labour time as well as objec tified depends upon the productivity of the labour time intended for the direct production of products. Surplus population (surplus from this standpoint), like surplus production, is a condition for this, i.e. the result of the time
employed upon immediate production must be r�latively in exc.ess of what is immediately required for the reproduction of the capital employed in these branches of industry. The less the immediate yield of fixed capital, the less fixe? capita� engaged in the im:mediate production process, the larger thiS relative surplus populatwn and surplus production must be; i.e. more relative surplus population and surplus production is required to build railways, canals, waterworks, telegraphs, etc., than to make machinery used in the immediate production process. Hence and we shall come back to that later the continual over- and underproduction in modern industry reflecting the continual fluctuations and convulsions in the ' disproportionate now insufficient, now excessive transformation of circulating capital into fixed capital. //The creation of an abundance of DISPOSABLE TIME apart from necessary labour time, for society in general and for each of .its members (i.e. scope for the development of the full productive powers of the individual, hence also of society), this creation of not-labour-time appears under the conditions of capital, and at all earlier stages, as the creation of not-labour-time, free time, for a few. What capital adds is that it increases the surplus labour time of the masses by all the means of art and science, because its
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wealth consists directly in its appropriation of surplus labour time; for its direct aim is value, not use value. Hence it is INSTRUMENTAL, malgre lui; IN CREATING THE MEANS OF SOCIAL DISPO�A�LE TIME.' <;>f reducing labour time for the whole of society to a declmmg mInImUm, and of thus setting free the time of all �members of society] for their own development. But its tendency IS always, on the one hand, to create DISPOSABLE TIME, and on the other TO CONVERT IT INTO SURPLUS LABOUR. Yet if it is too successful in the former,. i � is afflicted with surplus production, and then necessary labour IS mterru pted, as n� SU.RPLUS LABOUR can be utilised by capital. The more thIS contradICtIon develops, the more obvious it �ecomes that the growth of the productive forces can no longer be tIed to the appropriation of alien SURPLUS LABOUR and that the working masses must, rather, themselves appropridte their surplus labour. Once they have done so and DISPOSABLE TIME has thereby ceased to possess an antithetical existence then, on the one hand, ?ec�s.sary labour time will be measured by the needs of the social mdIvIdual; and, . on the other, society's productive power will develop so rapIdly that, although production will now be calculated to provide wealth for all, the DISPOSABLE TIME of all will � nc�e�se. For real wealth is the developed productive power of all I ?dlVlduals. Then [VII-4] wealth is no longer measured by labour tIme but by DISPOSABLE TIME . Labour time as the measure of wealth posits we.al�h it�elf as based upon po��rty, and DISPOSABLE TIME only as eXIstmg m and through the OPposltwn to surplus labour time; or the whole time of an individual is posited as labour time, and he is consequently degraded to a mere labourer, subsumed under labour. Hence the most developed machinery now compels the labourer to
immediate labour as such ceases to be the basis of production. That
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w,ork for a longer ti "!,e than t�e savage does, or than the labourer himself dld when he was usmg the slmplest, crudest implements.// "If the whole labour of a country were only sufficient TO RAISE THE SUPPORT OF THE WHOLE POPULATION, THERE WOULD BE NO SURPLUS LABOUR, CONSEQUENTLY NOTHING THAT COULD BE ALLOWED TO ACCUMULATE AS CAPITAL. IF THE PEOPLE RAISE in one year sufficient for the SUPPORT OF 2 YEARS, ONE YEAR'S CONSUMPTION MUST
PERISH, OR FOR ONE YEAR MEN MUST CEASE FROM PRODUCTIVE LABOUR. BUT THE POSSESSORS OF SURPLUS PRODUCE OR CAPITAL EMPLOY PEOPLE UPON SOMETHING NOT DIRECTLY AND IMMEDIATELY PRODUCTIVE, e.g. IN THE ERECTION OF MACHINERY. SO it goes ON" ( The Source and Remedy of the National Difficulties [London, 1 82 1 ,
pp.
4-5]).
" the development of large-scale industry the basis as with //Just on w.hich it rests, appropriation of alien labour time, ceases to constItute or to create wealth, so, as this development takes place, a Despite itself.- Ed.
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happens because, on the one hand, immediate labour is trans formed into a predominantly overseeing and regulating activity; and also because, on the other hand, the product ceases to be the product of isolated immediate labour, and it is rather the combination of social activity that appears as the producer.
"As soon as the division of labour has been developed, almost any labour by an isolated individual becomes some part OF A WHOLE, HA VING NO VALUE OR UTILITY OF ITSET.F. THERE IS NOTHING ON WHICH THE LABOURER CAN SEIZE [and say:] THIS IS MY PRODUCE, THIS I WILL KEEP TO MYSE1,F" ([Th. Hodgskin,] Labour Defended, [London,
1825,] 1, 2,
XI 22 [po
25]).
In immediate exchange, the isolated immediate labour appears as realised in a particular product or part of a product, and its communal social character its character as the objectification of general labour, and satisfaction of general need is only posited by exchange. By contrast, in the production process of large-scale industry, we see, on the one hand, that the productive power of the means of labour developed to an automatic process presup poses the subjection of the natural forces to the social intelligence,
and, on the other hand, that the labour of the individual in its immediate existence is posited as superseded individual, i.e., as social, labour. Thus the other basis of this mode of production is abolished.!/
Within the production process of capital itself, the labour time employed upon the production of fixed capital relates to that employed upon the production of circulating capital as surplus labour time to necessary labour time. In the degree in which production directed to the satisfaction of immediate needs becomes more productive, a larger part of production can be directed to satisfy the needs of production itself or to the production of means of production. In so far as the production of fixed capital aims directly, in material terms too, neither at the production of immediate use values, nor of values required for the immediate reproduction of capital, i.e. values which in the creation of value itself represent, relatively, use value, but aims at the production of means for the creation of value, hence not at value as an immediate object, but at the creation of value, at the means of valorisation as the immediate object of production the production of value materially posited in the object of production itself as the purpose of production, of the objectification of productive power, the value-producing power of capital to that extent capital posits itself as an end-in-itself and is active as
capital in a higher potency in the production of fixed capital than in that of circulating capitaL Therefore, in this respect too, the
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magnitude which fixed capital already possesses, and which its production constitutes in overall production, is the measure of the development of wealth based upon the capitalist mode of producuon.
(renting instead of selling, interest, etc.) with which we are not yet concerned here.
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"The number of labourers DEPENDS ON CIRCULATING CAPITAL SO FAR as that number DEPENDS ON THE QUANTITY OF PRODUCTS OF CO-EXISTING LABOUR, WHICH LABOURERS ARE ALLOWED TO CONSUME" ([Th. Hodgskin,] Labour Defended [po 20]).
All the passages from various economists cited above refer to fixed capital as the part of capital which is locked up in the production process. "FLOATING CAPITAL IS CONSUMED; FIXED CAPITAL IS MERELY USED IN THE GREAT PROCESS OF PRODUCTION" ([The] Economist" [No. 2 1 9 6 November 1 847 , p . 1 2 7 1 ,] VI ,
1 1 7).
�his is i � cor�ec� , and holds good only for the part of circulating capI��1 ,,:hlCh IS Itself consumed by fixed capital, i.e., for the matleres mstrumentales. Only fixed capital is consumed " IN THE GREAT PROCESS OF PRODUCTION " , taking this to be the immediate production proc� ss. And its c�nsumption within the production process is IN FACT ItS USE , the usmg up of it. Furtherm�re, the greater durability of fixed capital is not to be understood m purely material terms either. The iron and wood which compose the bed in which I sleep, or the stone of which the house is built in which I live, or the marble statue with which a palace is adorned, are as durable as the iron and wood, etc., which are e.n: ployed in t�e construction of machinery. But durability is a condItIon for the mst�ument, for the means of production, not merely for the techmcal reason that metal, etc., is the main material of all m�chinery,. but because the instrument is to play the same . �ole contmually m repeated production processes. Its durabIlIty as a means of production is a direct requirement of its use value. The . . more frequently it has to be renewed the more expensive It IS; the larger is the part of capital which must be uselessly employed on it. Its duration is its existence as a means of pr?du �tion. !he lo� ger it lasts, the greater its productive power. With Clrculatmg capital, on the contrary, to the extent that it is not transformed into fixed capital, its durability has no relation whatever to the act of production itself and is thus not a �onceptually posited moment. That some of the objects thrown mto the fonds de consommation are again determined as fixed capital, ?ec�� se they are cc;>nsum:d slowly and may be consumed by many mdlvIduals successively, IS connected with further determinations '
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[V II-5] " "Since the general introduction of inanimate mechanism into British
manufactories, man, with few exceptions, has been treated as a secondary and inferior machine; and far more attention has been given to perfect the raw materials of wood and metals than those of body and mind" (Robert Owen, Essays on the Formation of the Human Character, London, 1840, p. 3 1 ).
IIReal economising saving consists in the saving of labour time (the minimum production costs,23 and their reduction to the minimum). But this saving is identical with the development of the productive power. Hence in no way renunciation of enjoyment but development of POWER, of the capacity to produce and hence of both the capacity for and the means of enjoyment. The capacity for enjoyment is a condition for it, and hence the basic means for it, and this capacity is created by the development of an individual disposition, productive power. The saving of labour time is equivalent to the increase of free time, i.e. time for the full development of the individual, which itself, as the greatest productive force, in turn reacts upon the productive power of labour. From the standpoint of the im mediate production process, it can be considered as the produc tion of fixed capital, this fixed capital BEING MAN HIMSELF. Incidentally, it is self-evident that immediate labour time itself cannot remain in abstract antithesis to free time, as it appears to do from the standpoint of bourgeois political economy. Labour cannot become a game, as desired by Fourier,b whose great merit it remains to have stated that the ULTIMATE OBJECT is the raising of the mode of production itself, not [that] of distribution, to a higher form. Free time which is both leisure and time for higher activity has naturally transformed its possessor into another subject; and it is then as this other subject that he enters into the immediate production process. This process is simultaneously discipline, with respect to the developing human being, and application, experimental science, material creative and self objectifying science, with respect to the developed man, whose mind is the repository of the accumulated knowledge of society. So far as labour demands practical manual exertion and free motion, as in agriculture, the production process is for both of them, at the same time, EXERCISE . a In Marx's hand at the top of this page: "March. 1858".- Ed.
b
Ch. Fourier, Le Nouveau Monde industriel et societaire. In: (Euvres completes, 3rd ed., Vol. 6, Paris, 1848, pp. 245-52.- Ed.
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Just as the system o� bourge?is economy unfolds to us only of ' itself gradually, so . also , does Its negatIon which I ' S I ' I t s u te tIma . ' resuI t. A. t thIS pomt' we are �tIIl concerned with the immediate pre;>d uCtlon pro�ess. .I f we �onslder bourgeois society in the round' It IS aIways sOCIety ItSelf, I.e. man himself in his socI'al reIatIo ' ns' ' . result of the social production process. that appears as the fmal EverythIng that has a solId. form, like the product, etc., appears mer�Iy as a moment, a vamsh'mg moment in this movemen t. E ven ' process itself the Imme dlate ' appears productlOn here mereIy as a . moment. The cond·ItIons and objectifications of that process are " degree, equal moments themselves, an to of I ' t an d It IS onIy . . d' . ' ' subjects; yet individuals in relations In IVIduaI s that appe�r as Its to one another, whICh �hey repro?uce just as much as the produ�e them anew. TheIr own contInUOUS process of movemen i' In whICh they renew themselves to just the same extent as they renew the world of wealth which they create.// (In his Six Lectures delivered at Manchester' 1 837, Owen d'Iscusses the d'ff l erence between workers and capitalists which caP ital . and appearance GROWTH on a creates VERY wide I sc e (and. It a . th ' " large-scale Industry, which is connected WIth attaInS IS only m . the d eveI opment 0f f·Ixed capItal). However' he says that the ' I IS' a necessary condition for the RE-CREATION OF deveIopment 0f capIta . SOCIETY, an d relates of hImself: BY
ITS
"It was BY BEING GRADUALLY TRAINED TO CREATE AND CONDUCT SOME °F THESE . ) "ESTABLISHMENTS. THAT YOUR LECTURER" (Owen hImse LARGE" (MANUFACTURING lf) . "was taugh t to perceIve the great errors and DISADVANTAGES Of P�st and present attempts to improve the character and the condition 0f hIS feIIow-m en" (p . [57-]5 8) .
entire the passage here so We shall that quote we m ay refer to .It on another occasion.24 '
"The producers of fully. developed wealth may be divided I'nt0 workers m ' soft ' under the Immediate and work ers I n h ard matenals, direction, as a generaI rule of . ' gain by the labour of those whom titey " masters wh ose 0bJect It IS to rnake pecumary . of the chemical and mechanl'cal manuf actunng employ. Before the introduction . ' system, operatIons were earned on upon a confined scale ' there were many small . . " masters, each h avmg a few Journeymen, who looked forward t0 becommg aI so m ' due tIme, smaII masters. These usually fed at the same table and rIved together; . and there prevailed a spirit and feeling of equality between th'em . S.mce the penod applied to the busm wh en SCIENTIFIC POWER began to . be largely ' ess 0f manufacture' . a graduaI ch ange took place In thIS respect. Almost all manufactures to be successfuI , . must now be earned on EXTENSIVELY and with Iarge capItaI' '' small . . . masters WIth smaII capIta ' I s have n ow very lIttle chance of success espeClaII y m the . . . m anufacture 0f t he soft rnatenals, such as cotton ' wool, flax , etc. ,' ' I' t IS now Indeed '
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that so long as the present classification of society and mode of conducting business life shall continue, the small masters will be more and more superseded by those who possess large capitals, and that the former comparatively happy equality among producers must give place to the greatest inequality between master and worker that has yet occurred in the history of man. The large capitalist is now elevated to the position of an imperial lord, having the health, life, and death, IND IRECTLY, of his slaves at his will. This power he obtains � combining with other large capitalists engaged in the same interests with himself, and thus does he effectively coerce to his purpose those whom he employs. The large capitalist now wallows in wealth, the right use of which he has not been taught and knows not. He has acquired power by his riches. His riches and his power blind his understanding; and when he most GRIEVOUSLY oppresses, he believes he is conferring favours... His SERVANTS, as they are called, his SLAVES IN FACT, are reduced to the most hopeless degradation; the majority of them, robbed of their health, of their domestic comforts and of the leisure and the healthy open air amusements of former days. Through excessive exhaustion of their powers, brought on by long protracted monotonous employments, they are seduced into habits of intemperance and unfitted for thought or reflection. They can have no physical, intellectual or moral enjoyments, except of the very lowest description; all the real pleasures of life being far removed from them. The existence which a very large portion of the workers endure under the present system is, in short, not worth possessing. "But for the changes of which these are the results no individuals are
EVI DENT
BLAMEABLE;
they proceed in the REGULAR ORDER OF NATURE, and are preparatory and necessary steps towards the great and important social revolution which is in progress.
Without large capitals, large establishments would not have been formed; men could not have been trained to conceive the PRACTICABILITY OF EFFECTING NEW COMBINATIONS, IN ORDER TO SECURE A SUPERIOR CHARACTER TO ALL and the production of more wealth annually than all could consume; and that that wealth also should be of a very superior description to that [VII-6] hitherto generally produced" (I.e., [pp.] 56, 57). "It is this new chemical and mechanical manufacturing system that is now enlarging the human faculties to prepare them to understand other PRINCIPLES and PRACTICES, to adopt them, and thus to effect the greatest beneficial change in affairs that the world has yet known. And it is this new manufacturing system that now creates the necessity for another and superior classification of society" (I.e., [p.] 58).) [CIRCULATION AND REPRODUCTION OF FIXED AND CIRCULATING CAPITAL]
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We have previously noted that the productive power (fixed capital) only imparts value-because it only possesses value in so far as it is itself produced, is itself a certain quantity of objectified labour time. But there are also natural agents, such as water, land (especially), mines, etc., which are appropriated, hence possess exchange value and therefore must be included as values in the calculation of the production costs. In a word, landed property (it includes the soil, mines, water) enters the reckoning. But the value
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of means of production which are not the product of la not as 'yet ?elong here, si?ce they do not come under bour does th e he ading o� capIt�1 It�elf. For capIt�l they appear in the first pl : gI,,:en , histoncal presupposltlon, and we leave them as ace as a su ch at this pomt.
b
Hence.- Ed.
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is the exchange of labours, of the various branches of . industry, their inter-meshing and formation of a system, the Co�xIstence of productive labour, that appears as th� property of caPlt�l. //The determinations of raw mat�nal, product �md. mstrument of production vary in accordance . wIth the de�ermmatIon adopted by the use values in the production process Itself. What may be regarded as mere raw material is � tself the . product of labour. (The description of mere raw mat�nal certamly does not apply to agricultural products, all of whIch are repr�d.uce� , and. not only reproduced in their original form, but modIfIed m theIr natural being itself in conformity with human needs. Quote from Hodges, etc. The products of purely extractive industries, e.g. coal, metals, are themselves results of labour, which is required not merely . to bring them up to the surface, but also, as with the metals, t? gIve them the form in which they can serve as the raw matenals of industry. But they are not reproduced, for as yet we do not know how to make metals.) The product of one industry is the �aw � ater.ial of another, et vice versa. The instrument of production Itself IS the product of one industry and serves as instrument of producti�n in another. The waste product of one industry is the raw �atenal of ano�her. In agriculture, a part of. the product (se.ed, hvestock, etc.) Itself figures as the raw matenal of that very mdustry: and therefore, like fixed capital, never emerges from the productI�n proc�ss. The part of agricultural produce set aside for consumptIon by hvestoc� can be regarded as a matiere instrument�le. But. the seed IS reproduced in the production process, whIle the m �trume� t as such is consumed in it. Since the seed and the workmg ammals always remain in the production I?rocess, can not ?oth be regarded as fixed capital? No, since otherwIse all raw matenal would h �ve to be regarded thus. As such, raw material is always engaged m the production process. . . . . Finally, the products entenng mto dIre�t consumpt��n r�emerge from it as raw materials for prodUCtion, e.g. fertIhser m the process of nature, etc., paper n: ad� ? f rags: etc. Y:t, secon�lly , their consumption reproduces the . md�vI?ual hI� self. m . a partIc� lar mode of existence, not merely m hIS ImmedIate vItah�y, . and m particular social relations. So �hat the final appropnatIon . by individuals, which takes place m the p�ocess . of consu.mptIo� , reproduces them in the origi.nal relatio� s m whICh t�ey fIgure m the production process and m mutual mtercourse; It rep.roduc.es them in their social existence, and thus reproduces theIr sOCl�1 existence itself society which appears as the subject of thIS
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great overall process to the same extent as it appears as its result. // Fourthlya : We must now examine the other relations of fixed capital and circulating capital. We said above that in circulating capital the social relation of the diff.eren� labours to o,?e another is posited as the property of capItal, Just as the sOCIal productIv. e power of labour is in fixed capital. •
"The circulating capital of a nation consists of money , means of subsistence raw materials, and l'ouvrage faitb" (A. Smith, [ Recherches su r la nature et les causes 'de la richesse des nations,] Vol. II, p. 2 1 8).
As regards money, Smith cannot decide whether he should call it ci�culating or fix�d capital. If it is constantly employed only as the mstrument of CIrculation, which is itself a moment of the total reproduction process, it is fixed capital as instrument of circula tion. Yet it� use val�e the.n consists solely in circulating; never, �hen, . do�s. It enter eIther . mto th� production process proper or mto mdividual consumptIon. It IS the part of capital which is permanently fixed in the circulation phase, and in this respect it is t?e m?s� pe.rfect fo�m of circulating capital. From the other angle, smce It IS fixed as mstrument, it is fixed capital. In �o . far �s �he relation to individual consumption is a criterion f
" Fixed capital" serves reiteratedly, again an d ag ain, for the same operation AN D BY HOW MUCH LA
RGER HAS BEEN THE RANGE OF THESE ITERATIONS, BY ' SO MU CH [THE] MORE INTENSELY IS THE TOOL, EN GI NE , OR MACHINERY, DENOMINATION OF FIXED" (De Quincey, [ The Logic of Political ENTITLED TO THE Economy p. 1 1 4 ] X 4
1 0) . Assume a. capit�l of [ ! O,OOO, composed of 5, 000 fixed capital and 5, 000 CIr�ulatmg capItal; the latter turns over once a year, the forI?er once m 5 years. This means that 5, 000, or 1/2 the total c�pItal, t�rns over once a year. During the same time, 1/5 of the fIxed capItal, or [ 1 ,000, turns over; in 1 year, therefore, [6,000, '
a
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Cf. this volume, pp. 7 1 . 76.- Ed. Work completed.- Ed.
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over. or 3/5 of the total capital, turns 1/5 of the total capital Hence turns over in 1 2/3 months and the whole capital in 1 2 x 5 months, 3 i.e. in 6°/3 =20 months= 1 year 8 months. The total capital of [10,000 has turned o�er in 2� months, although it takes 5 years to replace the fixed c�pItal. That turnover time, however, only holds for the repetItion of the production process and hence for th� cr�ation of surplus value; not for the reproduction of the capItal Itself. If capItal recom mences the process-returns from circulation into the for� of fixed capital less frequently, it returns the more frequently mto the form of circulating capital. But this does not replace the capital itself. . . ' . If a capItal of 100 The same is true of circulatmg capItal returns 4 times a year and, as a result, yields 20%, while a capital of 400 circulates only once and yields an equal am?unt [in abso.ute terms], the former capital is, in the outcome, stIll 100 at the end of the year, and the latter still 400, alt�ough the .f?rmer has acted in the production of use values, and m the posItmg of surplus value, as a capital four times its si�e. Here we se� the velocity of turnover compensate for the SIZe of the capItal-. striking proof that it is only the quantity of. surplus l�bo� r �et m motion, and of labour in general, not the SIze of capItal m Itself, that determines the creation of value and hence of surplus value. The capital of 100 has successively set in motion as much labour during the year as one of 400, and thus has produced the same quantity of surplus value. . . But the point here is this: In the above example the CIrculatmg capital of 5,000 first returns in the [first] half of the first year; then at the end of the second [half]; in the [first] half of the second year; in 2 the second half of the second yea: (the first 4 months) [3,333 /6 of it is returned, and the rest wIll have been replaced by the end of that half year. . . But only 1/5 of the fixed capital was ret�rned m the fIrst year and 1/5 in the second. At the end of the fIrst year, the owner of the capital has [6,000 in hand, at the end of the second, 7,000; and at the end of the third, fourth and fifth years, 8,000, 9,000 and 10,000 respectively. Only at the end of the fifth year is he once again in possession of the total ca�ital with which h� b�gan the production process, although his capttal has been operatwe m the a
According to the original assumption, it should first return at the end of the first year. In this paragraph and in one passage further on, Marx seems to assume . that the circulating capital turns over tWICe a year.- Ed.
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
production of surplus value as if the whole of it were turned over in 20 mon�hs. So the tot� l capital itself is re produced only in 5 years. . !,he fz r�t de�ermma�wn of the turnover is important for th e relation in whzch capztal zs valonsed ; but the second in troduce
s a new relation which i.s not �resent at all in the case o f circula ti n g ca . pital. Sinc� . zr � �ul�tmg c�pztal en.ters mto circulation in its entirety and returns from zt m zts entzrety, zt. zs reproduced as capital as often as it is realised as surtlus value or as surplus capital. On th e o th er hand, since fixed capital never �nters into circulation as use va lu e, an d en te rs in to it s va lu e o n ly In the degree in which it is consumed as use valu � e, it IS by no means reproduced immediately the su rp lus value determined by the average �urnover time of the total ca pital is posited. . . The CIrculatIng capItal must be turned over 1 0 ti m es in the 5 years which �lapse befo�e the fixed capital is re . . turnove� penod of the CIrculatIng capItal must produced, i.e . the p as s 1 0 times whilst . tha� o f fIxed capital passes once; and the total average turnover of the capzt
al 20 months must be repeated 3 times be fo re the fixed capital has �een repro�uced . Hence, the larger th e p ar t o f ca pital consisting . of fIxed cap
ital I. e . the greater the extent to which ca . . pital is actIve . In the I?o�e of production correspo n d extensIve applIcatIon o f produced product ing to it, with an iv e p o w er an d th e o re d u ra b le t e � � fixed capital, i. e. the longer its reproduction tI?1e, the more Its use value corresponds to it s determination WIth s� much t�e gr�ater frequency must determIned as ClrculatIng repeat the period of the part of capital its turnover, and the longer the total tz.me capzt. al takes to run the course of its total circulation. �ENCE �ontinuity o f production becomes an extr eme necessity for c�pItal wIth the development of the portion o fIxed capital. F?r circulatin g capital, interrup f it determined as tions, u .
nless they are so long as to rum zts �e value are merely in ru ter ptions in the creation of : surplus �alue. F.0r fzx.e� capztal, however, an interruption constitutes a
destructIon o f Its ongInal value itself, so FAR as in th e meantime its u�e value is ine,,:itably destroyed relatively unproductively, i. e . . WIth?ut repla�In g Itself as value . So it is only with the develop ment o f fIxed c�pItal that the contI. nUIt. y o f the c?rrespondIng to the concept o f capital is p production process o si te d as the conditio sme qu� [non] for �ts maintenance; an d th . efore, similarly, the contlJ:lU�ty and contInual growth of consumer p ti o n . h IS � IS N o. . I [the first distinction between fixed and circula ting capItal]. B l! t I� respect o f f rm N o . II is ev en � The total tIme In terms of whICh we measured more important. was the year, as the unit o f time in which we mthe RETURN o f capital ea the day. We did so firstly because the year sured labour was is more or less the
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natural reproduction time or duration of the production phase for most vegetable raw materials used in industry. The turnover of circulating capital was thus determined by the . number of turnovers it completed in a year as the total tIme. IN FACT, circulating capital begins its reproduction at . the end of each turnover and if the number of turnovers dunng the year has a bearing �n the total value, the particular fates experienced . by circulating capital, during each turnover, do .appear to de�ermIne the conditions under which it recommences ItS reproductIon, but each of these fates constitutes, in itself, a complete life-act of circulating capital. As soon as capital has be.e? reconverted i?-to money, it can e.g. be transformed into. condItIons of productIon different from the initial ones, throw Itself from one branch of production into another, with the re�ult that its reproduction, materially considered, will not be repeated m the �ame form. .
The introduction of fixed capital alters thIS, and neIther the turnover time of capital nor the unit by reference to which the number of turnovers is measured, the year, appears any longer as th� measure of time for the movement of capital. This unit is now · determined, rather, by the reproduction time required for the fi.xed capital and hence by the total circulati�)ll. time it tak�s to e�lter Into circulation as value and return from It In the totalIty of ItS value. During all this time the reproduction of fixed a capit.al must take place in the same form materially too, and the number of ItS nece�sary turnovers, i.e. the number of turnovers necessary for the rep�oductwn of
the original capital, is distributed over a l?nger or shorter pe:wd of years. A longer total period is therefore pOSIted as �he umt. �n te.rms of which its turnovers are measured, and theIr repetttwn IS n�w
linked to this unit not merely externally but by neceSSIty. According to Babbage,b the average reproduction of machinery in England takes 5 years; hence, the real, probably 1 0 years. There can be no doubt at all that the cycle through which industry has been passing in plus ou moi.nsc tc:n-�ear peri.ods since the large-sc�le development of fixed capItal, IS lInked wIth the total r�productwn phase of capital determined i ? . this way. We shall fInd other determining factors too, but thIS IS one of them. !here . were go�d and bad times for industry and for the harvest.s (In agnc.u�ture) In the past, too. But the several-year-Iong �ndust:Ial cycle dIvIded up into characteristic periods, epochs, IS umque to large-scale industry. a The original has "circulating".- Ed.
b
C
Traite sur l'economie des machines et des manufactures, pp.
Roughly.-Ed
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3 75-76.- Ed.
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[VII-B] Here we come to distinction No . I I I , which appears for 'the first time. Circulating capital was prt:cipitated fro in the form of the product, the ne m the production process entered wholly into circulation. Once wly created use value, and value of the product (the entire neces reconverted into money, the objectified in it) was fully realised, a sary and surplus labour time value was realised and all the conditiond thereby both the surplus With the realisation of the price o ns of reproduction fulfilled. conditions were fulfilled and the pro f the commodity, all these However, this is true only of that pa cess could be recommenced. enters into the large circulation. As rt of circulating capital which TO THE OTHER PORTION OF IT, WHICH CONTINUOUSLY ACCOMPANIES
T H E P R O C E SS THAT PART OF IT WHICH IS TRANSFORME OF PRODUCTION ITSELF, THE CIRCULATION OF WAGES themselves are replacedD INTO WAGES, whether or not these b
circulation naturally depends upon yw a use value entering into the production of fixed capital or o hether labour is employed in Fixed capital, on the other hand, dfo circulating capital. value, but only enters to the extent es not itself circulate as use in the production process as valu that it is used up as use value material (in manufacture and agricu e into the manufactured raw directly extracted [from the earth] lture) or into the raw product capital in its developed form only r (as in mining). Hence fixed which comprises a series of turnove eturns over a cycle of years, not AT ONCE exchanged in the form rs of circulating capital. It is that its reproduction process coinof the product for money, so circulating capital. It enters into thcides with the turnover of piecemeal, and therefore returns as e price of the product only value only piecemeal. It returns piece by piece over longer periods, whereas circulatin g capital circulates wholly in shorter ones . To t h e e [it] does not return, because itxtdenotesthat fixed capital exists as such, the extent that it does enter into cir not enter into circulation. To fixed capital, but constitutes a notioculation, it no longer exists as component of circulating capital. I n nal component of the value far as it is directly or indirectly conve general, it only returns in so rted into the product, and there into circulating capitaL Be f o r e c a u s e it is n o t consumption, it does not enter into an immediate use value for This difference in the form of RETcUirculation as use value. capital will later appear significan RN of fixed and circulatin g selling and renting, ANNUITY, inter t as the distinction between different forms and profit. Their failest and profit, loyera in its ure to understand this merely a
Rent.- Ed.
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,
con clusions, as we shall see. . 25 In its remarks on the rec �lt rISI The Economist reduces the whole distinction between �Ixe� a�d circulating capital to that between the ,
" RESALE OF ARTICLES WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD AND AT A PROFIT" ( The Economis� 754 6 February 1 858 [po 1 37]) nd " PRODUCTION OF A REVENUE LARGE ENOU�H N T��ROV;DE FOR EXPENSES, RISK, WEAR AND TEAR, AND THE MARKET RATE OF INTEREST , . a
, II RIsK, whICh plays a role in the economists' determination .of profit it can obviously play on� in the case of surplus gam, since the creatio� of surplus .v �ue IS not increased as a result of it, and it is impossIble that C lt� m run risks in the realisation of this surplus value i� the j.anger ;6' t capital may not traverse the different phases of CIrculatIon, or t�at it remains fixed in one of them. forms part of the production We have seen a that surplus gain costs, if not of caP.ital, t?en certa , nI f the product. The necessity ; �i� or is doubly an g art of it, for capital to realIse thl surplu � . become external compuISIOn t . It As soon as I'nte�est and profit . capitalist must pay mterest, a separated, hence the Industrial , m portion of the s�rpl�s g� constitutes production costs from the viewpoint of capItal, I.e. . orm p rt of its outlays. On the ot�er hand' to prote. ct itself agamst t�e �an ger of depreciation to whIch o p g e a t v r iv s s h ll f it e o s oses h e e it. is exposed m the metamorp r , c . Itself a k'm.d f AVERAGE Insurance.. A part of the. surplus gam appears to It me�eIy as compensatIon for the risk It runs to make more money; a rIsk that th. e advanced value itself may �e lost. In this . form, the sUTJ�lus gam ap�ears to ca ital as havmg to be of these realIsed to ensure Its reproductIon. Of coJrse' neither . . , factors determines surplus vaI�e, bUt they do cause ItS posltmg t appear .as an .external necessIty for capital, not merely as the satisfactIOn of Its tendency .towards enrichment.11 . , The quicker RETURN resultmg fro the sale of the entIre artIcle, and the RETURN, only once a year Tpa t of the fixed capital, have been discussed abov� . As regards pro�it we are not concerned t f the circulating capital every par with merchant's profIt here . . I.e. e m so roduction process, t h p as emerging and rom returnmg f . far as obJectI' fIe' d Iab ur (the value f the advances), necessary . ' It, labour (the value of wages) and surpIus labour are contamed m 0
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0
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. · a See present edltlon, VoI . 28 , pp . 241-45.- Ed.
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yields profit as soon as it passes through circulation, because the realisation of the product is also the realisation of the surplus labour contained in it. However, it is neither circulating nor fixed capital that creates profit, but the appropriation of alien labour mediated by both, therefore au fond only that part of circulating capital which enters into the small circulation. And this profit is in fact realised only by capital's entering into circulation, hence only by capital in its form as circulating capital, never in that of fixed capital. And what The Economist means here by fixed capital so far as its revenues are concerned is the form of fixed capital in which it does not enter directly into the production process machinery, but exists in RAILWAYS, BUILDINGS, AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS, DRAININGS, etc. IIWe are not concerned here with the illusory view that all parts of capital yield profit evenly.a This illusion stems from the division of surplus value into average portions, without reference to the proportions in which capital is divided up into circulating and fixed, or to the part of capital which is converted into living labour. That was, to some extent, also Ricardo's illusion, and in determining value as such he therefore discusses the effect of the proportions of fixed and circulating capital right at the beginning. And the reverend PARSON Malthus speaks with STUPID ingenuousness of the profits accruing to fixed capital, as though capital grew organically by virtue of some natural power. II In this case, the realisation of the value and surplus value contained in the fixed capital appears in the form of an ANNUITY, with the interest representing surplus value, and the ANNUITY itself the piecemeal RETURN of the value advanced. So what we have here, IN FACT, is not fixed capital entering into circulation as value by virtue of its constituting part of the product (though this is the case with AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS) , but fixed capital being sold in the form of its use value. It is not sold here in one go, but as an ANNUITY. It is now quite clear, d'abord, that some forms of fixed capital initially figure as circulating capital, and only become fixed capital when they are fixed in the production process. E.g., the circulating products of the owner of a machine-building factory are machines, just as the product of a cotton-weaver is calico, and they enter into circulation for him in precisely the same way. To him, they are circulating capital; to the manufacturer who uses them in the as
•
See Th. R. Malthus, p. 268.- Ed. a
Principles of Political Economy, 2nd ed., London, 1836,
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Production process, they are fixed capital; bec�use they are roduct to the former, and instrument of productIon or;tly to �he Fatter. Similarly, for the BUILDING-TRADE, even houses . are Clrc�lat�ng capital in spite of their immovability; but they are fIxed capItal or one [VII-9] who buys them in order to rent t�em out, ?r t� use them for production as workshops. How fIxed. capIt�1 Itself circulates as use value, i.e. is sold, changes hands, wIll be dIscussed further on. . . . However, the point of view that capItal �s sold a� capital whether as money or in the form of fix.ed �apItal. obv�ously does CIrculation as the not belong here, where we are consldenng . . ' �' tS d ' fferent movement of capital in which it pOSItS ItS�If In conceptually determined moments. ProductIve c�pItal becom;s roduct, commodity, money, and is reconv�rted I:?to the. con �ons of production. In each of these forms It remaInS capItal an? becomes capital only by being realised as such. As long a It � . , . remaInS In one f the phases it is fixed as commodIty capItal, capital, or industrial capital. But each of. these phas�s money ' constitutes only one moment of its movement, and In . the form In which it rejects itself in order to pass from one phase Into �nothe� it ceases to be capital. If it rejects itself as . a comm?drr a� becomes money, or vice versa, it does not eXIst as capIta In t e re'ected form but in the newly adopted one. Of cours.e, the � re ected form can in turn become the form of another cap�tal, or it �an be directly the form of a consumal;>le I?roduc.t. Yet thIS does not concern us, nor does it concern capItal Its�lf, . In. so far as we are discussing its circuit, revolving as it does wIth�n Its� lf. R;ther, it rejects each of the forms as its being-not-capltal, In or er to assume them later again. Yet if capital is l?aned out. as. mon� , land, a house, etc., it becomes a �omI?odIt� captt.al , or .t .e commodity which is put �nto circulation I� capztal capttaL ThIS IS to be discussed further In the next section. . What is paid when the commodity is converted Into . money . to the extent that its price concerns the part of the .fIxed capItal turned into value is the part necessary for the partial rep�odu� tion of the fixed capital, the part used up and. worn out In t e roduction process. So what the buyer pays for IS �he . �se or wear �f fixed capital, in so far as it is itself value, objectifIed . l�bour. Since this wear occurs gradually, he only pays for part of It I� the roduct, while he replaces, in the price he pays f
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Chapter on Capital
Iy by a large number of buyers, piecemeal, in the prop or tio n in which they buy products. Since in the first half of its circulation capital appears as C and the buyer as M, capital 's aim being value, and that of being use (whether, in turn, productive [does not] the buyer co here, where we only have to consider the formal as ncern us pe ct , as it appears vis-a-vis capital in its circulation), the buyer's the product is, in general, that of the consumer. Hencerelation to th e buyer indirectly pays in all commodities successively and in a pi ec emeal fashion for the use and wear of the fixed capital, alth ough it does not enter into circulation as a use value. However, there are forms of fixed capital in which he pa ys for its use value directly as in the case of means of com transport, etc. In all these cases, fixed capital IN FACT ne munication, ve r emerges from the production process, e. g. railways, etc. Yet, w some within the production process as means of co hile it serves m munication necessary to bring the product to market, and [a s] m eans of circulation for the producers themselves, it may serv means of consumption, as a use value, e.g. the travele others as a le r taking a pleasure trip, etc. Regarded as a means of production, it differs machinery, etc., in that it is consumed simultaneousl here from y by different capitals as a common condition for their pr circulation . (We are not as yet discussing consumpt oduction and io n does not appear as comprised within one particul as such.) It ar pr oduction process, but as a blood-vessel linking together a la such production processes carried on by particular rge number of ca pi only consume it piecemeal. Over against all th tals, which capitals and their particular production processes, ese particular fi therefore determined here as the product o f a pa xed capital is rt ic u la r branch o f production distinct from them, a branch in which to machinery, cannot be sold by one producer as ci it, in contrast rc u la ting capital and obtained by another as fixed capital, but can the form o f fixed capital itself. Then its pieconly be sold in em eal RETURN, concealed in the commodity, becomes apparent. Yet as itself a product which is sold (for the indu machine which he uses is not a product), it then strialist, the si m u includes the surplus value, therefore the RETURN of ltaneously profit, s'il y a. a Since it can be consumed in the sam interest and e co m mon and successive form, can be use value for immediate co sale not as an instrument of production but as a nsumption, its commodity in
an as ld so is it as r fa as ut B . rm fo e m sa e th in s .sImply as a ar pe ap lra ne ge ld so is ne hi ac m ' a n Io t c u d o pr .tIon only ' n the instru ment 0f uc od pr of t � en m ru st in n s a e . c m e b d n a , y it ? d o m m o c Its � It ly ct re di s de ci in co le sa s it as � r f a industrial pro�ess h l. e . as al social production process, thIs IS a r e n e e g t m n o ti p m su n co . ch does not bel0n g in the discussion of e th . . ta1 , as determi� atIon . whl pI ca d xe fi n, io at ul rc ci e pl m si In ' . 1 simple CIrc.ula.tIon 0f caplta on ti uc , appears as a od pr f 0 t en ag . an as far as It .IS. Invo1ved ce en H . lt su re its as t no , ss ce ' ro p n . wh lC presu ppoSItIon 0f the productIo ' its value a value m ' o n h ng l p it can only be .a �atter 0f re e th n O . it s oy pl em � h w n so er p ; � t r fo ed surplus value IS mclu? e th of er uc od pr e th to ue 1 va us 1 .tIon at contrary , he h as . paId surp uc od pr r fo t ou ed nt re ' gs in ld I U b or ay Ilw ra a machine. But .tItu e �. n s�ruments of production and are one and the same time cons � . em th lls se ho w n so er e th y , ta realised as a product, as capI at is n tio uc od pr of on iti os fp u es pr a : � pe � � Since eve:y m�ment that ap n ow s it es uc od pr re n io ct du ro l: . m . . P the same. . ttme tts resllt uc od pr e th n hi it w l ta pi ca f ' 0 n lo ls IV .tIon prereqUIsItes the orIO'1nal d uc d o pr e th of er nd su -a g n lli fa e th as .Ions of tion proc. ess now appears . rt po t en ' er ff di ch hl w In , es ss ce ro p on ti c process mto 3 produ . e er H ( e. at er op ls ta pi ca ct in st di s a g capital now also appean� e ar e w e nc si g in ' at er op l I ta p ca e l g sm a . n rnakes :IderatIo we can stI'11 spea·k o f ns co of d ' ho et m I S h t d an , ch su l as ta pi ca g in consider .tIons 0f these different types of it simpler to discuss the propor . capital. ) g m ry va d an t en er ff di in d ce du ro re is annually P l ta pi ca The in ; n io ct u d ro . p f o s n ea m d an t uc PortIons as raw rn aterial , pro.d ul atm 0f th ese ch ea ' In . l ' ta l ap c g rc ' CI . short' as. fI. xed capltal an d 1 east at n tIo si po up es pr a as rs ea p ap e ProductIon proce. sses th' er . a1 wh IC e t h r fo d ge an ch ' ex be ' 0 t IS h that part of th. e CIrcul atmg capIt . e th of n io pt um ns co d an ce an n te am m . labour capacIty and. for the Io ct u d ro p f o s n ea ? m e th f 0 d an t, en m ru st In e th or . mg, the mine itself eXIsts mac ' hinery . d ustry " e g. mm .tIve m . In purely extrac to m n o g n si as p al ri te a rn w ra . as t as the matena1 0f iabour, bu. t no. e h t , d an h er h ot e th n o ry t s u d m ng ' articular existence. In the product. In m an u factun p a ss se s po s m �r � l al t, in us m l ia er at m raw ' . estOCk " etc , can be regarded as agriculture., the seed , fertIlIser' lIv . , s t·nstrumentales. Agn• cu1ture re M at m as . lly ua eq , d an s al en at m raw . . .tIon sut generis, because the mecham. constItutes a form 0f produc .IS c mbm e t h d an c, m ga or e th h it ' w d e � cal and chemical process . d te ec ir d d an d le ol tr n o c y 1 e er m IS · n proce. ss . g IS .mm natural reproductIo . e ' h t m h · ic h w f 0 ( es n Similarly, the extractIV.e m, dust generis, because n o reproducprincipal one) form an mdustry sm l>-
,
'
a I f there is any.- Ed.
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,
I
Outlines of the Critique of Poll't'lCa , I l'economy
1 12
. tIon process takes place in them ' at least none subJe�t to our control or known to us. (Fishina huntin� etc., may mvolve a reproduction process; similarly fo;�stry . So ese are not necessariIy purely extractive industries ' ) . Now, in so far as the means f d lOn, " .fIxed �apital, .as i.t�elf [VII- l O] produced by capitaf a�r; ���. ce m ludmg o?JectIfIed surplus time, can only be disposed f b o� ce[ as �lTculating c�pital, e.g: the machine by the ma�hin;-��i. Fler, � becomes e ore It . fIxed capital, i.e. in so far ' o�Z e t rs m.to c�rculation a s a use � : � � a l t n e u n i s , o c io lu w o l' t it a e�e:mmatlOn �hatever. But c ir a v c in so far as it can onlY b . h e s I i y k .g , a h a e le w w i � � � : � . � � : f g lt o in s u s n e v 0f pr�ductlOn, or only m a a n sim an u �ly ser the degree m which it is c n S d aS such' It shares with fixed capital in general the featur� t�a7ft: v I�e 0 l.Y returns piecemea� ; �mt in addition, there is the fact ha� m t�IS RETURN of value IS mcluded the RETURN of its surpIu.s value, the surplus labour objectified in it. It then has a speCIaI form of RETURN ' . ' of capital thus Now, the Important ' point is that the ' prodl!ctlOn . of ' appears as the production f' I d CIrcu atmg capItal d a Ixe capItal � .I defll. Ite . portions, so that ca ital its If P . e . produ �es Its dual type of � � CIrculation as fixed capital and CIrcuIatmg capital. •
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-, ;,
in S" M R FO F O Y ET RI A V E IT N FI IN " e th f o g in k a e sp t o n is h it m S , e r e H d e x fi " , y ll ia r te a m d e r e d si n o C s. r a e p p a l a it p a c g n ti la u c ir f o which c g in k a e sp is e h ; S" RM FO F O Y ET RI A V E IT N FI IN " n a ts p o d a s e capital" also ss a p l a it p a c g n ti la u c ir c h ic h w h g u o r th s se o h p r o m e r the meta fo e r e th is S" M R FO F O Y T IE R A V E IT N FI IN " is th d n a , e lu a v se u s a t n precisely e r fe if d e th n e e tw e b s n o ti c n ti is d e v ti ta li a u q e th reducible to e it n fi e d a in d e r e d si n o c l, a it p a c g n ti la u c ir C . n o ti la u c ir c w a phases of r f o m r fo e m sa e th in s n r tu e r s y a lw a , ss e c o r p n o ti c e produ th f o d n e e th t a m r fo l ia r te a m s It s. e g a w r fo y e n o m d n , y ll materials a ta n e id c In . g in n in g e b s it t a s a w it s a e m sa e th is S" process M R FO F O Y T IE R A V E IT N FI IN " e th s e c u d e r lf se it t is m o n co E e h T e r e to elsewh r a li u c e p m r fo f o e g n a h c d e in m r te e d y ll a tu p e c n to the co circulation : PRODUCED"
IT IS
H IC H W IN PE A SH E H T IN ed m su n "The commodity is entirely co e and is precipitated from it) "and REPLACED lu va se u as n o ti la u rc A ci T A to PE in RE rs O T Y D A RE (i .e . ente " ), es ag w d an l ia mater w ra s (a " E AP SH W E N A IN S D N IN HIS HA . 1) . p , I V ., .e (I e) m sa e th , er th ra SIMILAR OPERATIO N " (much
o n s d e e n " l a it p a c d e x fi t a th s te a st ly it c li p x e o ls Smith a ). 8 9 1 , 7 19 . p p , I I l. o V ] ., it c . se circulation" ([o p u r la u c ti r a p a in p u d e k c lo is e lu a v � a it p ca ed ix f f o se a c e In th f o m r fo e th ts p o d a e lu a v l, a it p a c g n ti la u c ir c f o t a th y n value; in a f o t n e d n e p e d in m r fo e th o ls a d n a s, e lu a v se u . m various e th s d r a c is d it s a h c u m s a st ju ), y e n o m s (a e lu a v . e particular use c la p s e k ta m r fo d n a l ia r te a m s it f o e g n a h c s u o u n ti n o Hence a c
, ;£ "d, ,
Before we SETTLE this last pomt, there are a few collateral matters. •
ls and ia er at m e th h it "w r) eu n re ep tr (the en " im h es h is rn fu al it p , ca II g l. n o ti V la , h it m "Circu S . (A " n o ti ac ry in st u d in ts u p d an rs re u o b la e the wages for th nually ti n co e b to p . 226). es ir u q re d an , om fr s ve ri de ly al in ig or l ta pi ca d xe fi " Every .a 7) 0 2 . p ., .c (I l" ta pi ca g n ti la u it in m o fr n w ra d supported by, a circ h it w ly al u n ti n co g n ital bei p ca g n ti la u rc ci e th f o t ar p this a , at ty ie soc f "So gre o k oc st al er en g e th f ches o n ra b o tw er th o e th in d ce uld la o p w it h ic h w t u order to be o h it w , es li p p su ntinual co y b ed ew n re e b to s d e ee n th : rn es rc u so al p ci n capital in tu ri p 3 m o fr n w are dra es li p p su e es h T t. h g u o n to d ce u soon be red ). 8 0 2 . p ., .e (I s" ie er sh fi f o d an , produce of the land, of mines
"FLOATING CAPITAL IS CONSUMED' FIXED CAPITAL MERELY USED, IN THE GREAT WORK OF PRODUCTION" ( The Economis� [No. 219, 6 November 1847, p. 1271,] VI, p. 1 17) . .
The . dIfference between CONSUMPTION and USE is merely a matter of rapId or gradual DESTRUCTION. We need not dwell on this POINT any further.
� : ��RIETY OF FORMS, FIXED CAPITAL HAS . As far as the production process �f capIt" al Itself is concerned , this "INFI NITE VARIETY OF FORMS " is ���. more correctly reduced by "FLOATING CAPITAL ASSUMES AN
INFI IT ONLY ONE" ( The Economis� [Ioe . cit.,] V ,
A. Smith to a mere change of
' It. remaInS " In the same shape" I .e Fixed capital is used by its master "as Ion g as . ' . . Iar matenal form.. It persists in the production process, as use value' in a parncu " ' Ianng CIrcu capital, on the contrary, (A. S ith [ �echerches sur La nature et Les causes . de La nchesse des nations,] Vol. II p 197 '{l1I 98'! , c�)llstantly goes from his hand in one shape" (as a product) "t; r�;urn t0 h In another" (as a condition of �roduction) "and only yields profit by means 0 such CIRCULATION and successive
echanges".
17
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1 13
Chapter on Capital
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y b d se si a h p m e s n o ti c n ti is d e th f o e n o d se ly a n a y d a e lr a e v a We h •
//
The Economist f
ER C U D O PR E H T O T ED N R U ET R IS H IC H W F O ST CO E L O H W E H T N IO T C U ery D O ev t u b ; L "EVERY PR TA PI A C G IN T A O FL IS Y R T N U O C E H T F O E M CO IN T EN RR U C OUT OF THE which ONLY AN ANNUAL SUM IS PAID FOR THE USE, IS- FIXED CAPITAL"e PRODUCTION for . 1) . " In the first case the producer depends wholly upon th7 , 4 18 er b m ve o N 6 (N otebook V I, p , 19 2 . o N t, is om n co E he T [ . .e (I y" tr n u co e th f o E M O CURRENT INC p. 1271]). . d E .ch n re F in h it m S m o fr e g sa ing pas w o ll fo e th d an is th s te o u q x a Mar
1 14
Outlines of the Critique of P olitical Economy
We have seen a that only part o f th the time determined by the circ e fixed capital returns within u la serves as the unit by reference to ting capital, the time which turnovers is measured, because which the number o f the latter's it reproduction o f most means of su is the natural unit for the b si st ence and raw materials, just as, and because, it appears as the (cosmic process) of the Earth. Th natural period in the life process is u as calculated for the ordinary pur nit is the year, whose length, less, but insignificantly, from its poses o f society, differs more or n a the material being o f fixed capita tural length. The more closely l c o rresponds to its concept, i. e . the more adequate its materia concept, the more likely its turnol mode of existence is to that v e r ti m e is to comprise a cycle o f years. Since circulating capital is wholl and secondly for the elements c y exchanged, first for money o poses the production of a counte mposing that capital, it presup r -v a lue equal to its e n tire valu (which includes surplus value). e wholly into consumption or is ab One cannot say that it enters le much, again serve in part as ra to do so, for it must, just as fixed capital, in short as itself w material or as an element for counter-production. One part o f an element for production a th e use value rejected by capital as a product, as the result o f th object o f consumption and thue production process, becomes an s capital in general; another part falls out o f the circulation o f condition of production . This is enters into another capital as a posited in the very circulation o capital as such, since in the f fi r st h a lf of circulation it pushes itself off from itself as a commodit say considered in relation to itselfy, i. e . as a use value, that is to in its own circulation as a use value this form releases itself from in the second h a lf of its circulatio, an article o f consumption. And commodity as a condition o f n, it is exchanged as money for a p r o duction . Hence, as itself a circulating use value, it posits article o f consumption and as its material existence both as an a n rather, an element o f reproduc ew element o f production or, Counter-value must be wholly tion. I n both cases, however, its a v produced, during the year. E .g ailable, i. e . it must be wholly . th e quantity o f manufactured products which can be exchang products is determined by the v ed over a year for agricultural o lu in that year, reckoned from h me o f raw products produced arvest to harvest. Since we are dealing here with capital as su c formation the plurality o f capit h, capital in the process o f als does not yet exist for us all a See this volume, pp. 104-05.Ed. •
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Chapter on Capital
1 15
. . we hav� outside �Plt�I I' � othin but capital itself and simple circulation. From t IS eIrcu a�10n , c!pital absorbs into itself value i� c an , d ommodity and into thiS the tW?-foId. form as money ' . circulation, It throws vaIue m the two-fold form as money and co;�::i��. a i s industrial nati�n whose o e.g. England, exchanges Wlt� , say, th: g�f���� ::� ��s��b� ;���� dity fro� their production in the form of �o� ey an proces� ; or .ra�h�r If It �raws th��:�o the sphere of circulation of its .caplta l, It IS Immediate; 0b::' o� that this does not oblige the Chmese t�emsel�es to pro �<J c �italists. Within a society itself, e.g. EnglIsh society, .the m e of roduction of capital develops in one branch . of . mdustry ' whil� in others, e.g. agriculture, [VII-l l] pre-capital1St mod es of production are still more or less dominant. . . N. evertheless : It I S ( 1 ) the necessary tendency of capital at every pom� t
1 16
Outlines o f the Critique o f Political Economy
The commodity, which as such o f capital, loses its determination is expelled from the circulation o value in consumption as distinct f value and takes on that of use second phase o f circulation, from production. However, in the c commodity, and its transforma apital exchanges money for a ti o n into a commodity now its appears as a moment o f the posi e lf ti n g o f value, since the commodity as such is taken into the circu la ti on process o f capital. I f in first phase capital presuppose th e s c o n s umption, in the second pha it presupposes production, pro s e d u c ti o n for production. For in this phase, value in the form o f th circulation o f capital from ou e commodity is taken into the effected in the first phase take tside, or a process opposite to that s for capital itself can only be th place. The commodity as use value e for capital 's production proces commodity as element, use value s . The process is a doubled o n exchanges its product as C fo e : I n the first phase, capital a r th capital b exchanges itself as C e M of capital b ; in the second, first phase, capital b exchange for the M of capital a. Or in the s and in the second, capital a itself as M for the C o f capital a ; a s M for the C o f capital b. I capital is simultaneously posit .e . e d a s M and C in each o f the two circulation phases; but in two d if in the opposite phases o f the ferent capitals, which are always circulation process, the acts o ir circulation process. I � the simple f as directly coinciding or as d exchange C M or M C appear ir e not merely the succession o ctly falling apart. Circulation is is simultaneously each o f tf the two forms of exchange, but h em distributed to two diff sides. erent But we are not yet dealing h capitals. This belongs in the th ere with exchange between many e of the circulation o f capitals (c ory of competition or also in that on the one side, the presuredit). What does concern us here is, p commodity being ejected as position of consumption, o f the u s e value from the movement o value, and [on the other] th f e p r e supposition o f production fo production, o f value being po r condition for the reproducti sited in the form o f use value as a o n to its circulation. What conc o f capital, a condition external result from the consideration erns us is that both these aspects o f the simple form o f circulation capital. of This much is clear: The w exchanged as C for M in th hole o f the circulating capital is second. Hence, taking the yeae first phase, and as M for C in the r which its evolutions are conas the unit o f time by reference to circulating capital are limited sidered, the transformations o f by the fact that the raw mate rials,
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Chapter on Capital
1 17
etc., are reproduced an�u:e11y (the commodity for which it. is produced, simultaneous productIon exchanged as money �us d I b the fact that an annual must correspond to It); revenue (the part of M w�i�h i: ��chInged for the commodit� �s use value) must be consttnt1 roduced if the product preCIpI Y i? be con'sumed. As such revenue tated by capital as use va ue IS there only . exists that of the capI�arISts themselves and that of the workers, smc� we h ave not yet mtroduced any more developed . relations. InCIdentally, analysis of the exchange between cap� ta1 form 0 f the relation between productIon and revenue, .another , and consumptIon, IS no.t as yet relevant. fIxed capital is exchanged only to the hand, smce On the other . . . . . extent that It enters as value mto CIrcuIatI'ng capital, and since It IS. ' the course of the year, It therefore on1y partly real'Ised m presupposes the e�isten�e �f on1 P rt of the counter-value, and hence the productIon 0 . 0 lY . a�t :f this counter-value in t�e course of. the year. .It . IS pal! f°r only in proportion to Its nd this already follows above a consumptIon. S0 far .It IS CI ear . dustrial c de introduced by f'Ixed from the diffe:ence I ? the m c. apital that ftxed capt�al enga�es the production of future years, and m the sa.me ��y as It contnbutes t0 the creation of a large H labour as its counter-value. ence revenue,. .It antICIpates future , · 0f labour is by no means a ruIts f the antICIpatIOn 0f fu ture . . . consequence of the . natIona1 debt etc. in short, It IS not an invention of the credIt system It h�s its �oots in the specific mode of d cap uct / fix of ita ion ed l./ valorisation, turnover and repro . . . Smce the pomt for us. here IS to state the pure determinations of form, witho� t �ritroducmg a y h ' n irrelevant the above d'ISCUSsion dearly mdIcates that �y:i.: J .the differ�nt forms in which circulating capital and fixe� ca&::a1 YI ld revenue or of revenue in general does n�t, as yet, o� g �ere at all' Here we should only deal with the dIfferent I?�de\m hich they return and affect the total turnover of .capIta , 1 S ;':production movement in tions above are important general. But the occ�slO.n �1 0b because, apa. rt from dIsmIssmg t�:r:onomists' higgledy-piggledy ' I'o n of the simple distinction afguments IrreIevan.t to th. e dISCUSS between fixe.d and CIrculatmg c�Pital ' they have shown us that the e e s f n t t r t ld h e u c o they le differences t e wa m e . rev e m m h " Y Y . . . . , t' d of fixed and circulatmg repro uc IOn formal dIstmctIo� m the . Iy with the simple RETURN of vaI ue. capital. We are stIll deahng mere . How thIS beco�es the R.ETURN 0f revenue, and how that in. turn gives rise to a dIfference In the determination of revenue, wIll onIy be seen later.
1 18
Chapter on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
':t; 7�e 7°�i�:� s�:��� a���t the
t n re fe if d e th CE EN H S RN U . T RE lf se it e lu a v h ic h w in e d o m e upon th . e u n e v re ld ie y l a it p ca g n ti la u fixed capital and circ
maintfnance costs, the frais
d'e et e 0 . a matieres instrumentales . which it con�u ::s i� ���e ;�;;�
o he ;;��te' �� ��m: ���r t�e �ead�n & of fixed capital in the first sense in whi�� o e t :;:�hI::' th� production process.. These are a for well as Just y circulating ;:pit:l consumption. serve . ' They becOJ?e fIxed capItal only to the extent that they are consumed m the production process But unlike fixed I ����;' th;6 �� ::'o� poss:ss a mate:iality which is deter�k�� 0 f by e h r t other The eXISt. ey t IC w m h h h ese t par . . , frats' d entretun consists of the labour necessary for repaIrs. .
-f,
�-� ,
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' d capital ��II- 1 2] Adam Smith' s proposition that every fIxe ongmall d ' s f and requires to be continually supported by, a ci!cul:�; c:;�i .
. . ' d from Clrculatmg capital and must "All fixed capital is originally denve constantly be maintained at the s f �e latte . No fixe�, capita� can. !ield revenue except at the expense of a circ i a ita (Storc [COUTS d econom,e poitt'que, Vol. I, p. 246] 26a 5 ).b
:��:� � ; }
�
,
" �s regards Storch 's remark "about revenue . a determmatIon WhICh does not belong here It IS CIear that fIxed capit I onI y a . ' portIons as use returns as value to. the extent that it perI'shes m val a f��ed �apI �al, and enters . as value into circulating capital. So �;r :s ; va .ue It �oncern �d, It can, therefore, only return in the form � CIrcu atmg capItal. And as a use value it does not circulate a� a . . . Fur.ther: since it itself only possesses use value for prodUCtIO? , It can, lIkeWIse, return as value for individuaI use, for consumptIon ' ' the form 0f CIrculating ' only In capital S '1 �. r;tc:�:er;:;� ts c�n enter chemi�ally d�rect into the reprod�cti. �� so e ' converted dIrect Into use values ' B ut e h a hat �� l consumed in . the form in which they e:�t �s fi;:� c:Pfia . .
' h zt enters ' wh tC tn ' Ifeneral, a capztal can only yield revenue in the lform mto and retrrns from ctrcuIatton, since the production of revenue in . . direct use va ues, use values not mediated b� czrcuIatton, contradicts the . ' d capztal only returns as value in There!. smce ore, j nature of capital zxe f . . . ;f czrculatmg capital, �t is only in this form that it can yield h fi �e�e:::: .
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a See this volume, pp. 70-71 .- Ed. . b See this volume , pp . 36 , 1 13 . Marx quotes from Storch ill French.- Ed.
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forms in which n o ti la u rc ci to in rs te n e r e v e n ch su s a l a it p ca d e x fi ce n si , y rl a il Sim n o ti sa ri lo a v e th m o fr d te a it p ci re p r e v e n is so d n a , e lu a v as use . n o ti p m su n o c te ia d e m im r fo s e rv se r e v e n it , e lu a v se u s a ss proce g in y sa is h y b s u to r re a e cl e d a m As regards Smith, his view is annually replaced and constantly e b st u m l a it p ca g n ti la u rc that ci e th d n a d n la e th , a se e th m o fr n w ra d y tl n a st n co g in e b y b d e w rene ri te a m ly re u p g in th e m so s e m co e b l a it p ca g n ti la u rc ci re e mines" H is It . d e st e rv a h , d e in m , ts e n in p u t h g u ro b is it ; im h al to e d a m re a h ic h w , ts c u d ro p ry a m ri p le b a v o m y b d te u it const h it w n io ct e n n co ir e th m o fr , d te la o is , d e h c ta e d g in e b y b le b a v o m ir e th in t n e m le e ir e th m o fr d te ra a p se re a h ic h w r o ; h rt the ea . tc e , sh fi e k li , n o ti la o is ready-made h it m S if s, rm te l a ri te a m ly re u Moreover, considered in p pital and does not go back to the ca f o n io ct u d ro p e th s se o p presup � n ti la u c ir c ry e v e t a th in a rt e c y ll a u q e is it , d rl o w e th f o s g in n begin e. ix f l a it p ca n 'u d t en em ir a in ig or t n ie v ro p h c u m s a st ju l a it p ca t o n n a c e h , h g u lo p a t u o h it w ; sh fi h tc ca t o n n a c n a m , ts e n t Withou a p u n e p o t o n n a c e h ., tc e , r e m m a h a t u o h it w d n a ; il so e till th LY IN A RT CE ., tc e , r e m m a h is h s a e n o st a s se u ly re e m e h if n e v E . e in m f o s n a e m t u b , ll a t a l a it p ca t o n l, a it p a c . g n ti la u rc ci t o n is e n this sto n o y rr ca to n a m r fo ry a ss e c e n s e m co e b it s a n o so s A r. labou l ra tu a n g n ti is x e e th f o rt a p a se li ti u to s e lv so re e h , production is h r e d n u m e th s e m su b su d n a r, u o b la f o s n a e m s a y tl c e ir d objects ss e c ro p r e h rt fu y n a t u o h it w , it t u p ly ct e rr co s a h l e g e H s a , y activit 2 6 . n o ti ia d e m of ly re e m t o n s, e v ri e d , d e x fi s a ll e w s a g n ti la u rc ci l, a it p a c All n e li a f o n o ti a ri p ro p p a e th m o fr t, en m le el u n ti n co t u b t en em ir a in orig t n a st n co s se o p p su re p ss ce ro p c is th , n e se e v a h e w s a r, e v e w o labour. H r o , ty ci a p ca r u o b la e th r fo s e g a w f o e g n a ch x e e th , n o ti la u rc ci small f o ss ce ro p n io ct u d ro p e h T . e c n e st si b su f o s n a e m f o n io is v ro p e th g n ti la u rc ci of rm fo e th in ly on rns tu re l a it p ca ll a t a th s e li p im capital rt a p n o p u s d n e p e d l a it p ca d e x fi f o l a w e n re e th y tl n e u q se n co l; a it cap d ce u d ro p e th f o rt a p n o p u . e i. , d e x fi g in m co e b l a it p ca g n ti of circula g in e b r u o b la e th f o rt a p d n a , d e y lo p m e g in e b ls a ri te a m raw g in e b ce n e st si b su f o s n a e m e th f o rt a p re fo re e th d n (a d e m su n o c . .g E l. a it p a c d e x fi e c u d ro p to r e rd o in , r) u o b la g in v li r fo d e g n a exch r u o b la e th y b d e m su n co is ct u d ro p e th f o rt a p , re u lt cu ri g :1 in a See this volume, p. 1 13.- Ed. b C
Ed. .al it p ca d xe fi a m o fr ly al in g ri o Derives See this volume, pp. 63-68.- Ed.
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employed in building irrigation works; or part of the corn is exchanged for guano, chemical substances, etc., which are incorporated into the soil but which, IN FACT, are without use value except to the extent that they are exposed to its chemical process. A part of the circulating capital possesses use value only for the reproduction of fixed capital, and is only produced to serve the purposes of fixed capital (even if this production merely stands for t�e labou� time needed to transfer it from one place to another). FIxed .capital itself, however, can only be renewed as capital by becommg a value component of circulating capital, and by its
With the emancipation of the peasants, Poverty as such arises in feudal times, the peasant's being fettered to the soil, or at least to a given locality, spared the legislature from the need to concern itself with VAGRANTS, the poor, etc. Eden believes that the various commercial guilds, etc., supported their own poor [ibid., pp. 57, 60]. He says:
"WITHOUT THE MOST DISTANT IDEA. THEN, OF DISPARAGING THE NUMBERLESS BENEFITS DERIVED FOR THE COUNTRY FROM MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE, THE RESULT OF THIS INVESTIGATION SEEMS TO LEAD TO THIS INEVITABLE CONCLUSION THAT MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE " //i.e. the sphere of production in which capital first establishes its dominance// "ARE THE TRUE PARENTS OF OUR NATIONAL POOR" [ibid., p. 61].
ele�ents . thus being reproduced by the transformation of circulating . c�pttal n�to fIxed. The production of circulating capital presupposes ftxed capttal to jus� the sa.me extent as the production of fixed capital . presupposes nrculattng capttal. Or, the reproduction of fixed capital
req�l1res (1) that its value should RETURN in the form of circulating capItal, �or only thus can it be re-exchanged for its conditions of production; (2) that part of the living labour and raw material sh�uld. be employed to produce instruments of production, direct or mdIrect, rather than exchangeable products. Circulating capital enters by relation to its use value into fixed capital in precisely the �ame way . as la�our d ?es, wh�le fixed capital enters by relation to Its value Into CIrculatmg capItal, and into use value as MOVEMENT (where it is direct machinery), as movement in repose, as form. IlIn �onnection with our above propositions concerning free labour, In particular, that pauperism is latent in it: the following passages should be cited from Sir Fr. Morton Eden, Bt: The State of the Poor: or, an History of the Labouring Classes in England from the Conquest etc. , 3 vols, 4°. London, 1 797.27 In Volume I, Book I, Ch. I, we have the following: ' :Our zon� requires labour for the satisfaction of wants, and therefore at least a
portzon of socIety must work indefatigably, others are occupied in the arts, etc., and a
few c?mmand the produce of industry even though they do not work. But these pro�n�t
a See present edition, Vol. 28, pp . 522-29.- Ed. •
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He also states that from the time of Henry VII onwards (the CLEARING of superfluous MOUTHS from the land by the conversion of arable land into pasture begins at that time and continues for over 1 50 years, [or so] at least [do] the complaints and legislative interference; a period, therefore, when the number of hands placed at the disposal of industry kept growing) wages in industry were no longer laid down [by the law], but only those in agriculture. 1 1 Henry VII [ibid., pp. 73-75]. IIWage labour is not yet fully posited with the emergence of free labour. The labourers still have a basis in the feudal relations; there are still too few of them, and capital is therefore as yet unable as capital to reduce them to the minimum. Hence the statutory wage regulations. As long as the wages of labour are still regulated by statute, it cannot be said either that capital as capital has subsumed production under itself, or that wage labour has attained the mode of existence adequate to it.11 The Act referred to mentions linen-weavers, building-craftsmen and SHIPWRIGHTS . It also [VII- 1 3] lays down the hours of work: "As many day-labourers waste half the day in late coming, early departing, sleeping long at afternoon, long sitting at their breakfast, dinner, and supper, etc., etc.," the hours of work shall be as follows: "between March 1 5 and September 15, from 5 of the clock in the morning, half an hour for BREAKFAST, and hour and a half for DINNER and sleeping, and half an hour FOR NOON MEAT, and work till between 7 and 8 at night. In winter, work throughout the light hours, but no midday sleep, which shall be granted only from May 1 5 until August 15" [ibid., pp. 75-76]. /fIn 1 5 1 4, the wages of labour were again regulated, almost in the same way as in the previous case. The hours of work, too, were once again stipulated. Those unwilling to work UPON APPLICATION, were put into prison [ibid., pp. 8 1-82].
So, the free workers were still subject to forced labour at a stipulated wage. Initially, they have to be forced to work on the terms set by capital. The propertyless man is more inclined to 6-785
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become a vagabond, a robber and a beggar than a worker. It is only under the developed mode of production of capital that becoming a worker is the self-evident thing for him to do. In the preliminary stage of capital, there is coercion by the State to convert the propertyless into workers on terms favourable to capital, terms that at this stage have not yet been forced upon the workers by their competition among themselves.II (Sav�ge means �f coe:cion applied to this end under Henry yIII . l.a.) (The dIssolutIon of the monasteries by Henry VIII 28 hkewise set many hands free.) (Under Edward VI, the severity of the laws against ABLE·BODIED LABOURERS unwilling to work was further intensified [ibid., pp. 83-100]. 1 Edw, VI, [Ch.] 3 : "Whoever is ABLE TO WORK. but REFUSES TO LABOUR AND LIVES IDLE FOR 3 DAYS.
SHALL BE BRANDED WITH RED-HOT IRON ON THE BREAST WITH THE LETTER V-AND SHALL BE ADJUDGED THE SLAVE FOR 2 YEARS OF THE PERSON WHO SHOULD INFORM AGAINST SUCH IDLER. etc." "IF HE RUNS AWAY FROM HIS MASTER FOR I 4 DAYS. HE SHALL BECOME HIS SLAVE FOR LIFE AND BE BRANDED ON FOREHEAD OR CHEEK WITH THE LETTER I. AND IF HE RUNS AWAY A SECOND TIME AND SHALL BE CONVICTED THEREOF BY 2 SUFFICIENT WITNESSES. HE SHALL BE TAKEN AS A FELON AND SUFFER PAINS OF DEATH"
[ibid., p. 10 1].
(The first mention of VAGRANTS or STURDY ROGUES was in 1376; that of PAUPERS in 1 388.) (A similarly cruel law was passed in 1 572 under Elizabeth.) [Ibid., pp. 42-43, 61-62, 1 27.] Circ�lati�g capital and .fixed capital appeared in the previous d �termmatIon as al �ernatmg forms of the same capital in the dIfferent phases of Its turnover. Now that fixed capital has been dev�loped to its highest f?rm, they are simultaneously posited as 2 dIfferent modes of eXIstence of capital. They become such because they return in different ways. Circulating capital which returns .sl�wly . has t �is feature in common with fixed capital. But what dIstmgUIshes It from fixed capital is that its use value itself its material existence enters into circulation and is simultaneously eliminated from it, cast beyond the limits of the turnover process. Fi�ed capital, �n the other hand, as developed so fa.r, �nly . enter� mto CIrculatIon as value; and as long as it remams m CIrculation as a use value, too, as e.g. a machine in the stage of circulation, it is fixed capital only &UV&f.J..E L." However, this distinction between fixed capital and circulating a Potentially.- Ed.
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capital, based immediately upon the relation of the material existence of capital, or its existence as use value, to circulation, must, in reproduction, simultaneously be posited as the reproduc tion of capital in the dual form of fixed capital and circulating capital. To the extent that the reproduction of capital in each of its forms posits not merely objectified labour time but surplus labour time as well, i.e. not merely reproduces its value but posits a surplus value too, there is no difference between the production of fixed capital and that of circulating capital in this respect. Hence, in the case of a manufacturer of instruments or machines in all the forms in which fixed capital at first appears as circulating capital, with respect to its material existence, in its existence as use value, before it is fixed as fixed capital, i.e. before it is consumed (for it is precisely its consumption that attaches it to the production phase and distinguishes it as fixed capital) there is no difference at all in the form of valorisation of capital, whether it is reproduced as fixed capital or as circulating capital. In economic terms, therefore, no new determination is thereby introduced. However, when fixed capital as such, and not merely in the determination of circulating capital, is thrown into circulation by its producer, and hence the piecemeal use of it is sold, whether for production or consumption in the conversion of C into M which takes place in the first section of the circulation of capital, it is immaterial to this capital itself whether the commodity re-enters into the circulation sphere of another productive capital, or whether it serves the purpose of direct consumption, the commodity being always determined as a use value in relation t? this capital, whenever the capital rejects it from itself, exchanges It for M the mode of RETURN for the producer of fixed capital must differ from that for the producer of circulating capital. The surplus value produced by the former can return to him only piecemeal and successively, with the value itself. This is to be examined in the following section. Finally, although circulating capital and fixed capital now appear as 2 different types of capital, circulating capital is posited by the consumption, the using-up, of fixed capital. Fixed capital for its part is merely circulating capital converted into this particular form. All capital converted into objectified productive power all fixed capital-is fixed in this form, and is, therefore, use value torn as use value both from consumption and from circulation. When a machine or a railway is built, the fact that wood, iron, coal and living labour (hence, indirectly, also the 6'
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products consumed by the workers) are transformed into this particular use value, would not render them fixed capital unless there were also the other determinations analysed above. When circulating capital is converted into fixed capital, a part of the use values in the fO.rm of which capital .c�rculated, as well as, indirectly, the part of capItal exchanged for hvmg labour, are converted into caP.ital w�ose count�r-valu� is ofoily produced over a longer cycle. ThIs c�pItal enters mto CIrculatIon as value only piecemeal and successI�ely, and can only be realised by being used up in productIon. The con�ersion of circulating capital into fixed capital presup P?ses relatIve s:Irplus capital, since it is capital employed not for dIrect productIon but for the production of new means of production. Fixed capital itself can in turn serve as a direct instrument of production as a means within the immediate prodl!ction process. In this case, its value enters into the product and. IS replaced by the successive RETURN of products. Or fixed capItal does not enter into the immediate production process, but appears as a gen�r�l cond.ition for the various production processes, e.g. �s bUlI�mgs, ra�lways, etc., and its value can only be replaced by CIrculatmg capItal, to whose production it has indirectly contributed. � A more detailed d n of the proportions of production of scussi ? . .fIxed capItal and CIrculatmg capital really belongs in a later section. If valuable machinery were employed to make a small amount of products, it would not be operating as a productive �orce, but would render the product infinitely more costly than if It had been produced without the aid of the machinery. Machinery pr?d �ces. surplus value, not because it itself possesses value for thIS IS sImply replaced but only because it increases relative surplus . tim�, or �iminishes necessary labour time. Hence, in the proportIon m WhICh the volume of machinery employed increases, the amount of pro?ucts m�st increase and the living labour emJ:>loy�d mus.t relat�vely de�hne. The smaller the value of the fixed capztal m relatwn to zts effectzveness, the more does it correspond to its purpose . All . non-necessary fixed capital appears as faux frais de productwn,a Just as ?O all u.nnecessary circulation costs. If capital could pos�ess machmery w!thout expending labour on it, capital would raIse the productIve power of labour and diminish necessary labour, without having to buy labour. Hence, the value .
a Overhead costs of production.- Ed.
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of n tio uc od pr e th in f el its in d en an r ve ne is l of fixed capita .fIxed . capital. . . . to m d te er nv co IS l ta pI ca g tm la cu cir , re fo [V II -1 4] There th b l, ta pi c g in at ul rc � c in d ce ? du ro ep � is l ta pi ca .hvmg � capital, and fixed s te na op pr ap l ta pI ca as r fa so m e ac pl ng ki ta processes only labour. "Every saving in fixed capital means an increase in the net revenue of society" (A. Smith [Recherches etc., Vol. II, p. 226]).
•
The final and last distinction put forward by economists is that between mobile and immobile; not in the sense that the former enters into the movement of circulation and the latter does not; but in the sense that one form is physically fixed, immobile, in the same way as a distinction is made between movable and immovable property. E.g. IMPROVEMENTS SUNK IN THE .SOIL, w�ter co� duits: buildings, and to a large extent even machme:y ItSel�, smce It must be physically fixed in order .to opera�e; raIlways; m short, every form in which the product of mdustry IS anchored to t� e s� rface of. the earth. Au fond, this adds nothing to the determmatIon o� fIxed capital; but its determination does imply th�t the mo:e I�S use value, its material existence, corresponds to ItS determmatIon of form, the more eminently it is fixed capital. Immovab�e use value, e.g. houses, railways, etc., is, therefore, �he most tangI?le form of fixed capital. True, it is able to circulate J ust the same, �n the sense in which immovable property circulates m general, as tItle; but not as use value; not in the physical sense. Initially, the growth �f movable property, its increase as against immovable property, IS evidence of the ASCENDANT MOVEMENT OF CAPITAL as agamst landed property. But once the mode of production . of capital has .�een assumed, the degree in which capital has subjected t� e cond� tIo� s of production to itself is shown by the e� tent t� whI� h capItal .IS converted into immovable property. In thIS �ay It stnkes :?ots m the soil itself, and what seemed to be the sohd presuppoSItIons given by Nature itself of landed property now themselves appear as merely posited by industry. (Originally, membership of the communit� and, throu�� that, a relation to the soil as property, are the basIC presuppoSItIons �or the reproduction of both the individual and the commumty. Among the pastoral peoples, the land appe�rs merely . as a prerequisite for their nomadic life, hence .there IS no questIon . of appropriating it. When p�rt."��ent dwelhng-places emerge wIth land cultivation the land IS mitIally common property, and even
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wh �re things advance. to privat� property, the individual' s relation to It appears as posIte� �y .hls relation to the community. He appears me :ely .to hold It m fief from the community; etc., etc. Its transformation mto mere exchangeable value its mobilisation is brought ab�mt by �apital and the complete subordination of the st�te organIsm to . It: Hence, even where the land has become pnvate property, I � I.S exch�nge value only in a restricted sense. Exchange value ongmates m the isolated natural product sepa r�ted from the .earth and individualised by means of industry (or Simple approP:lati?n). This is the stage, too, at which individual �a??ur ma�es ItS . fl�st appeara.n�e. In general, exchange does not InItially anse wIthm the ongmal communities, but on their borders; .where th� commu �ities come to an end. To exchange the land . �hlch constitutes their territory, to sell it to alien com mUnIties, would OF COURSE be treason. Only BY AND BY can exchange be exte�ded from its original sphere, that of movable property, to that of I �movable property. It is only by expanding the former th�t .capItal gra�ually takes hold of the latter. Money is the prmClpal agent m this process.) �. Smith ifo1itially dis.tinguishes circulating capital and fixed capital accordmg �o their determination in the production process: Only at a later pomt does he introduce the following proposition:
I
:'� caPital m. ay be e?Iploy�� in different ways to yield profit: ( 1 ) as circulating
capita , (2) as fIxed capital " [Ibi d., p. 1 97].
Obvious�y, that . sec?n.d �roposition is, as such, not relevant to the . analysIs o � this dlstmctIon, since fixed capital and circulating capital must first be assumed as 2 types of capital before we can g? on to .argue how capital in both forms may be employed to Yield profit. "The �ota.1 capital of t�e un.dertaker of every work is necessarily divided between hiS fixed and hiS clrculatmg capital. Given the same sum the reater the one part, the smaller will be the other" (A. Smith, [ibid.,] Vol. h p. � 26).
ca Since between portions unequal ar (1) itals in up ed ? divi p � . fixed c.apItal .and . Clrcu�atmg . capital; (2) [have] a phase of �roductIon which either IS or IS not subject to interruption and sl�ce they return from markets which are more distant or less distant, and so [h �ve] unequal circulation times, it follows that the surplus value which they produce in a given period of time, e.g.
•
annually, must be unequal, as the number of reproduction processes which they perform in that period is unequal. The value they create appears to be determined not merely by the labour they employ within the immediate production process, but also by the DEGREE in which this EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR can be repeated in a given period of time. Finally, therefore: While in the analysis of the simple production process, capital as valorising itself appears solely in relation to wage labour, and circulation lies outside it, in the reproduction process of capital, circulation is absorbed into capital, and indeed both moments of the circulation C M M C are (as a system of exchanges which it has to pass through, and in which it experiences a qualitative transformation each time it is ex changed). The circulation appears to be absorbed in capital in the form M C C M, in so far as the process sets out from capital that is in the form of money and hence returns to that form. Capital now comprises both circuits, and no longer as mere change of form, or mere change of materials which is external to its form, but both as included into the very determination of value. The production process as containing within itself the conditions ' s velocity er latt the s, ces pro ion uct rod rep the is al ew ren for its being determined by the various relations analysed above, all of which stem from the distinctions characteristic of the circuit itself. Within the framework of the reproduction of capital, there simultaneously takes place the reproduction of the use values in which it is realised or generally the continuous renewal and h bot are ich wh , ues val use of r ou lab n ma hu by ion uct reprod consumed by man and perishable by nature. From the viewpoint of capital, the change of materials and alteration of form, the as ear app r, ou lab n ma hu by ds nee n ma hu to ted ina ord sub reproduction of capital itself. Au fond it is the constant reproduc tion of labour itself. "V4iues comprising capital perpetuate themselves by means of reproduction: the products which compose a capital are �onsumed, just li�e any others; but t�eir value, while being destroyed by consumption, reproduces Itself m other matenals or in the same" a (Say [ Traite d'economie politique, Vol. II, p. 185], 14 1 6).
Exchange and a system of exchanges, and what is thereby implied, the conversion into money as an independent val� e, appear both as a condition for, and a barrier to, the reproduction of capital. Under the conditions of capital, production itself is in a Marx quotes in French.- Ed.
a See this volume, pp. 1 12-13.- Ed.
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every respect subjected to exchange. These exchange operations, circulation as such, produce no surplus value, but they are conditions for its realisation. They are conditions for the production of capital itself, in so far as its form as capital is only posited to the extent that it passes through them. The reproduction of capital is at the same time the production of definite formal conditions; of definite [VII-1 5] modes of the relation in which personified objectified labour is posited. Circulation is therefore not merely the exchange of the product for the conditions of production hence, e.g. of harvested wheat for seed, new labour, etc. In every form of production, the labourer must exchange his product for the co� ditions of production if he is to be able to repeat productIon. The peasant producing for immediate use also converts part of the product into seed, instrument of labour, draught animals, fertiliser, etc., and recommences his labour. The conversion into money is necessary for the reproduction of capital as such, and the reproduction of capital is necessarily production of surplus value. IIWith respect to the reproduction phase (circulation time in particular) i� should also be noted that limits are set to it by the use value Itself. Wheat must be reproduced within a year. Perishable things, like milk, etc., must be reproduced more frequently. Meat, since the animal lives, i.e. withstands the passage of �ime, �eed not be reproduced so frequently; but the dead meat �vadable m the market must be reproduced in the form of money m a very short period of time, or else it goes bad. The reproduction of value partly coincides with that of use value, and partly does not.1I we previously ha Although called the constant part of capital � � . one production . s merely mamtamed by labour m process as value, � It must be constantly reproduced by labour in another, because what . appears . in one pr
Section Three CAPITAL AS BEARING FRUIT. INTEREST. PROFIT. ( PRO DUCTION COSTS, ETC.)
I d a n io ct od pr of � ity un e th ,! as ed sit po Capital is now am rt ce a m es uc od pr it ch hi w e lu va s lu circulation; and the surp c Z Z 5Z 5Z . X p S = + 0r , p p = is c , p+c period of time, e. g. a year U s uc od pr r ch hi w e lu va � as y el � er m t no d Capital is now realise ts s po Ch hI W e lu va as so � al t bu f, el its s te ua et rp and therefore pe Its by d an , nd ha e on e th on e, tim ur bo la value. By absorbing living ge an ch ex of t en em ov m e th ch hi w (in n io at ul own movement of circ of s es oc t en an m im e th as t, e I?� em ov m n o l's ta � � is posited as capi . w ne g Itm os as f el Its to f el Its s te p la re l objectified labour), capIta e t? of at th s ue � va s lu rp su to n tio la � re s It e. lu value, producing va e hd , at th m s Is ns co t en em ov m � s It � it. basis to what is based upon f el Its s ? ar w to SIS ba as s ve ha be e tim e m sa e producing itself, it at th as f el Its to e lu va d se po up es pr as it; on up d se as that which is ba it. by ed sit p s a e lu va s lu rp su to � or e, lu va s lu rp su .tIme WhI. C� IS posIt. ed as the um. t by .IS measured, In a definite period of s er ov rn tu Its of r be m nu e th ch hi w to e nc re refe , re ltu cu ri ag in n tio uc od pr re its of re su ea m because it is the natural t no ed in rm te de is ch hi w e, lu va s lu rp su ite fin de capital produces a n tio uc od pr e on in l ta pi ca y � ed sit po e . only by the surplus valu , ed at pe re IS s es oc pr th es tim of er � m nu e th � process, but also by .m that perIod. Because of the . or capital is reproduced, with e th e Id ts ou t ' en em ov m s l ita ca n, io at ul rc p . incorporation of ci . s, es oc p n tIo uc od pr r ItS � to m s, es oc � immediate production pr e, pl SIm e th by ed sIt po as s ar pe ap er ng surplus value no lo a
=
ase, ph n tio uc od pr pe, tim of d rio pe Ze, lu va s a Here 5 means surplu c-phase of circulation, U- turnover.- Ed.
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131
,
immediate relation of capital to living labour. This relation appea�s, rath�r, as merely one moment of its overall movement. CapItal settmg ou� from itself as the active subject, the subject of the process . and m the turnover the immediate production pro�ess does �n f�ct appear to be determined by the movement of �apItal as capItal mdependently of its relation to labour relates to Itself as to �elf-multiplying value, i.e. it behaves towards surplus value as posIted by and based upon capital; it relates itself as the source of , Production to itself as the product; as the producing value to Itself as the value produced. It therefore no longer measur�s the newly produced value in terms of its real measure, the . ratI? of su�plus labour to necessary labour, but in terms of cap�tal Itself as �ts. presupposition. In a definite period of time, a capItal of a defmlte value produces a definite surplus value. Surp!us valu� thus ?Ieasured in terms of the value of the prepos� ted c�plt�l, capItal th� s be�ng posited as self-valorising . value, IS proftt.. Vlewe.d sub specle capttalts, not sub specie aeternitatis,a surplu� value IS profIt; and capital distinguishes itself within itself as C�Pltal, the producing and reproducing value, from itself as profIt, the . newly produced value. The product of capital is profi t. The magmtude surplus value is therefore measured by reference to the value magmt�de of the capital, and the rate of profit is cons�quently determmed by the ratio between the value of the profIt and that of the capital. A v:;ry large part of what belongs here has been discussed above. But what has been anticipated must be placed here. . valu In S? fa� a� the newly posIted e, which is of the same nature as �apI�al, I.S Itself re-absorbed into the production process, in turn mamtams Itself �s capital, capital itself has increased and now operates as a capItal of greater value. After capital set profit as the newly p�
summarised thu s: Actual surplus value is determined by the ratio of surplus labour to necessary labour; or by the ratio between the portion of capital, of objectified labour, which is exchanged for living labour, and the portion of objectified labour by which it is replaced. On the other hand, surplus value in the form of profit is measured in terms of the total value of the capital pre posited to the production process. Hence assuming the same surplus value, the same ratio of surplus labour to necessary labour the rate of profit depends on the ratio between the part of capital exchanged for living labour and the part of it existing in the form of raw material and means of production. So, as the portion exchanged for living labour declines, there is a corresponding decline in the rate of profit. In the same degree, therefore, in which capital as capital takes up more space in the production process relative to immediate labour, i.e. the greater the increase in relative surplus value in the value-creating power of capital the more the rate of profit declines. We have seen that the size of the preposited capital, the capital preposited to reproduction, is specifically expressed in the growth of fixed capital as the produced productive power, objectified labour endowed with an illusory life of its own. The total size of the value of the producing capital will be expressed in every portion of it as a smaller proportion of capital exchanged for living labour, as compared to the part of capital existing as constant value. Take manufacturing industry as an example. In the same proportion as fixed capital (machinery, etc.) increases, there must be an increase in the part of capital existing in the form of raw materials and a decline in the part of it exchanged for living labour. Hence the rate of profit falls in proportion to the value magnitude of the capital preposited to production and of the part of capital working in production as capital. The broader the existence already attained by capital, the smaller is the ratio of the value newly [VI I-1 6] produced to that preposited (the value which is reproduced). Therefore, if we assume equal surplus value, i.e. an equal ratio of surplus labour to necessary labour, the profit may still be unequal; and, indeed, must be unequal, in relation to the size of the capitals. The rate of profit may fall, although the actual surplus value rises. The rate of profit may rise, although the actual surplus value falls. In fact, capital may grow, and profit may grow in the same proportion, if the part of capital preposited as value and existing in the form of raw materials and fixed capital increases in
1 32
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
the same prop<,>rtion as t�e p�rt of capital exchanged for la?our. Yet thIs proportIonahty presupposes growth of living ca pi ta l wIthout growth aJ?-d development of the productive po labour, an assumptIon that cannot possibly be made. It co wer of nt ra dicts the law of development of capital and especially th at of th e development of fixed capital Such progress can only take pl ac e at : ta ge s of development a� whIc� the mode of production of � capital IS �ot yet adequate to It, or In spheres of productio capIt�1 has arrogated dominance to itself as yet mereln in which . y e. g. In agrIculture. In that sphere, the natural fertility in form, of th e soil may . have the same effe�t as an i crease of fixed capi relatl\:e surplus labour tIme may �Increase - without retal i.e . the du quantIty of J?-ecessary labour time. (E .g . in the UNITED S cing the TATES. ) The GROSS PROFIT, I.e . the surplus value co nsidered outside its formal . r�latIon, not as a proportion, but as a simple quan tit y of value wItho� t reference to an<,>ther q� antity, will on averag e gr ow not in step w.tth the rate of Proft!, b�t tn step with the size of the capital. WhIle the .rate of profIt wIll therefore be inversely re value of capI�al, the su� of profit will be directly prop lated to the or tio na l to it. . However, thIS propOSItIon, too, only holds for a lim dev.elopment of the productive power of capital ited level of or . capI�al of 100 op�ratIng at a profit of 10 % yields a sm labour. A al le r sum of profIt t�an a capItal of 1, ?00 o erating at a [rate of In the fIrst case the sum IS 10 , �In the second it is 20] profit of 2% . , i.e . the GROSS :ROFIT on the large capital is twice th at on the capital which is 1 / 0 . Its SIze, although the r�te of pro�it on the smaller ca 1 pi ta l is 5 times that on the larger capItal. But If the profit on th were o�ly 1% , the SU of profit would be 10 , the e larger capital sa m ;" . . the capIt�1 WhICh IS /10 its size, because the rate of e as that for pr of . it w ou ld av e de cl In � ed In the same proportion as the size o f the capital [had Increased]. If the rate of profit on the capital of 1 000 were only 1/2%. , th su o� profit would be � only half as grea� as that of the � �apItal / 1 0 ItS SIze, only 5, because the rate of profit would be /2oth. Therefore, expressed in general term s: If th� rate �f p:ofit of the larger capital declines proportIon �o ItS �Ize, the GROSS PROFIT increases ev , but not in en rat� of. profIt dechnes. If the rate of profit declines though the to I�S sI�e, the �ROSS PROFIT remains the same as that in proportion on capItal; .It remaInS stationary. If t�e decline in the ra the smaller te of pr ofit is . proportIonately greater than the Increase In the size of . the �ROSS :ROFIT on the larger capItal, as compared wit the capital, declInes Just as much as the rate of profit does. h the smaller,
Chapter on Capital
�:
133
In every respect, this is the most important law of modern political economy, and the most essential one for comprehending the most complex relationships. It is the most important law from the historical viewpoint. Hitherto, despite its simplicity, it has never been grasped and still less has it been consciously formulated. This decline in the rate of profit is synonymous with: (1) the productive power already produced and the material basis which it constitutes for new production; this presupposes, at the same time, an enormous development of SCIENTIFIC POWERS; (2) the decline of the part of the capital a.lready prod�ced which must �e exc�anged .for immediate labour, I.e. the dechne of the quantIty of ImmedIate labour necessary for the reproduction of an immense value, which is embodied in a large mass of products, a large mass of low-priced products, because the total sum of prices=the capital reproduced + profit; (3) [great] dimensions of capital in general, and also of the portion of it which is not fixed capital; hence the development of intercourse on a vast scale, a great number of exchange operations, a large market, and the all-round nature of simultaneous labour; means of communication, etc., the existence of the consumption fund necessary to effect this gigantic process (the workers eat, need housing, etc.). This being so, it becomes evident that the material productive power already available, already elaborated, existing in the form of fixed capital, as well as the SCIENTIFIC POWER, population, etc., in short, all the prerequi�ites of wealth, all the conditions for the maximum reproductIon of wealth, i.e. for the rich development of the social individual that the development of the productive forces, brought a.bout .by capital itself in its historical development, at a certaIn POInt abolishes the self-valorisation of capital, rather than posits it. Beyond a certain point, the development of the product.ive forces becomes a barrier to capital, and consequently the relatIon of capital becomes a barrier to the development of the productive forces of labour. Once this point has been reached, capital, i.e. wage labour, enters into the same relation to the development of social wealth and the productive forces as the guild system, serfdom and slavery did, and is, as a fetter, necessarily cast off. The last form of servility assumed by human activity, that of wage labour on the one hand and of capital on the other, is thereby shed, and this shedding is itself the result of the mode of production corresponding to capital. It is precisely the pr?� uction p�o�ess of capital that gives rise to the material and SpI:Itual co?-dltIons for the negation of wage labour and capItal, WhICh are
13 4
themselves the negatIon of earlier forms of unfree social production. The growing discordance between the productive development of society and the relations of production hitherto characteristic of it, is expressed in acute contradictions, crises, convulsions. The violent destruction of capital as the condition for its self preservation, and not because of external circumstances, is the most striking form in which it is ADVISED TO BE GONE AND TO GIVE ROOM TO A HIGHER STATE SOCIAL PRODUCTION. It is not merely the growth of SCIENTIFIC POWER but the measure in which it has already been posited as fixed capital; the extent, the breadth, in which it has been realised and has taken possession of the totality of production. It is, also, the development of population, etc., in short, of all the moments of production; for the productive power of labour, just as the employment of machinery, depends on the population number; the growth of population is in and for itself both the presupposition for, and the result of, the growth of the quantity of use values to be reproduced, and therefore also to be consumed. Since this decline of profit is synonymous with a decline in the ratio 'of immediate labour to the amount of objectified labour which it reproduces and posits anew, capital will try everything to make up for the smallness of the proportion of living labour to the size of capital in general, and hence for the smallness of the proportion which surplus value, if expressed as profit, bears to the preposited capital. It will seek to do so BY REDUCING THE ALLOTMENT MADE •
m'
TO NECESSARY LABOUR AND BY STILL MORE EXPANDING THE QUANTITY OF SURPLUS LABOUR WITH REGARD TO THE WHOLE LABOUR EMPLOYED. H ENCE THE HIGHEST DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTIVE POWER TOGETHER WITH THE CREATEST EXPANSION OF EXISTING WEALTH WILL COINCIDE WITH DEPRECIATION OF CAPITAL. DEGRADA TION OF THE LABOURER. AND A MOST STRAIGHTENED EXHAUSTION OF HIS VITAL POWERS. THESE CONTRADICTIONS LEAD TO EXPLOSIONS, CATACLYSMS, CRISES, IN WHICH BY MOMENTANEOUS SUSPENSION OF LABOUR AND ANNIHILATION OF A GREAT PORTION OF CAPITAL THE LATTER IS VIOLENTLY REDUCED TO THE POINT WHERE IT CAN GO ON [V - 1 7] FULLY EMPLOYING ITS PRODUCTIVE POWERS WITHOUT COMMITTING SUICIDE. YET, THESE REGULARLY RECURRING CATASTROPHES LEAD TO THEIR REPETITION ON A HIGHER SCALE, AND FINALLY TO ITS VIOLENT OVERTHROW.
II
In the developed movement of capital, this process is slowed down by moments other than crises; e.g. the continuous deprecia tion of a part of the existing capital; the conversion of a large part of capital into fixed capital which does not serve as an agent of direct production; the unproductive dissipation of a large part of capital, etc.
135
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
le u do a in ed ac pl re ? s ay alw is , ed oy pl em ely .tIve apltal (Capital, productiv uc od pr b e lu va of g in � sit po e th , en y se ve ha we as y; wa of n Io pt u ns �o tIv uc od pr un he T e. � alu r-v � te un co a s presuppose e th on It s te la hI m an nd , nd ha e on e th on � capital replaces it , of rm fo IS th bu y pl SIm d se es pr � ex is law e m sa other.) liThe as ry eo th n tIO la pu po e th in r, te la ed er id ns co be to is . expression g m rk wo e th of y bl ta no , tio la pu po of th ow gr � the relation of the 1 d. lte I os ep pr y ad re al l ta pi ca e th to it, . of rt pa be an c It of pr of te r e th in � al � e th at th � . (The fact, further, g. e . It, of pr om fr ns Io ct du de g m lst eX of n io at in . checked by the elim Its l al r fo t, no es do , c. et , nt re in n io ct du re a s, a fall in taxe .smce these ar them � practical significance, really belong here, by d te rIa op pr ap d an e m na r he ot an r de un it of pr selves portions of law e am s e th at h T s.) ve � 11 se em th ts lis ta pi ca e th an th r . persons othe of de tu ltI m e th of n tIo la re e th � in tly en er manifests itself diff � he ot a m s ng lo be so al n, io tit pe t;t m co in . i.e r, he ot capitals to one an 0 n tIo la ?u cu ac o � w la e th a� d te la stu I po be so al ay section. It m xt ne e th m up IS th ke ta l al sh e W . on rt lla capitals, as e. g. by Fu section.11 . t ' no IS I aw IS h t at h t ct fa e th to n io nt te at aw .tIv POW�R lilt is im portant to dr uc od pr of t en pm lo ve � de e th th wi d ne er nc co simply s th ch wh to nt te ex e th � th wi � e tim e m sa e th .It IS &'U va flE L bu t at ICh Wh to nt te ex e th . i.e l, ta pi ca as es at er op R WE PRODUCTI�E PO as d an , nd ha e on e th on l, ta pi ca ed fix realised above all as population, on the other. II e th by d k ec ch be o als ay m it] of � pr of . (The fall [in the rate te la ed Im re m ch hi w in n tio uc � od pr of ? es ch an creation of new br . e th � IC wh m or l, t pl ca to n tio or op pr in � ed . labour is need IS l, ta pI ca of r we po e tIv uc o� pr e th . i.e , ur bo productive power of la not yet develope d. ) (Similarly, monopolIe s.)
TO NG ILI FA SO ; TH AL WE OR AL PIT CA OF SE EA CR IN E TH G "PROFIT IS A TERM SIGNIFYIN OF WS LA E TH D FIN TO G N ILI FA IS IT, OF PR OF TE RA E TH FIND THE LAWS WH ICH GOVERN . es of PolitI.cal Economy etc. , Lo nd ., Ipl THE FO' RMATION OF CAPITAL" (W . Atkinson, Princ 1 840 , po 55). IS. IT OF � P OF E AT � E TH AT WH EN EV ING ND TA RS DE UN IN D But he has FAILE
ws ro l ta pI ca s It of pr of te ra e � th in ll fa � e A. Smith attributed th d ct J� ob o rd Ca RI " es lv se � e th g on am ls ta pi ca of � to the competition m Its of pr e th ce du re ly am rt ce ay m n b io to this that while competit e th up en ev l, ve le e ag er av an to s es sin bu of es the different branch a A. Sm ith , Ch ' b
tions, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Na
9i:)-:-- :�ardo,
, On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation
Ch .
Book
1,
2 1 .- Ed.
1 36
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter on Capital
rate of profit, it cannot depress this average rate itself. A. Smith's proposition is correct to the extent that it is only in competition the action of capital on capital that the immanent laws of capital, its TENDENCIES, are realised. But it is incorrect in the sense in which he understands it namely that competition imposes on capital laws external to capital, laws brought in from outside, which are not capital ' s own laws. Competition can permanently depress the rate of profit in all branches of industry, i.e. the average rate of profit, only if, and only to the extent that, a general and permanent fall in the rate of profit operating as a law is conceivable also prior to and regardless of competition. Competi tion executes the inner laws of capital; it turns them into coercive laws in relation to the individual capital, but it does not invent them. It realises them. To wish to explain them simply by competition means to admit that one does not understand them. Ricardo for his part says:
INCREASE OF STOCK IN ANY PARTICULAR TRADE LOWER THE PROFITS OF THAT TRADE. B UT SUCH INCREASE OF STOCK IN A PARTICULAR TRADE MEANS AN INCREASE MORE IN PROPORTION THAN STOCK IS AT THE SAME TIME INCREASED IN OTHER TRADES: IT IS RELATIVE" (p. 9, An Inquiry into those Principles respecting the Nature of Demand and the Necessity of Consumption, lately advocated by Mr. Malthus, London, 1 82 1). " COMPETITION AMONG THE INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISTS can LEVEL the profits rising especially high above the level, but it cannot LOWER THIS ORDINARY LEVEL" (Ramsay [An Essay on the Distribution of Wealth, pp. 1 79-80], IX, 88 1 1).
(Ramsay and other economists justly distinguish between the growth of productivity in the branches of industry supplying t�e constituents of fixed capital, and naturally of WAGES, and growth 10 other industries, e.g. the luxury-goods industries. The latter industries cannot diminish necessary labour time. However, this can be achieved by exchanging their products for agricultural products of foreign nations, the effect then being the same as if productivity had been raised in agriculture. Hence the importance of free trade in corn for the industrial capitalists.) Ricardo says ( On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation,
"No accumulation of capitals can permanently depress profits, unless some equally permanent cause rises wages" ([Des principes de l'economie politique et de l'impSt] p. 92, t. II, Paris, 1835, traduit de Constancio).
He finds this cause in the growing, relatively growing unproduc tiveness of agriculture, "the growing difficulty of increasing the quantity of means of subsistence", i.e. in the growth of the share of the wages of labour. Not that he sees labour as really receiving more, but as receiving the product of more labour; in a word, necessary labour makes up a greater share of the labour required for the production of agricultural products. The fall in the rate of profit is therefore accompanied, in Ricardo, by a nominal growth of wages and a real growth of rent. His is a one-sided analysis because it only conceives of one single CASE the rate of profit may just as much fall in consequence of a momentary rise in wages, etc. and because it elevates to a universal law an historical relationship characteristic of a period of 50 years but inverted during the next 50 years, and because, in general, it is based upon the historical disproportion between the development of industry and agriculture. In and for itself, it was odd of Ricardo, Malthus, etc., to postulate universal, eternal laws for physiological chemistry at a time when as yet it scarcely existed. This analysis of Ricardo' s has therefore been attacked from all sides, mainly because of an instinctive feeling that it was wrong and unsatisfactory, but mostly on account of its true rather than its false aspect. "A. SMITH THOUGHT THAT ACCUMULATION OR INCREASE OF STOCK IN GENERAL
LOWERED THE RATE OF PROFITS IN GENERAL. ON THE SAME PRINCIPLE WHICH MAKES THE
137
3rd English edition, London, IS21):
" THE FARMER AND MANUFACTURER CAN NO MORE LIVE WITHOUT PROFITS, THAN THE LABOURER WITHOUT WAGES " (I.e., p. 1 23). "The natural tendency of profits is to fall; for, in the progress of society and wealth, the ADDITIONAL [quantity of] FOOD requires
more and more labour. This tendency, this gravitation of profit, is checked at repeated intervals by the improvements in machi�ery, connec,red with th� pro�u�ti?n of NECESSARIES, as well as by discoveries in the sCience of agnculture which diminIsh the production costs" (I.e., pp. 1 20-2 1).
Ricardo immediately lumps together profit and surplus value; he never made this distinction at all. But while [the rate of] surplus •
value is determined by the ratio of the surplus labour employed by capital to necessary labour, the rate of profit is merely the ratio of the surplus value to the total value of the capital preposited to production. Hence. its
proportion falls and rises with the ratio of the pa.rt of capItal exchanged for living labour to that existing as mat<:nal and fIxe� capital. Under a I I circumstances, surplus value constdered as proftt m'Iist express a proportion of the gain that is smaller tha'!" the a� tu?l . It [profIt] IS proportion of surplus value. For under all CIrcumstances
measured in terms of the total capital, and this is always greater than the capital employed in WAGES and exchanged for living labour. Since Ricardo thus simply lumps together surplus vall!e . a� d [VII-I S] profit, and since surplus value ca� �nly dIm� msh constantly, diminish tendentially, if there is a dechne 10 the ratIo of surplus labour to necessary labour, i.<:. to the lat:>0l!r required . for the reproduction of the labour capacIty, and thIS I S only possIble
138
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
to the theory of competition, and it is only then that we shall deal with him. But Bastiat's insipidity, which expresses platitudes as paradoxes, polishes them en facettes, and conceals the most complete poverty of thought under a fa�ade o� formal logic: can be disposed. of �t once. IIAt this point we can msert somethmg about the anu�h;sIS between Carey and Bastiat from Notebook 111."1/ In �ratUlte �u credit. Discussion entre M. Fr. Bastiat et M. Proudhofl; Pans,. 1.850 (It may be noted in passing that Proudhon cuts a �llg?ly nd�culous figure in this polemic, in which he conc�als hIS mc�paCity f?r dialectical reasoning under a cloak of rhetoncal pretenSIOn) BasUat says in Letter VIII (in which, incidentally, the . nob�e gentle �an tout bonnement and tout simplement transforms, with hIS reconCIlmg dialectic, the gain accruing from the simple division �f labour �o the road-maker just as much as to the road-user, mto a gam accruing to the "road" itself, i.e. to capital):
given a decline in the productive power of labour, Ricardo assumes that the productive power of labour, while increasing in indu stry with the accumulation of capital, does decline in agriculture. From the sphere of political economy he flees into organic chemistry. We have proved that this is a necessary tendency without referring to rent at all, just as we had no need to refer, e.g ., to rising demand for labour, etc. How rent is connected with profit is to be discussed when we come to consider rent itself; does not belong here. But modern chemistry has shown that Ricardo's physiological postulate, pre sented as a universal law, is false. Now Ricardo 's pupils, to the extent that they do not merely echo him , have, like modern political economy in general, quietly dropped what they found disagreeable in their master's doctrine. To DROP THE PROBLEM IS THEIR
GENERAL METHOD OF SOLVING IT .
Other economists, e.g . Wakefield, take refuge in discussing the for the growing capital. This belongs in the analysis of competition and is evidence, rather, of a preoccupation with the difficulty for capital to realise a growing volume of profit, which a
FIELD OF EMPLOYMENT
"In the degree in which capitals (an.d w�th them their prod�cts) are a�gmented, the absolute part which returns to capital IS augment,ed, and Its p:oportJonal part diminished. In the degree in which capitals (and With them th�lr products) are augmented, both the proportional part and the absol� te p�rt accrumg to labo.ur are augmented. Since the absolute part accruing to capital rises, even . though It .only draws successively 1/2 ' 1/3 , 1/4, lis of the total pr<.>d�ct, �abour, whICh successively gets Il2 , 213 , 314, 415, obviously draws from the distributIon an ever greater part, both proportionately and absolutely. " b
amounts to a denial of the immanent tendency of the rate of profit to fall.
And the necessity for capital to seek a constantly expanding FIELD OF EMPLOYMENT is itself a consequence. One cannot list Wakefield and suchlike with those who first raised the question. (To some extent, they merely reproduce A. Smith 's view.) Finally, there are the harmonists among the most recent economists, headed by the American Carey, whose most obtrusive companion was the Frenchman Bastiat. (In passing, it may be noted as a fine irony of history that the Continental FREE.TRADERS parrot Mr. Bastiat, who for his part draws his wisdom from Carey the protectionist.) They admit the FACT that the rate of profit tends to fall in the degree in which productive capital increases. But they explain it simplement and bonnementb by an increase in the value of the share of labour, i.e. in the proportion the worker receives of the total product; capital, for its part, benefits by the growth of the GROSS PROFITS. In this way, the unpleasant oppositions and antagonisms within which classical political economy moves, and which Ricardo emphasises with scientific remorselessness, are presented as WELL·TO·DO HARMONIES. Carey's analysis at least has a semblance of being one, and in general he does his own thinking. His analysis concerns a law which we need not discuss until we get a
E. G. Wakefield,
A View of the Art of Colonization,
and 9 1 .- Ed. b Simply and plainly.- Ed.
London, 1849, pp. 76, 79
1 39
Chapter on Capital
As an illustration he gives this: !
1 st period 2nd " 3rd " 4th ..
Total product
Part accruing to capita]
1 ,000 1 ,800 2,800 4,000
1 /2 or 500 1/3 or 600 1/4 or 700 lis
or 800
Part accruing to labour
1 /2 2/3 3/4 4/5
or or or or
500 1 ,200 2, 100 3,200
(Pp. 1 30, 1 3 1 )
Tlie same trick is repeated on p. 288 . in the form �f an increasing GROSS PROFIT accompanied by a fallIng �ate of profit but an increasing mass of products sold at lower pnces, and on that occasion he speaks with great importance of "the law of an infinitely decreasing series which never reaches zero, a law well known to mathematicians" (p. 288). "One sees here" (charlatan) "that the a See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 5- 1 6.- Ed. . b Marx quotes this and the followmg passage, and also the table, m French.- Ed. .
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
multiplier decreases continually, because the multiplicand constantly increases" p. 288).
(I.e.,
Ricardo had a presentiment of his Bastiat. While stressing that, despite the decline in the rate of profit, profit grows as a sum with the growth of capital here he anticipates all of Bastiat's wisdom he does not fail to observe that this progression "is only true for a certain time". He says, literally: "Howe.ver the ra�e of the PROFITS OF STOCK may diminish in consequence of the accumulatIon of capital on the land, and the rise of wages" (and by this, notabene, ��rdo understands a �se in the production costs of the agricultural products mdlspensablt; for tht; mamtenance of the �abour capacity) "the aggregate amount of PROFITS still must mcrease. Thus supposmg that, with repeated accumulations of [100,000, the rate of profit should fall from 20 to 19, to 18, to 17%, we should expect that the whole AMOUNT OF PROFITS RECEIVED BY THE SUCCESSIVE OWNERS OF CAPITAL WOULD BE ALWAYS PROGRESSIVE; that it would be greater when the capital �as £�OO,OOO, than when 100,000; still greater when 300,000; and so on, mcreasmg, though at a diminishing rate, WITH EVERY INCREASE OF CAPITAL. This progression however is only true for a certain time: thus 19% on £200,000 is more than 20 on 100,000; 18% on 300,000 is more than 19% on 200,000; but after capital has accumulated TO A LARGE AMOUNT, and PROFITS have fallen the further accumula tion diminishes the sum of profits. Thus suppose the ;ccumulation should be : :md the PROFITS 7%. The whole amount of profits will be £70,000; now .If1,000,000 an additIon of £100,000 be made to the million, and profits should fall to 6%, [VII-19] £66,000 or a diminution of £4,000 will be received by the owners of STOCK, although the AMOUNT OF CAPITAL will be increased from 1,000' 000 to 1,100,000" (I.e., pp. 124, 125).
Of course, . this does �ot prevent Mr. Bastiat from carrying out the. schoolb
,.1, "
:
,
t
I
.
. I
.
� 1
" ' •
I .
141
and then "illustrates" his assumption with a num�ric�l example which seems to have greatly tickled him. � If t.he dechne m t� e ra�e of profit expresses nothin& but. � dechne m th.e proportIo� m which the total capital reqUIres hvmg labour for . Its rep roduction, that is another story. Mr. Bastiat overlooks the little Clrcums�ance that, in his presupposition, even t�ough the . rate of profit . on capital declines, capital itself, the capItal prel? osIted to production, increases. Even Mr. Bastiat could have surmIsed that the value of capital cannot increase, unless. capital appr
es, it lin de � it ro of te r e � t if , � se 'p ca y an n � "I , Ed. out in the manuscript: f. el IS capital Its g hm et m so is th d an , ng hi et m so to in relation -
142
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter on Capital
,
wages a) , he confuses the decline of interest with the increase of wages. The former implies, rather, an increase in industrial profit · and ha� no. bear� ng at all <;m the workers, but only affects th� proportIo� III WhICh the varIOUS species of capitalists share in the total profIt. a
s: rk ma re y ctl rre co i nd mo Sis , ge an ch ex ple sim to t ec sp re With ent; yet the "An echange always presupposes 2 values; their fates may be differ , but is attached ged han exc ect obj the h wit go t no es do e enu rev and ital cap of lity qua d 'economie politique, pes nci pri aux uve No [ di, on sm (Si it" ns ow o wh n rso to the pe Vol. I, p. 90] VI 1 3) .
e pl sim of ms ter in ed in pla ex be ot nn ca e nu ve Therefore, re ge an ch ex h ug ro th d ire qu ac e lu va a er th he W . ns io lat re exchange is e nu ve re or l ta pi ca g tin en es pr re of ty ali qu e th s sse posse e nc He . ge an ch ex e pl sim nd yo be lie ich wh s ion lat re determined by s to rm fo d te ica pl m co e or m e es th ce du re to sh wi to d it is stupi RADERS do . ET FRE ng isi on rm ha e th as , ns io lat re ge those simple exchan ng ki ta d an , ge an ech e pl sim of t in po nd sta e th m Considered fro ge an ch (ex ey on m of n io at ul m cu ac e th ely er m be to n io accumulat e. bl ssi po im e ar l ta pi ca of e nu ve re d an it of pr e th , value)
nos mouton� The product of capital is therefore . . Itself to Itself as profit, it relates itself to itself as profIt. By relatmg the sou:ce ?f pr�duc!ion of value, and the rate of profit expresses the proportwn zn wh �ch zt has increased its own value. But the capitalist is R�toumons
b
not merely capIta� . He must . liv: , and since he does not live by labour, ?e must lIve on profIt, I.e. on the alien labour which he app�opnates. As a source .o� wealth, capital is posited thus. Since it has . mcorporated productIvIty as one of its immanent properties, capItal treats profIt. as revenue. It can consume part of that revenue (ap�arently all o� It, but thIS. will be seen to be wrong), without ceasmg to be capItal. After consu �ing this fruit, it can yield fruit afresh. It can represent consummg wealth, without ceasing to :ep�esent t?e ge�eral form of wealth, an impossibility for money m sImpl� CIrculatIOn. Money had to refrain from enjoyment in order to remam the general form of wealth ; or, if it consumed itself through exchange for real wealth, enjoyments, it ceases to be the general form of wealth. T�us profit, like wages, appears as a form pertaining to . . �zstrzbutt?n. B �t since capital c.an only grow by reconverting profit I.ntO capItal m �o surplus capItal profit is equally a form pertain zng t? the productw"! of capital. In just the same way, the wage is a mere relat�on of productwn from the standpoint of capital, but a relation . . of dIstrIbutIon from that of the worker It IS seen here that. the relations of distribution are themselves produc�d by the rela.tIOnS of production, and represent them d'un autre pmnt de vue. e It IS .further seen that the relation of production . . to consumptIon IS posIted by production itself. The absurd view taken b� all bo� rgeois economists, e.g. J. St. Mill, who regards the b�>ur�eo�s relatI�ns of I!roduction as eternal, but their forms of dIstrIbutIon as hIstorical ; it is evident that he understands neither the former nor the latter. � See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 1 1- 1 5, 180-82 and 248.- Ed. •
•
Let us return to our subject.- Ed. From another point of view.- Ed. d 1- St. Mill, Principles of Political Economy Vol. 1 , Lond on, 1 84 8, pp. 25, 26, 239, 240.- Ed. e
'
•
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t: ,;;, ,
"
"If the rich spent their accumulated wealth on luxury goods-and they can only obtain commodities through echange their funds would soon be exhausted... But in the ordre socia� wealth has acquired the ability to reproduce itself by means of alien labour. Wealth, like labour, and by means of labour, yields an annual fruit, which can annually be destroyed without the rich thereby becoming poorer. This fruit is the revenue which springs from capital" (Sismondi, IV) [ibid., pp. 8 1 -82].
�1 ,
-
If profit therefore appears as the result of capital, it also appears, on the other hand, as the presupposition for the formation of capital. And so the circular movement is posited anew, in which the result appears as the presupposition.
!, �-
,
.
"Thus part of the revenue was converted into capital, into a permanent self-multiplying value which no longer perished. This value detached itself from the commodity which had produced it; like a metaphysical, insubstantial quality it always remained in the possession of the same cultivateur" (capitalist) "for whom it took on different forms" (Sismondi, VI) [ibid., p. 89].
[VII-20] When capital is posited as positing profit, as a source of
wealth independent of labour, each part of the capital is supposed to be equally productive. Just as surplus value in profit is measured by
reference to the total value of capital, it appears to have been produced to an equal extent by its different components. Hence, the circulating part of capital (the part consisting of raw materials and approvisionnement) does not yield a higher profit than the component which constitutes fixed capital; indeed profit refers evenly to these components according to their size. Since the profit of capital is realised only in the price which is paid for it, for the use value it produces, profit is therefore determined by the excess of the price obtained over the price covering the outlays. Moreover, since this realisation only takes place in the act of
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exchange, the profit accruing to the individual capital is not necessarily limited by its surplus value, by the surplus labour
"profit is not included in the NATURAL PRICE" . and that it is "absurd to cal.l the excess or profit A PART OF THE EXPENDITURE" (Torrens. [An Essay on the Productwn of Wealth, London. 1 82 1 . pp. 5 1 -52.] IX. 30 I I).
144
contained in it, but depends on the excess of the price it obtains in the act of exchange. It may be exchanged for more than its
equivalent, and then the profit it yields is greater than its surplus value.
This can only be the case if the other party to the exchange does not obtain an equivalent. The total surplus value, and similarly the total profi� which is merely the surplus value itself calculated in a different way, can neither grow nor diminish as a result of this operation; what is modified here is not the total surplus value itself, but only its allocation among the different capitals. However, this does not belong here, but in the analysis of the multitude of capitals. The value of the capital preposited in production appears over against profit as advances production costs, which must be replaced in the product. What is left after the part of the price which replaces them has been deducted, constitutes profit. Since surplus labour which comprises profit and interest, these being merely portions of it does not cost capital anything, and hence is not part of the value advanced by it not part of the value which it possessed before the production process and the valorisation of the product-this surplus labour, which is included in the production costs 30 of the product and constitutes the source of surplus value, and hence also of profit, does not figure under the production costs of capital. These are only equal to the values actually advanced by it, not to the surplus value appropriated in production and realised in circulation. Consequently, the produc tion costs from the standpoint of capital are not the actual production costs, precisely because surplus labour does not cost it anything. The excess of the price of the product over the price of the production costs constitutes the profit of capital. Hence, capital can make a profit even if its actual production costs i.e. the whole of the surplus labour it sets to work have not been realised. Profit, the excess over the advances made by capital, may be smaller than surplus value, the excess of living labour obtained by capital through exchange over the objectified labour which it has exchanged for the labour capacity. However, through the separation of interest from profit something which we shall discuss presently a part of the surplus value is posited as a production cost even for productive capital. The confusion of the production costs from the standpoint of capital with the quantity of labour objectified in the product of capital, including surplus labour, has given rise to the assertion that
�. .
•
n see is fit r pro he Eit . ion fus con of al de at gre a to n the ds lea is Th not as merely being realised in the . act of exchange but as originating from it (which, under all Circumstances, can only be ot es do ge cha ex the to rty pa e on � en wh y, � vel ati rel e cas the . . obtain his equivalent) or else the magIC power IS ascnbe� to �apItal of creating something o�t o� noth.ing. As the value posIted m the the , ge an ch ex of s an me by ce pn ItS s lIse rea s ces pro on cti produ price of the product appears as .determined IN FACT by the s� m of money which expresses an eqUlval�nt for the t.otal quantity of s ge wa the ry, me ch e ma ? t al, ten ma raw the in d ne tai con r labou . and the unpaid surplus labour. Here pnce therefor� still appears merely as an altered form of value; value expre�sed m money; �mt n tIo uc � pn the m d ose pp esu pr is ice pr s ? thi of de itu gn ma the . ce-determl mg ; so � process of capital. Capital thereby appears as pn + the l ita cap by de ma ces van ad the by d ne mi ter de is that price r lat see l ?a! s We ct. od pr the in � d lise rea s ha it r ou � lab s surplu how, on the contrary, price appears as , Profit-determmmg. An? If ce pn as ar pe ap t co n tio uc od pr l ua act al tot the � int � at this po . on ctI du pr the mg l ml ter de as ar pe ap er � lat l wil ce 1: pri g, nin mi ter de costs. To impose the immanent laws of capItal u P.on It as an of all s ert mv ely let mp co tly ren pa ap n tio eti mp co y, sit ces ne l externa them, distorts them. . Just to repeat: The profit of capital does not depend up�n ItS e tud gm ma ve ati rel he on up e, siz e sam the en giv � r, he rat t size; bu of its components (the constant and the vanable part) : the� upon at ? t m lf Itse es ess pr ex r, eve ow ? h hic (w ur lab of ity tiv the produc � : l lta ca e sam the r, low re we y vit cti du � pro If ce sin , ion � ort op pr first . could not work up the same quantity of matenal m the same �Ime, me t r ve no tur the on up r); ou lab � ing liv of nt ou am e sam with the which. is determined by the different prop.ortions be�ween ft�edl, lta cap d Ixe � e t � of y dIt rab d� t ren fe dif the l, ita cap ing lat and circu . . etc ., etc. (see above a). The mequalIty of profit .m d�fferent he . I.e e, SIZ e sam the of � ls ita cap for ry ust ind of branches . tion osI pp esu pr n d a n itio nd co a is t, ofi pr of e rat the of ty ali qu ine .tIo . . for the equalisations brought about by competI � . In so far as capital obtains, purchases, raw matenal, mstrument are es elv ms the nts me ele its , ge an ch ex of s an me by and labour a See this volume. pp. 1 02-12.- Ed.
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already there in the form of prices, already posited as prices, preposited to capital. The way the market price of its product compares with the prices of its elements then becomes decisive for it. But this belongs in the chapter on competition. So the surplus value posited by capital in a given turnover time assumes the form of profi� in so far as it is measured by reference to the total value of the capital preposited to production; whereas surplus value is measured directly by the surplus labour time which capital gains in its exchange with living labour. Profit is merely another, more developed in the sense of capital form of surplus value. Surplus value here is regarded rather as exchanged in the production process for capital itself, not for labour. Capital therefore appears as capital, as preposited value which, through the mediation of its own process, is related to itself as posited, produced value, and the value posited by it is called
magnitude of
profit.
The 2 immediate laws manifested to us by this conversion of surplus value into the form of profit are: ( 1 ) Surplus value expressed as profit always appears as a smaller proportion than that actually constituted by surplus value in its immediate reality. For instead of being measured in relation to a part of the
capital, that exchanged for living labour (a ratio which is manifested as that of surplus to necessary labour), it is measured in relation to the total. Whatever the surplus value posited by a capital a, and whatever the proportion in a of c and v, the constant and the variable part of capital, the surplus value s must appear smaller if measured in terms of c + v than if measured in terms of its real measure, v. Profit, or the rate of profit-if profit is not considered as an absolute sum but, as is usually the case, as a proportion (the rate of profit is profit expressed as the proportion in which capital has posited surplus value) [VII-2 1 ] never expresses the actual rate of exploitation of labour by capital but always a much smaller proportion, and that proportion is the more misleading the larger the capital is. The rate of profit could express the actual rate of surplus value only if the whole capital were converted into wages; if the whole capital were exchanged for living labour, i.e. only existed as approvisionnement. Then not only would it not exist in the form of already produced raw material (as is the case in the extractive industries), so that the raw material would=O; but the means of production, whether in the form of instruments or developed fixed capital, would also=O. The latter CASE cannot possibly occur on the basis of the mode of production corresponding to capital. If a = c + whatever the v,
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s
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it follows that
[ c:v < : 1
(2) The 2nd great law is that in the degree in which caI?ital. �as already appropriated living labour in the form of objectIfIed labour; in the degree, therefore, in which labour has already b�en capitalised and thus increasin!?ly ope.rates in the . pro�uctIon process in the form of fixed �apItal; or In the degree In. WhIC� the productive power of labour Increases; the rate. of profIt declIn�s. The growth of the productive power of labour IS synonymous WIth (a) the growth of relative surplus value or the relatIve surplus labour time which the worker gives to capital; (b) the diminution of the labour time necessary for the reproduction of the labour capacity; (c) the decrease of the part of capital exch�nged . in general for living labour relative to those parts of It WhICh participate in the production pr�c�ss as <.>bjectified labour and preposited value. The rate of profIt IS thus Inversely related to the growth of relative surplus value or relative surplus labour, to the development of the productive forces, and to the size of the capital employed in production as [constant] capit�l. In ot �er words, the second law is the tendency of the rate of proftt to fall wIth the development of capital, both of . its I? roductive p0��r and of ' value; the extent to which it has already pOSIted Itself as objectIfIed the extent to which labour as well as productive power have been capitalised. . . Other factors which can affect the rate of profIt, whICh can depress it for longer or shorter periods, do �ot yet come i? to consideration. It is quite correct to say that, If the productIon process is considered as a whole, the capital acting as material and as fixed capital is not merely objectified labour but also must be newly reproduced by labour, and reproduced constantly. Ther� fore, its existence, on any particular scale, presupposes a certaIn magnitude of the working population, a large P?pulation, which i� and for itself is a prerequisite for any productIve p<.>wer; but . thIS reproduction everywhere presupposes the operatIon of fIxed capital and raw material and SCIENTIFIC POWER, both. as. such . and . as appropriated by production and already realIsed In It. ThIS POInt is only to be developed in more detail when we come to dISCUSS accumulation. It is further clear that, although the part of capital exchanged for living labour declines relative �o total capital, th� total quanti�y of living labour employed may Increase or remaIn the same If capital grows in the same or in a greater proportion. Hence the •
I: I I
I,
I
,
,I
'I I
148
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population may continuously grow in the proportion in which necessary labour declines. If capital a expends 1 /2 in c and 1 /2 in v, and capital a' extPends 3/4 in c and 1 /4 in v, then capital a' could employ 2/4 v on /4 c. But if it was originally= 3 /4 C + 1 /4 v, it is now = 6/4 C+ 2/4 v, or it has increased by 4/4, i.e. it has doubled. However, this relationship too is only to be investigated more closely in the theory of accumulation and population. In general, at this stage we m� st not be diverted from our subject by the conclusions folloWIng from the laws stated above or by any speculations on that matter. Hence, the rate of profit is determined not only by the ratio of surplus labour to necessary labour, or by the ratio in which objecti�ied la?�ur is exchanged for living labour, but in general by the ratIo of hVIng labour employed to objectified labour; the ratio of the porti?n of ca.p� tal ex�hanged in general for living labour to the part whICh partICIpates In the production process as objectified labour. And that portion declines in the same proportion as suq�lus labour increases relative to necessary labour. (SInce the worker must reproduce the part of capital exchanged for his labour ca�acity just as much as he must reproduce the ?the: parts of ca�ltal, the proportion in which the capitalist gains In hiS e�change with the labour capacity appears as determined by the ratIO of surplus labour to necessary labour. Originally, neces�ary labou: appears . merely to replace the capitalist's outlays for �Im. But sInce ----:- as IS shown in reproduction he lays out �othIng but labour Itself, the relation of surplus value can be simply expressed as the relation of surplus labour to necessary labour.)
However, we cannot as yet bring the price relation into our analysis. The reduction of price as a condition for conquering the market can only be discussed in connection with competition. Hence the question must be posed differently. Suppose that the instrument of production could be obtained by capital without cost, for nothing. What would be the consequence? The same as if the circulation costs were zero. I.e. the labour necessary to maintain the labour capacity would be reduced, and so surplus labour, i.e. surplus value, [would be increased] without its costing capital the slightest amount. Such an increase in productive power, a kind of machinery which does not cost capital anything, is the division of labour and the combination of labour within the production process. But it presupposes labours on a large scale, i.e. the development of capital and wage labour. Another productive force which costs it nothing is SCIENTIFIC POWER. (It is self-evident that capital must always pay a certain duty for the support of parsons, schoolmasters, and men of learning, whether the SCIENTIFIC POWER they develop is great or small.) However, capital can only appropriate it by the employment of machinery (partly also in chemical processes). The growth of population is also a productive force which costs capital nothing. In short, all the social forces which develop with the growth of population and the historical development of society cost it nothing. But to the extent that they themselves require a substratum produced by labour, i.e. existing in the form of objectified labour, in order to be employed in the immediate production process, and hence are themselves values, capital can appropriate them only by giving an equivalent in exchange for them. WELL. Fixed capital whose employment is more costly than that of living labour, [VII-22] i .e. which requires more living labour for its production or maintenance than the amount of labour it replaces, would be a NUISANCE. Such as costs nothing at all and merely- needs to be appropriated by the capitalist, would possess maximum value for capital. The simple proposition that machin ery possesses maximum value for capital if its value= O, implies that every reduction in its cost is a gain for the capitalist. While, on
/(With respect to fixed capital, and durability as a condition of it whICh does not enter from without, the following should also be noted: To the extent that the instrument of production is itself value, obje�tified labour, it contributes nothing as a productive force. If a machIne whose production costs 100 working days only replace� 1 00 working days, it would in no way increase the productive power of labour and in no way diminish the cost of the product. The more durable the machine, the greater is the n�mb�r o� times the same quantity of product can be produced Wlt� Its aid; or the greater the number of times circulating capital �an be renewed, or its reproduction repeated; and the smaller IS the proportion of value necessary to replace the diche� �he WEAR .and TEAR of the machine; i.e. the greater is the reduction In the pnce of the product and its previous [jemalig] production cost.
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the one hand, it is the tendency of capital to increase the total value of fixed capital, it is, at the same time, [ its tendency] to diminish the value of every fractional part of it.
Once fixed capital enters into circulation as value, it ceases to operate as use value in the production process. Its use value consists precisely in that it increases the productive power of
1 50
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labour, reduces necessary labour, augments relative surplus labour and thus surplus value. Once it enters into circulation, its value is merely replaced, not increased. On the other hand, the product, circulating capital, is the bearer of surplus value, which is only realised when the product emerges from the production process into circulation. If the machine were of infinite durability, if it were not itself composed of perishable material that has to be reproduced (quite apart from the invention of more efficient machines, which rob it of its character as a machine), if it were a perpetuum mobile, it would most completely correspond to its concept. Its value would not need to be replaced, since it would subsist in an indestructible materiality. Since fixed capital is employed only in so far as its value is smaller than that which it posits, the surplus value realised in circulating capital would even though fixed capital itself never entered [in a single act] as value into circulation nevertheless soon replace the advances and once the cost of the fixed capital to the capitalist, and that of the surplus labour which he appro priates, were 0, the fixed capital would operate as positing value. It would continue to operate as a productive force of labour, and at the same time be money in the third sense, constant value for-itself. Assume a capital of [ 1,000. Let 1 /5 be machinery, and let the sum of surplus value be 50. The value of the machinery therefore equals 200. After 4 turnovers, the machinery would be paid for. Then, apart from continuing to possess [200 worth of objectified labour in the machinery, the capitalist would, from the fifth turnover onwards, be in the same position as if he was gaining 50 with a capital which cost him only 800, i.e. his gain would be 61 /4% instead of 5%. As soon as fixed capital enters into circulation as value, it ceases to be use value for the valorisation process of capital; or it enters into circulation only when that process ceases. Therefore, the more durable fixed capital is, [i.e.] the less it needs to be repaired, to be entirely or partly reproduced, [i.e.] the longer its circulation time the more does it operate as a productive force of labour, as capital, i.e. as objectified labour which posits living surplus labour. The durability of fixed capital, identical with the duration of the circulation time of its value or of the time required for its reproduction, emerges as , its value-moment from its very concept. (That this durability in and for itself, in merely material terms, is implicit in the concept of the means of production, needs no explanation.)11
The rate of surplus value is simply determined by the ratio of surplus labour to necessary labour; the rate of profit is determined by the ratio, not merely of surplus labour to necessary labour, but of the part of capital exchanged for living labour to the total capital that enters into production. Concretely expressed, profit, in the form in which we are still considering it, i.e. as the profit of capital as such, not that gained by an individual capital at the expense of another, but as the profit of the capitalist class, can never be greater than the sum of surplus value. As a sum, it is the sum of surplus value, but this very sum of value as a proportion of the total value of capital, not of the part of it whose value actually increases, i.e. is exchanged for living labour. In its immediate form, profit is merely the sum of surplus value expressed as a proportion of the total value of capital.
=
•
The transformation of surplus value into the form of profit, this method of calculation of surplus value by capital, much as it is based on an illusion as to the nature of surplus value, or rather disguises it, is necessary from the standpoint of capital. IlIt is easy to imagine that the machine as such posits value, since it operates as a productive force of labour. However, if the machine needed no labour, it could of course increase use value, but the exchange value which it produced would never be greater than its own production costs, its own value, the labour objectified in it. It produces value not because it replaces labour, but only in so far as it is a means of increasing surplus labour, and it is only surplus labour itself and hence labour in general-that is both the measure and the substance of the surplus value posited with the help of the machine.11 The reduction of necessary labour relative to surplus labour is expressed, if we consider the day of an individual worker, in the appropriation of a larger part of the working day by capital. Here the living labour which is employed remains the same. Assume that, because of an increase in productive power, resulting, e.g., from ' the employment of machinery, 3 of 6 workers who each worked 6 days a week are made superfluous. If the 6 workers themselves possessed the machinery, they would now work for only half a day each. Now 3 continue to work for the whole day each day of the week. If capital continued to employ the 6, they would each work for only half a day, but perform no surplus labour. Assume that necessary labour previously amounted to 10 hours and surplus labour to 2 hours daily; in this case, the total surplus labour performed by the 6 workers was previously equal to 2 x 6 hours daily, i.e. to one whole day, and hence over the
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whole week to 6 days, or. 72 hours. Each worked one day a week gratis. It would be the same as if the 6th worker had worked for the whole week gratis. The 5 workers represent necessary labour; and if their number could be reduced to 4, and the one worker work for nothing, as before, relative surplus value would have grown. Previously, its ratio was 1 : 6; now it would be 1 : 5. Hence,
appears as a development of the productive power of the workers, in relation to the working day
the former law, stipulating an increase in the number of surplus working hours, now assumes the form of a stipulation to reduce the number of necessary workers. If it were possible for the same capital to employ
the 6 workers at this new rate, surplus value would increase not merely relatively but absolutely as well. The surplus labour time 2 would amount to 1 4 /5 hours. 22/s hours each worked by 6 workers is of course more than 2 2/5 hours each worked by 5. As far as absolute surplus value is concerned, it appears to be determined by the absolute extension of the working day beyond the necessary labour time. Necessary labour time works merely for use value, for subsistence. The surplus working day is labour for exchange value, for wealth. It is the first moment of industrial labour. The natural limit is set assuming that the conditions for labour are available, i.e. raw material and instrument of labour; or one of the two, according to whether labour is merely extractive or form-giving, i.e. whether it merely isolates the use value from the body of the Earth or forms it the natural limit is set by the number of simultaneous working days or of living labour capacities, i.e. by the magnitude of the working population. At this stage, the difference between production based on capital and earlier stages of production is still a merely formal one. Kidnapping, slavery, trading in slaves and compelling them to labour, [VII-23] increase in the number of these labouring machines, machines producing SURPLUS PRODUCE, is here directly posited by force. In the case of capital, it is mediated by exchange. Here use values increase in the same simple proportion as exchange values, and therefore this form of surplus labour appears in the modes of production of slavery, serfdom, etc., which are mainly and predominantly concerned with use value, and also in that of capital, which is directly orientated towards exchange value and only indirectly towards use value. This use value may be purely fantastic, as, e.g., in the construction of Egyptian pyramids, in short the religious luxury-works which the bulk of the nation were compelled to perform in Egypt, India, etc., or it may take the form of immediately useful objects, as, e.g., among the ancient· Etruscans. The second form of surplus value, as relative surplus value,
•
as a reduction of necessary labour time, as a reduction of the necessary working
and in relation to population population (this is the antithetical form). In this form [of surplus value], the industrial and distinctively historical character of the mode of production based upon capital is, by contrast, immediate ly apparent. To the first form corresponds the forcible transformation of the greater part of the population into wage labourers, and the discipline which transforms their existence into that of mere labourers. E.g., over a period of 1 50 years, from the time of Henry VII onwards, written in blood in the annals of English legislation is a series of coercive measures which were applied to transform into free wage labourers the mass of the population who had become propertyless and free. The abolition of the institution of retainers, the confiscation of the Church estates, the abolition of the guilds and the confiscation of their property, the forcible eviction of the population from the land by the conversion of arable into pastures, ENCLOSURES OF COMMONS, etc., had posited the labourers as mere labour capacity. But, OF COURSE, at this stage they preferred vagabondage, beggary, etc., to wage labour, and had first to be forcibly broken in to it. A similar process took place with the introduction of large-scale industry, of factories in which production was carried on with machinery. Cf. Owen.a Only at a certain stage of the development of capital does the exchange between capital and labour IN FACT become a formally free one. It can be said that, in England, wage labour was fully realised in a formal sense only at the end of the 1 8th century, with the abolition of the LAW OF APPRENTICESHIP. 3 1 The tendency of capital is, OF COURSE, to link absolute surplus value with relative; hence the greatest possible extension of the working day and the maximum number of simultaneous working days, accom panied by the reduction to the minimum, on the one hand, of necessary labour time and, on the other, of the necessary number of workers. This
contradictory demand, whose development will be seen to manifest itself in different forms as overproduction, overpopulation, etc., asserts itself in the form of a process in which the contradictory determinations alternate in time. A necessary consequence of this is the greatest possible diversification of the use value of labour or of the branches of production. Thus the production of capital, while on the one hand constantly and necessarily developing the intensity [ of a See this volume, pp. 7-785
98-99.- Ed.
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the other hand produces a i.e., therefore, the greatest possible wealth of forms and content of production, subjecting to it all aspects of Nature.
likewise produced by capital, even if by another capital the propagandistic tendency ?f capital. . . . , Secondly, however, it IS clear that If the obJectzve condltwns of
the] productive power of labour, on limitless variety of branches of labour, •
Since the increase in productive power is, in large-scale production, the spontaneous product of the division and combina tion of labour, savings on certain outlays conditions for the labour process which remain the same or are reduced in case of communal operation, such as heating, etc., factory buildings, etc., it does not cost capital anything; it acquires this increased productive power of labour gratis. If productive power increased simultaneously in the production of the various conditions of production raw material, means of production and means of subsistence and in [the branches of production] determined [by them], its increase would not bring about any change in the relation between the different compo nents of capital. If the productive power of labour increased simultaneously in, e.g., the production of flax, weaving-looms and weaving itself (through division of labour), the greater quantity woven in a day would be matched by the greater quantity of raw material, etc. When labour becomes more productive in the extractive industries, e.g. mining, there is no need for an increased supply of raw material, since no raw material is worked up [in these industries]. To increase the productivity of agriculture, it is not EVEN necessary that the number of INSTRUMENTS should be raised, but merely that they should be concentrated and that labour, which was previously performed by hundreds of people working individually, should be carried on communally. But what is needed for all forms of surplus labour is growth of population : of the working population for the first form; of the population in general for the second, since it requires the development of science, etc. Popula tion therefore appears here as the basic source of wealth. But in the form in which we consider capital initially, the raw material and instrument appear to originate from circulation, not as produced by capital itself; and in reality the individual capital does obtain the conditions for its production from circulation, although these are themselves produced by capital, but by another capital. The consequence of this is, on the one hand, the necessary tendency of capital to seek to dominate the whole range of production; its tend�ncy to posit the production of the materials of labour or of the raw materials and also of the instruments as
155
.
production obtained by capital from circulation remain the same in value,
i.e. the same quantity of labour is objectified in the same quantity of use value, a smaller part of capital may be expended on living labour, i.e. the proportion of the component parts of capital changes. Suppose that 2Js of a capital of 1 00 is raw material, 1 /5 is instrument, and 2/5 is labour. Suppose, too, that in consequence of a doubling of the productive power (resulting from division of labour), the same quantity of labour employing the sa?Ie instrument could work up double the amount of raw materIal. The capital would then have to increase by 40, i.e. a capital of 140 would have to work, of which 80 would be raw material, 20 instrument, and 40 labour. The proportion of labour would now be 40 : 140 (previously 40 : 1 00); previously it was 4 : 1 0, now only 4 : 14. 3 Or, if the capital remained the same, 100, /5 would now be raw material, 1 /5 instrument and 1 /5 labour. The gain would be 20, as before. But surplus labour would now be 1 00%, whereas previously it was 50%. The capitalist now needs only 20 labour for 60 raw material and 20 instrument. 80. I 20. I 1 00. I A capital of 80 yields him a profit of 20. Hence, if the capital employed the total amount of labour at this stage of production, it would have to grow to 160, composed of 80 raw material, 40 instrument and 40 labour. This would yield a surplus value of 40. At the stage initially assumed, where a capital of 1 00 yields a surplus value of only 20, a capital of 160 would yield a surplus value of only 32, i.e. 8 less, and the capital would have to grow to 200 in order to produce the same surplus value of 40. The following cases are to be distinguished between: ( 1 ) Labour ( the intensity, speed of labour) increases, but this does not necessitate greater advances in material or instrument of labour. E.g., owing to an increase in skills, bette� co�bination and division of labour, etc., the same 1 00 workers wIth Instruments of the same value catch more fish, or till the soil better, or extract more ore or coal from the mines, or beat out more foil from the same quantity of gold, or was�e less raw mat�rial, i..e. p:oduce more with the same value-quantIty of raw materIal. If, In thIS case, their products themselves enter into their consumption, their necessary labour time will diminish; they will do more wo�k at the same [VII-24] maintenance costs. Or a smaller part of theIr labour is necessary to reproduce their labour capacity. The necessary part 7*
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of labour time is reduced relatively to the surplus labour time; and although the value of the product remains the same, 100 working days, the portion accruing to capital, surplus value, is increased. If total surplus labour was previously '/1 0 , i.e. 10 working days, and if now it is '/5 , surplus labour time has increased by 1 0 days. The workers now work 80 days for themselves and 20 for the capitalist, while in the first case they worked 90 for themselves and only 1 0 for the capitalist. (This method of calculation, in terms of working days, and with labour time as the sole substance of value, is so openly manifest where relations of bondage exist. In the case of capital, it is concealed by the veil of money.) A greater portion of the newly produced value accrues to capital. But the relations between the different components of the invariable capital remain, by assumption, the same. I.e., although the capitalist employs a larger volume of surplus labour, because he pays less in wages, he does not employ more capital in raw materials and instruments. He exchanges a smaller part of objectified labour for the same quantity of living labour, or the same quantity of objectified labour for a greater quantity of living labour. This is only possible in the extractive industries; in the manufacturing industries, in so far as the raw material is used more economically; further, in agriculture, in which the material is increased by chemical processes; and in the transport industries. (2) Productivity increases not merely within a particular branch of production but, at the same time, in [the industries which produce] its prerequisites; in this CASE an intensification of labour or a rise in the quantity of products it turns out in a given time necessitates an increase in the quantity of raw material or instrument or both. (The raw material need not cost anything, e.g. rushes for wickerwork; wood which costs nothing, etc.) In this case, the proportion [between the parts] of capital would remain the same. I.e., the increased productivity of labour does not make capital expend any greater value in raw material or instrument. (3) The increased productivity of labour necessitates the expen diture of a larger part of capital on raw material and instrument. If it is merely due to the division of labour, etc., that a given number of workers have become more productive, the instrument remains the same; o�ly the raw material must increase, since in the same period of time the same number of men work up a greater quantity of raw material, and, by assumption, the greater productivity derives only from an increase in the workers' skill, divi.sion and combination of labour, etc. In this case, the part of capital exchanged for living labour falls (it remains the same if
absolute labour time alone increases, and it diminishes if relative labour time increases) relative to the other components of capital, which remain the same, and it does so not only by the amount of its own fall, but just as much by the amount of the increase in relative labour time. Let us consider this:
156
Working days
Raw ma terial
Instrument
Labour
s
1 80 4 1 } 3h
90 90
80 70
10 20
In the first case, 10 of the 90 working days are surplus working days; surplus labour is 1 2'/2 % ' In the second case, the proportion of raw material has risen to the same extent as has the proportion 2 3 of surplus labour, compared with the first case [ 1 80:4 1 1 /7 = '/8: /7] ' If an increase in surplus value presupposes, in all cases, an increase in population, the present case also presupposes accumu lation or the entry of a larger capital into production. (In the final analysis this also implies a larger working population employed in the production of raw materials.) In the first case, the total part of capital expended on labour constitutes '/4 of the total capital, and its ratio to the constant part of capital is 1 : 3. In the second case, the total part expended on labour is less than '/6 of the total capital, and its ratio to the constant part of capital is not even 1 : 5 . Although an increase in productive power resulting from the division
and combination of labour is therefore based upon an absolute increase of the labour power employed, it is necessarily linked with a reduction in it relative to the capital which sets it in motion. And if in the first form, �hat of �bsolute surplus lab?ur, the quantity of labour employed must tncrease tn the same proportwn as the capital employed, in the second case it increases in a lesser proportion, its growth being inversely related to that of productive power.
If the productivity of the soil were doubled by applying the latter method in agricultural labour, so that the same quantity of labour yielded 1 QUARTER of wheat instead of '/2, necessary labour would decline by '/2 , and capital could employ twice as many labourers with the same wages. (This expressed only in terms of corn.) But suppose he [the farmer] would not need any additional labourers for the cultivation of his land. In that case, he will employ the same amount of labour with half the previous wages. A part of his capital, that previously expended in money, is set free. The labour time employed has remained the same in proportion to the capital employed, but the surplus part of labour
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time has risen relative to the necessary part. If necessary labour was previously 3/4 of the total working day, or 9 hours, it is now 3/8 of it, or 41/2 hours. The surplus value was 3 hours in the first case; in the second, it=7 1 /2• The process is as follows: With a given working population and duration of the working day, i.e. the duration of the working day multiplied by the number of simultaneous working days, surplus labour can only be increased relatively, by raising the productive power of labour; the possibility of which is already posited by the presupposed growth of the population and TRAINING TO LABOUR (this also posits a certain amount of free time for non-working population, population which does not work directly; hence development of mental capacities, etc.; mental appropriation of nature). Given a certain level of development of the productive forces, surplus labour can only be increased absolutely, by turning a larger part of the population into workers, with a consequent increase in the number of simultaneous working days. The first process relatively reduces the relative working population, although it remains the same in absolute terms; the second increases it. Both tendencies are necessary tendencies of capital. The unity of these contradictory tendencies, hence the living contradiction, is only given with machinery, which we shall discuss presently. The second form obviously permits of only a small proportion of non-working to working population. The first form, since the quantity of living labour required under it increases more slowly than the quantity of capital employed, permits of a larger proportion of non-working to
non-increasing volume of raw material and machinery, it is the normal course of industrial development that, the more produc tion is production of raw materials for industry, raw material both for the material of labour and [for] the instrument, and the more the material of labour approximates to mere raw material, the more likely it is that the large-scale introduction of [wage] labour and the employment of machinery will begin precisely in these branches. E.g., in spinning earlier than in weaving, in weaving earlier than in printing, etc. Earliest of all in the production of metals, which are the main raw material for the instruments of labour themselves. If the raw product proper which supplies the =aw mater�al of industry a� the nethermost stage cannot be rapidly Increased Itself, recourse IS had to a substitute whose output can be increased more rapidly. ( Cotton for linen, wool and silk.) The same thing happens as regards means of subsistence, when the potato is substituted for grain. In the latter case, productivity is raised by producing an inferior article, one with a lower content of blood-forming substances and hence requiring cheaper organic conditions for its reproduction. This, the latter, belongs in the analysis of wages. We must not forget Rumford 32 when discussing the minimum of wages. We now come to the third CASE of relative surplus labour, as it is manifested in the employment of machinery. //In the course of our presentation, it has become evident that value, which appeared as an abstraction, is possible only as such an abstraction as soon as money is posited. On the other hand, money circulation leads to capital, and hence can only be completely developed on the basis of capital; and in general, it is only on the basis of capital that circulation can draw within its sphere all the moments of production. Hence, in the course of analysis, not only does the historical character of forms which belong to a definite historical epoch, e.g. capital, become evident, but determinations like value, which appear to be purely abstract, show the historical basis ftom which they have been abstracted, and on which alone they therefore can appear in this abstraction. And such determina tions as plus ou moinsa belong to all epochs, e.g. money, show the historical modification which they undergo. The economic concept of value does not occur among the ancients. Value as distinct from pretium b was a purely legal category, invoked against fraud, etc. The concept of value wholly belongs to the latest political
158
working population.
In the process by which capital becomes capital, its different component parts appear in a particular relationship to one another, with capital obtaining the raw material and instrument, the prerequisites of the product, from circulation and relating to them as to its given presuppositions. On closer inspection, it is true, this relationship disappears, for all the moments appear as equally produced by capital, since otherwise it would not have subjected to itself the totality of the conditions of its production. Yet for the individual capital, its components always remain in the same relationship. A part of it may therefore always be considered as constant value, and it is only the part laid out in labour that varies. These components do not develop evenly, but, as will be seen in the analysis of competition, it is the tendency of capital to distribute productive power evenly. [VII-25] Since the increasing productivity of labour would cause capital to come up against a barrier in the form of the
I
•
•
a More or less.- Ed. b Price.- Ed.
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter on Capital
economy, because that concept is the most abstract expression of capital itself and of the production based upon it. In the concept of value, the secret of capital is betrayed.// What distinguishes surplus labour based on machinery is the diminution of necessary labour time, which is used in such a way that fewer simultaneous working days, fewer workers are emp loyed. The second moment is that the increase in productive power itself must be paid for by capital, that it is not obtained gratis. The means by which this increase in productive power is brought about is itself objectified immediate labour time, value; and to get hold of it, capital must exchange a part of its value for it. It is easy to derive the advent of machinery from competition and the law of the reduction of the production costs which it imposes. But here it is a matter of deriving it from the relation of capital to living labour, without bringing in other capital. Suppose a capitalist previously employed 1 00 workers in cotton spinning at an annual cost of £2,400. Now he replaces 50 workers by a machine worth £ 1 ,200. If the machine were likewise completely used up in a year and had to be replaced at the beginning of the second year, he would obviously gain nothing; nor would he be able to sell his products more cheaply. The remaining 50 workers would perform the same amount of work as the 1 00 did previously; the surplus labour time of each individual worker would increase in the same proportion as the number of workers declined, and hence [total surplus labour time] would remain the same. If it was previously=200 hours a day, i.e. 2 hours on each of the 100 working days, it would now be likewise=200 hours, i.e. 4 hours on each of the 50 working days. The amount of surplus time per worker would increase; for capital things would remain unchanged, since it would now have to exchange 50 working days (necessary and surplus time together) for the machine. The 50 objectified working days which it exchanged for the machinery would merely give it an equivalent, and hence no surplus time, as though it had merely exchanged 50 objectified working days for 50 living. However, this would be made up for by the surplus labour time of the remaining 50 workers. Diveste<,l of the form of exchange, it would be the same as if the capitalist set 50 workers to work whose entire day's labour constituted necessary labour, while at the same time employing another 50 workers whose working day compensated him for this "loss". But suppose the machine only cost £960, i.e. only 40 days' labour, and each of the remaining workers continued to perform
4 hours surplus labour time, hence 200 hours or 16 da� s 8 hours ( 1 62/3 days). The capitalist would then have saved £240 In outlays. But whereas previously he gained 16 days 8 hours on an outlay of 2,400, he would now gain the same 200 worki� g hours 0':1 an outlay of only 960. 200 to 2,400= 1 : 12; In companson, 200 : 2,160=20 : 2 16= 1 : 1 04/5 , His gain, expressed in working days, would in the first case be 1 6 days 8 hours per 1 00 working days; in the second, the same amount per 90; in the first, 200 on the 1 ,200 hours of labour worked daily; in the second, 200 on 1,080. 2 200 : 1 ,200= 1 : 6; 200 : 1,080= 1 : 5 /5 , In the first case, the surplus time of the individual worker=lh working day=2 hours. In the second, it is 26/27 hours per 1 working day. One should add that, if machinery is employed, the part of capital which was previously employed in instruments must be deducted from the extra cost occasioned by the machinery.
I
•
162
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
"IT IS THE INFINITE VARIETY OF WANTS, AND OF THE KINDS OF COMMODITIES NECESSARY TO THEIR GRATIFICATION, WHICH ALONE RENDERS THE PASSION FOR WEALTH INDEFINITE AND INSATIABLE" (Wakefield in a commentary to Ad. Smith['s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations], p. 64 note).!/ " MACHINES I CONSIDER AS A METHOD OF AUGMENTING (VIRTUALLY) THE NUMBER OF THE INDUSTRIOUS, WITHOUT THE EXPENSE OF FEEDING AN ADDITIONAL NUMBER" (Steuart, Vol. I, p. 123). ("WHEN MANUFACTURERS GET TOGETHER IN BODIES, THEY DEPEND NOT DIRECTLY UPON CONSUMERS, BUT UPON MERCHANTS") (Steuart, vol. I, p. 1 53). ("THE ABUSIVE AGRICULTURE IS NO TRADE, BECAUSE IT APPLIES NO ALIENA TION, BUT IS PURELY A METHOD OF SUBSISTING") (I.e., p. 1 56). (" TRADE IS AN OPERATION, BY WHICH THE WEALTH, OR WORK, EITHER OF INDIVIDUALS, OR OF SOCIETIES, MAY BE EXCHANGED, BY A SET OF MEN CALLED MERCHANTS, FOR AN EQUIVALENT, PROPER FOR SUPPLYING EVERY WANT, WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTION TO INDUSTRY, OR ANY CHECK UPON CONSUMPTION" (Steuart, I, p. 1 66).) ("WHILE WANTS CONTINUE SIMPLE AND FEW, A WORKMAN FINDS TIME ENOUGH TO DISTRIBUTE ALL HIS WORK; WHEN WANTS BECOME MORE MULTIPLIED, MEN MUST WORK HARDER; TIME BECOMES PRECIOUS; HENCE TRADE IS INTRODUCED.The MERCHANT as mediator between the WORKMAN and the CONSUMER") (I.e., p. 1 7 1). ("MONEY the COMMON PRICE of all things") (I.e., p. 1 77). "Money is represented by the merchant. To the CONSUMERS, he represents the whole body of MANUFACTURERS; to the latter, the whole body of CONSUMERS; and to both CLASSES HIS CREDIT SUPPLIES THE USE OF MONEY. He represents WANTS, MANUFACTURERS and MONEY BY TURNS" (I.e., pp. 1 77, 1 78).
[ADDENDA TO THE CHAPTERS ON MONEY AND ON CAPITAL]
//"THE MONEY CIRCULATING IN A COUNTRY IS A CERTAIN PORTION OF THE CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY, ABSOLUTELY WITHDRAWN FROM PRODUCTIVE PURPOSES, IN ORDER TO FACILITATE OR INCREASE THE PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE REMAINDER. A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF WEALTH IS, THEREFORE, AS NECESSARY, IN ORDER TO ADOPT GOLD AS A CIRCULATING MEDIUM, AS IT IS TO MAKE A MACHINE, IN ORDER TO FACILITATE ANY OTHER PRODUC TION" ( The Economis� Vol. V, [No. 1 93, 8 May 1 847,] p, 520).// //"What is the practice? A manufacturer receives from his BANKER [500 in notes on Saturday for WAGES; these he distributes among his workers. On the same day the majority of the notes are carried to the SHOPKEEPERS, and by them returned t� their various BANKERS" (I.e., [No. 1 95, 22 May 1 847,] p. 575).// //"A COTTON SPINNER, who with a capital of [ 100,000 laid out [95,000 for HIS MILL AND MACHINERY, WOULD SOON FIND HE WANTED MEANS TO BUY COTTON AND PAY WAGES. HIS TRADE WOULD BE HAMPERED AND HIS FINANCES DERANGED. AND YET MEN EXPECT THAT A NATION WHICH HAS RECKLESSLY SUNK THE BULK OF ITS AVAILABLE MEANS IN RAILWAYS, shall nevertheless be able TO CONDUCT THE INFINITE OPERATIONS OF MANUFACTURE AND COMMERCE" (I.e., [No, 2 1 9, 6 November 1 847] p. 1 27 1 ).// "M . ONEY ."
I?
(J. Steuart, [An Inquiry mto the Prmclples of Political Oeconomy,] (p. 13),33 Vol: I, Dublin, 1 770, p. 32), //"In old times . " TO MAKE MANKIND LABOUR BEYOND THEIR WANTS, TO MAKE ONE PART OF A STATE WORK, TO MAINTAIN THE OTHER GRATUITOUSLY, could only be brought about by slavery ". I F MANKIND BE NOT FORCED TO LABOUR, THEY WILL ONLY LABOUR FOR THEMSELVES; AND IF THEY HAVE FEW WANTS, THERE WILL BE LITTLE LABOUR. BUT WHEN STATES COME TO BE FORMED AND HAVE OCCASION FOR IDLE HANDS TO DEFEND THEM AGAINST THE VIOLENCE OF THEIR ENEMIES, FOOD AT ANY RATE MUST BE PROCURED [VII-26 ] FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT LABOUR; AND AS, BY THE SUPPOSITION, THE WANTS OF THE LABOURERS ARE SMALL, A METHOD MUST BE FOUND TO INCREASE THEIR LABOUR ABOVE THE PROPORTION OF THEIR WANTS. FOR THIS PURPOSE SLAVERY WAS CALCULATED" . HERE THEN WAS A VIOLENT METHOD OF MAKING MEN LABORIOUS IN RAISING FOOD; ." MEN WERE THEN FORCED TO LABOUR BECAUSE THEY WERE SLAVES TO OTHERS; MEN ARE NOW FORCED TO LABOUR BECAUSE THEY ARE SLAVES TO THEIR OWN WANTS" (Steuart, Vol. I, pp. 38-40). AN A EQUATE EQUIVALENT FOR ANY THING ALIENABLE "
1 63
,
(In Vol. I, pp. 1 8 1-83, q.v., Steuart considers profit as PROFIT UPON ALIENATION, fluctuating with DEMAND, and contrasts it with REAL VALUE , which he defines in a very confused fashion (in doing so he thinks of the production costs) as the quantity of objectified labour (WHAT A WORKMAN CAN PERFORM IN A DAY, etc.), NECESSARY EXPENSE of the WORKMEN, and price of the raw material.) (With Steuart, the categories are still very changeable, not yet fixed as with A. Smith. We have just seen REAL VALUE presented as identical with the production costs, for alongside the labour of the WORKMEN and the VALUE of the material, WAGES still figure confusedly as a particular component. Elsewhere he 'understands by the INTRINSIC VALUE of a commodity the value of its raw material or the raw material itself, while by USEFUL VALUE he understands the labour time expended on the commodity.
"The former is SOMETHING REAL IN ITSELF. e.g. the silver in wrought silver plate. The INTRINSIC WORTH OF A SILK. WOOLLEN OR LINEN MANUFACTURE IS LESS THAN THE PRIMITIVE VALUE EMPLOYED, BECAUSE IT IS RENDERED ALMOST UNSERVICEABLE FOR ANY OTHER USE BUT THAT FOR WHICH THE MANUFACTURE IS INTENDED; the USEFUL VALUE.
on the other hand,
MUST BE ESTIMA TED ACCORDING TO THE LABOUR IT HAS COST TO
PRODUCE IT. THE LABOUR EMPLOYED IN THE MODIFICATION REPRESENTS A PORTION OF A
WHICH HAVING BEEN USEFULLY EMPLOYED, HAS GIVEN A FORM TO SOME SUBSTANCE WHICH HAS RENDERED IT USEFUL, ORNAMENTAL, OR IN SHORT, FIT FOR MAN, MEDIATELY OR IMMEDIATELY" (I.e., Vol. I , pp. 36 1 , 362).) MAN'S TIME,
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
liThe real use value is the form which is given to the substance. But this form is itself merely labour in repose.11
" MONEY OF ACCOUNT is no more than an ARBITRARY SCALE OF EQUAL PARTS, INVENTED FOR MEASURING THE RESPECTIVE VALUE OF THINGS VENDIBLE. MONEY OF ACCOUNT is something quite different from MONEY-COIN, WHICH IS PRICE, and could exist even if there were no substance in the world which could be a PROPORTIONAL EQUIVALENT for every commodity" (Vol. II, p. 102). "MONEY OF ACCOUNT performs
"WHEN WE SUPPOSE A COMMON STANDARD IN THE PRICE OF ANY THING, WE MUST SUPPOSE THE ALIENATION OF IT TO BE FREQUENT OR FAMILIAR. IN COUNTRIES WHERE SIMPLICITY REIGNS, it is scarcely possible TO DETERMINE ANY STANDARD FOR THE PRICE OF ARTICLES OF FIRST NECESSITY ... in such a state of society, the ARTICLES OF FOOD AND NECESSARIES ARE HARDLY FOUND IN COMMERCE: NO PERSON PURCHASES THEM; BECAUSE THE PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION OF EVERYBODY IS TO PROCURE THEM FOR HIMSELF... SALE ALONE CAN DETERMINE PRICES, AND FREQUENT SALE CAN ONLY FIX A STANDARD. Now THE FREQUENT SALE OF ARTICLES OF THE FIRST NECESSITY MARKS A DISTRIBUTION OF INHABITANTS IN LABOURERS and FREE HANDS" ete. (I.e., Vol. I, pp. 395, 396).)
the same office with regard to the value of things that [degrees,] minutes, seconds, etc., do with regard to angles or as SCALES do to GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS, ete . In all these INVENTIONS, there is always SOME DENOMINATION TAKEN FOR THE UNIT" (I.e.).
(The theory of the determination of price by the volume of the circulating medium was first postulated by Locke; repeated in The Spectator of 19 October, 1 7 1 1 ; developed and elegantly formulated by Hume and Montesquieu 34; in its basic premisses formally carried to an extreme by Ricardo; and, with all its absurdities, applied in practice to banking, etc., by Loyd, Colonel Torrens, etc ) . Steuart polemises against it, and his analysis essentially antIClpates pretty well all that was later asserted by Bosanquet, Tooke and Wilson. (Notebook, p. 26. 33 ) [Steuart, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 399-404.] (By way of historical illustration he says, among other things: "It is a FACT that at the time when Greece and Rome ABOUNDED IN WEALTH ,
WHEN EVERY RARITY AND THE WORK OF CHOICEST ARTISTS WAS CARRIED TO AN EXCESSIVE PRICE, AN OX WAS BOUGHT FOR A MERE TRIFLE, AND GRAIN WAS CHEAPER PERHAPS THAN EVER IT WAS IN SCOTLAND... DEMAND IS PROPORTIONED, NOT TO THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO CONSUME, BUT OF THOSE WHO BUY: NOW THOSE WHO CONSUME, ARE ALL THE INHABITANTS, BUT THOSE WHO BUY, ARE ONLY THE FEW INDUSTRIOUS WHO ARE FREE . . . Slavery in Greece and Rome: THOSE WHO WERE FED by the labour of their own SLAVES, [by that of] the slaves of the State, or by GRAIN gratuitously distributed to the people, HAD NO OCCASION TO GO TO THE MARKET; THEY DID NOT ENTER INTO COMPETITION WITH THE BUYERS... The FEW MANUFACTURERS THEN KNOWN, MADE WANTS IN GENERAL LESS EXTENSIVE; CONSEQUENTLY, THE NUMBER OF THE INDUSTRIOUS FREE WAS SMALL, AND THEY WERE THE ONLY PERSONS WHO COULD HAVE OCCASION TO PURCHASE FOOD AND NECESSARIES; CONSEQUENTLY, THE COMPETITION OF THE BUYERS MUST HAVE BEEN SMALL IN PROPORTION, AND PRICES LOW; further, the MARKETS were SUPPLIED partly from the SURPLUS PRODUCED on the LANDS of the GREAT MEN, LABOURED BY SLAVES; WHO BEING FED FROM THE LANDS, THE SURPLUS COST IN A MANNER NOTHING TO THE PROPRIETORS; and as the number of those who had OCCASION to buy was very small, THIS SURPLUS WAS SOLD CHEAP. Besides, the GRAIN DISTRIBUTED TO THE PEOPLE gratis must necessarily have kept the market DOWN, ete. By contrast, A FINE MULLET or an ARTIST, ete., were the object of great competition, with prices consequently rising extraordinarily high. THE LUXURY OF THOSE TIMES, THOUGH EXCESSIVE, WAS CONFINED TO A FEW, AND AS MONEY, IN GENERAL, CIRCULATED BUT SLOWLY THROUGH THE HANDS OF THE MULTITUDE, IT WAS CONSTANTLY STAGNATING IN THOSE OF THE RICH, WHO FOUND NO MEASURE, BUT THEIR OWN CAPRICE, IN REGULATING THE PRICES OF WHAT THEY WISHED TO POSSESS.") ([Pp.] 26, 27, Notebook [on] Steuart
lop. cit., Vol. I, pp. 403-05].)
•
"THE USEFULNESS OF ALL THOSE INSTITUTIONS BEING SOLELY CONFINED TO THE MARKING OF PROPORTION. JUST SO THE UNIT IN MONEY CAN HAVE NO INVARIABLE DETERMINATE PROPORTION TO ANY PART OF VALUE, I.E. IT CANNOT BE FIXED TO ANY PARTICULAR QUANTITY OF GOLD, SILVER or ANY OTHER COMMODITY WHATSOEVER. THE UNIT ONCE FIXED, WE CAN, BY [VII-27] MULTIPLYING IT, ASCEND TO THE GREATEST VALUE", ete. (p. 103). "SO MONEY A SCALE FOR MEASURING VALUE" (p. 102). "THE VALUE OF COMMODITIES, THEREFORE, DEPENDING UPON A GENERAL COMBINA TION OF CIRCUMSTANCES RELATIVE TO THEMSELVES AND [TO] THE FANCIES OF MEN, THEIR VALUE OUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AS CHANGING ONLY WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER; CONSEQUENTLY, ANY THING WHICH TROUBLES OR PERPLEXES THE ASCERTAINING THOSE CHANGES OF PROPORTION BY THE MEANS OF A GENERAL, DETERMINATE AND INVARIABLE SCALE, MUST BE HURTFUL TO TRADE AND A CLOG UPON ALIENATION" (p. 104). "It is absolutely essential to distinguish between PRICE (i.e. COIN) CONSIDERED AS A MEASURE AND price CONSIDERED AS AN EQUIVALENT FOR VALUE. The METALS do not discharge both functions equally well... MONEY IS AN IDEAL SCALE OF EQUAL PARTS. I F IT BE DEMANDED, WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE STANDARD OF VALUE OF ONE PART? I ANSWER, BY PUTTING ANOTHER QUESTION: WHAT IS THE STANDARD LENGTH OF A DEGREE, A MINUTE, A SECOND? IT HAS NONE-BUT SO SOON AS ONE PART BECOMES DETERMINED, BY THE NATURE OF A SCALE, ALL THE REST MUST FOLLOW IN PROPORTION" (p. 105). "Examples of this ideal money are the bank money of Amsterdam, and the MONEY in Angola, on the African coast. The BANK MONEY STANDS INVARIABLE LIKE A ROCK IN THE SEA. ACCORDING TO THIS IDEAL STANDARD ARE THE PRICES OF ALL THINGS REGULATED"
(pp. 106, 107).
In Custodi's collection of Italian economists, Parte Antica, Tomo III, (Geminiano) Montanari 's Della Moneta , written ABOUT 1683, says the following about the "invention" of money: "Intercourse between nations h;J.s spread across the whole globe to such an extent that one could say all the world has virtually become a single city in which a permanent fair of all commodities is taking place, so that everyone, without leaving his home, can, by means of money, obtain and enjoy everything produced by the earth, the animals and human industry. A marvellous invention!" (P. 40.) "It is also a feature of measures to enter into such a relation with the thing measured that in a certain way the latter becomes the measure of the former, so that, just as motion is the measure of time, time becomes the measure of motion itself; and so it comes about that not only is money the measure of our desires, but, conversely, the desires are the measure of money itself and of value" (pp. 4 1 , 42). "Obviously, the larger the quantity of money circulating in commerce within the confines of a province in proportion to the quantity of saleable things there, the more expensive those things will become-if one can call a thing expensive because it is worth a great deal of gold in a country in which gold is abundant, rather than considering the gold itself to be cheap in this case, since so much gold is equated to another thing which is elsewhere considered to be cheaper" (p. 48). a a Marx quotes in Italian.- Ed.
1 66
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
"A hundred years ago, the AMASSING OF GOLD AND SILVER, AS A KIND OF WEALTH par excellence, was the CHIEF FEATURE IN THE COMMERCIAL POLICY OF NATIONS (Wm Gouge, A Short History of Paper Money and Banking in the United States, Philadelphia, 1833, [Part I,] p. 67). ,
(Barter in the United States
et sqq.):
, !
figure waS only about 1/6 ; in relation to the total capital (raw material, ete.) perhaps only 1/20 ,
I
x " ,
"There is scarcely a manufacture [which has gained] such advantage from the IMPROVEMENTS IN SCIENCE as the art of dyeing cloth, by the application of the LA ws OF CHEMISTRY" (I.e., pp. 143-44). SILK MANUFACTURE. Till the beginning of the 18th century, "the ART OF SILK-THROWING at its most proficient in Italy, where MACHINERY OF A PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION [was] ADOPTED for this purpose. In 1715, John Lombe, one of 3 brothers who were in business as THROWSTERS and SILK-MERCHANTS, travelled to Italy, and managed to obtain a model in one of the MILLS. A SILK MILL, with the IMPROVED MACHINERY, [was] set up by Lombe and his brothers in Derby in 1719. This MILL CONTAINED 26,586 WHEELS, ALL TURNED BY ONE WATER WHEEL. PARLIAMENT granted [14,000 to him FOR THROWING OPEN THE SECRET TO THE TRADE. This MILL came nearer TO THE IDEA OF A MODERN FACTORY THAN ANY PREVIOUS ESTABLISHMENT of the kind. The machine had 97,746 WHEELS, MOVEMENTS, AND INDIVIDUAL PARTS [VII-28] WORKING DAY AND NIGHT, which all obtained their MOTION FROM ONE LARGE WATER WHEEL AND WERE GOVERNED BY ONE REGULATOR: and IT EMPLOYED 300 PERSONS TO ATTEND AND SUPPLY IT WITH WORK " ([pp.] 133-34).
(see Gouge, Notebook VIII,33 pp. 8 1
"In Pennsylvania, as well as in the other colonies, a considerable TRAFFIC WAS CARRIED ON BY BARTER . . in Maryland, as late as 1 732, an act was PASSED MAKING TOBACCO A LEGAL TENDER AT ONE PENNy A POUND, AND I NDIAN CORN AT 20 D. A BUSHEL " (p. 5) (PART II). But soon "THEIR TRADE WITH THE WEST I NDIES, AND A CLANDESTINE COMMERCE with the SPANISH MADE SILVER SO PLENTIFUL that, in 1652 A MINT WAS .
ESTABLISHED IN NEW ENGLAND FOR COINING SHILLINGS, SIXPENCES AND THREE-PENNY PIECES (p. 5) (I.e.). "Virginia, in 1645, prohibited DEALINGS BY BARTER and established the SPANISH PIECE OF 8 TO 6 SH. AS THE STANDARD CURRENCY f the COLONY " (the Spanish dollar). "The other colonies AFFIXED different DENOMINA TIONS to the dollar... The MONEY IN ACCOUNT was everywhere the same nominally as III England. The country's COIN was chiefly Spanish and Portuguese", ete. [pp. 5-6] Cf. p. 8 1 , Notebook VIII. (P. 6. By an Act of QUEEN Anne an attempt was made
l •
•
,'? 7 •
.
, ,
�
to put
an
�' , ,
(N0
end to this confusion.)
was ever manifested in the English SILK TRADE; first introduced by the weavers of Antwerp, who had fled after the SACKING OF THE TOWN by the Duke of Parma; then different branches were introduced by FRENCH REFUGEES in 1 685-92 [pp. 1 32,
Tuckett: A History of the Past and Present State of the Labouring Population etc., 2 vols, London, 1 846. " Woollen manufacture :
At the time of Elizabeth, the CLOTHIER
OCCUPIED THE PLACE OF THE MILLOWNER OR MANUFACTURER; HE WAS THE CAPITALIST WHO BOUGHT POUNDS, TO BE THE WOOL, AND DELIVERED IT TO THE WEAVER, I N PORTIONS OF ABOUT MADE INTO CLOTH. It the beginning, the MANUFACTURE [was] CONFINED TO CITIES and CORPORATE and MARKET-TOWNS, THE INHABITANTS OF THE VILLAGES MAKING LITTLE MORE THAN [sufficed] FOR THE USE OF THEIR FAMILIES. Later IN NON·CORPORATE TOWNS FAVOURED BY LOCAL ADVANTAGES and also IN COUNTRY PLACES BY FARMERS, GRAZIERS and HUSBANDMEN, WHO COMMENCED MAKING CLOTH FOR SALE, AS WELL AS FOR DOMESTIC USE. (The coarser types.) In 1551 a statute was passed that limited the number of LOOMS and APPRENTICES that could be kept BY CLOTHIERS AND WEAVERS RESIDING OUT OF CITIES; and that no COUNTRY WEAVER SHOULD HAVE A TUCKING MILL, NOR ANY TUCKER A LOOM, Under a law of the same year, all WEAVERS of BROAD CLOTH had to undergo an APPRENTICESHIP of 7 years. Nevertheless, VILLAGE MANUFACTURE, AS AN OBJECT OF MERCANTILE PROFIT, TOOK FIRM ROOT. 5 and 6 Edward VI (22) A STATUTE which prohibited the USE OF MACHINERY. The FLEMINGS and DUTCH therefore retained superiority in this manufacture until the end of the 1 7th century. In 1668, the DUTCH LOOM introduced from Holland" ([Vol. I,] pp. 136-
•
12
41).
"As a result of the introduction of machinery, one person in 1800 could do as much WORK as 46 in 1 785. In 1800, the CAPITAL INVESTED IN MILLS, MACHINERY, etc., APPROPRIATED
for the WOOLLEN TRADE was not LESS than 6 MILLIONS POUNDS STERLING
and the total number of PERSONS OF ALL England was 1,500,000 " (pp. 142-43).
,
AGES employed in this branch of industry in
The productive power of , labour had therefore increased by 4,600%. But, firstly, in relation to the fixed capital alone this
167
,
"
,
-,
.
SPIRIT OF INVENTION
1 35, 1 36] .) In 1 740, 1 ,700 TONS of iron was produced by 59 blast furnaces; in 1 827, 690,000 tons by 284 furnaces. Hence the number of blast furnaces increased 1 :448/59, not even five-fold; the TONS increased
1 :405 1 5/ 1 7 , (For the relationship over a number of years see I.e. [po 157,] Notebook,ll p. 1 2.) Glass manufacturing provides the best illustration of how the progress of science depends upon manufacturing. On the other hand, e, g. the invention of the quadrant originated in the needs of navigation; Parliament offered a premium to stimulate inventions [ibid" pp. 1 7 1-79], 8 COTTON machines, which in 1 825 cost £5,000 WERE SOLD in 1 833 for £.300. (On COTTON spinning, see I.c., [po 204,] p. 1 3, Notebook.) "A
FIRST-RATE COTTON SPINNING FACTORY CANNOT BE BUILT, FILLED WITH MACHIN ERY, AND FITTED WITH GAS-WORKS AND STEAM-ENGINE, UNDER [100,000. A STEAM ENGINE OF ONE HUNDRED HORSE POWER WILL TURN 50,000 SPINDLES, WHICH WILL PRODUCE 62,500 MILES OF FINE COTTON-THREAD PER DAY. IN SUCH A FACTORY 1,000 PERSONS WILL SPIN AS MUCH THREAD AS 250,000 PERSONS COULD WITHOUT MACHINERY. McCulloch ESTIMATES THE NUMBER I N BRITAIN AT 130,000" (I.e., p. 2 1 8). "WHERE THERE ARE NO REGULAR ROADS, THERE CAN HARDLY BE SAID TO BE A COMMUNITY; THE PEOPLE COULD HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON " (Tuckett, I.e., [Vol. I,]
p. 270). "Of the PRODUCE of the (I.e., [Vol. II,] p. 348).
EARTH, USEFUL TO MEN,
99/100 are the
PRODUCE OF MEN "
1 68
1 69
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
"WHEN SLAVERY OR LIFE-APPRENTICESHIP WAS ABOLISHED, THE LABOURER BECAME HIS .O�N MASTER and was left to his own RESOURCES. But, if unprovided with suffICient work, ete., MEN WILL NOT STARVE WHILST THEY CAN BEG OR STEAL CONSEQUENTLY THE FIRST CHARACTER THE POOR ASSUMED WAS THAT OF THIEVES AN� MENDICANTS" (I.e., Vol. II, p. 637, NOTE). . "ONE REMARKABLE DISTINCTION OF THE PRESENT STATE OF SOCIETY' SINCE El'Izabeth , IS that her Poor Act was expressly an Act FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF INDUSTRY INTENDED TO MEET THE MASS OF VAGRANCY THAT GREW OUT OF THE SUPPRESSION O� THE MONASTERIES AND TH� TRANSITION FROM SLAVERY TO FREE LABOUR. As an example of that, the Act of 5 Elizabeth, DIRECTING HOUSEHOLDERS USING HALF A PLOUGH OF LAND IN TILLAGE, TO REQUIRE ANY PERSON THEY MIGHT FIND UNEMPLOYED TO BECOME THEIR A:PRENTICE IN HUSBANDRY, OR IN ANY ART OR MYSTERY; and if u�willin TO BRING him BEFORE A JUSTICE, WHO WAS ALMOST COMPELLED TO COMMIT HIM TO ARD UNTIL HE CONSENTED TO BE BOUND. At the time of Elizabeth, of every 100 men it was necessary to employ 85 for the production of FOOD. AT PRESENT, not A LACK OF INDUSTRY, BUT OF PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT... THE GREAT DIFFICULTY THEN WAS TO . OVERCOME THE PROPENSITY OF IDLENESS AND VAGABONDAGE, NOT TO PROCURE THEM REMUNERATIVE OCCUPATION. DURING THIS REIGN THERE WERE SEVERAL ACTS OF THE LEGISLATURE TO ENFORCE THE IDLE TO LABOUR" (I.e., Vol. II, pp. 643, 644).
EXCHANGE FOR ITS ANNUITIES, THEY WOULD BECOME SOURCES OF NEW DEMAND, WITHOUT ENCROACHING UPON EXISTING CAPITAL" (I.e., pp. 54, 55). " WHATEVER AMOUNT OF PRODUCE IS WITHDRAWN FROM MARKET BY THE DEMAND OF THE SA VING CAPITALIST, IS POURED BACK AGAIN, WITH ADDITION, IN THE GOODS THA T HE REPRODUCES. The government, on the contrary, takes it away for consumption without reproduction. Whenever SAVINGS are made from REVENUE, it is clear that the person ENTITLED TO ENJOY THE PORTION SAVED IS SATISFIED WITHOUT CONSUMING IT. IT PROVES THAT THE IND'USTRY OF THE COUNTRY IS CAPABLE OF RAISING MORE PRODUCE THAN THE WANTS OF THE COMMUNITY REQUIRE. IF THE QUANTITY SAVED IS EMPLOYED AS CAPITAL IN REPRODUCING A VALUE EQUIVALENT TO ITSELF, TOGETHER WITH A PROFIT, THIS NEW CREATION, WHEN ADDED TO THE GENERAL FUND, CAN BE DRAWN OUT BY THAT PERSON ALONE WHO MADE THE SAVINGS, I.E. BY THE VERY PERSON WHO HAS ALREADY SHOWN HIS DISINCLINATION TO CONSUME... IF EVERYONE CONSUMES WHAT HE HAS A RIGHT TO CONSUME, THERE MUST OF NECESSITY BE A MARKET. WHOEVER SAVES FROM HIS REVENUE, FOREGOES THIS RIGHT, AND HIS SHARE REMAINS UNDISPOSED OF. SHOULD THIS SPIRIT OF ECONOMY BE GENERAL, THE MARKET IS NECESSARILY OVERSTOCKED, AND IT MUST DEPEND UPON THE DEGREE in which this SURPLUS ACCUMULATES, WHETHER IT CAN FIND NEW EMPLOYMENTS AS CAPITAL" ([pp.] 56, 57).
�
(Cf. this work in general in the section on accumulation.) (Cf. Notebook, p. 68 and p. 70, 1 1 where it is shown that the rate OF PROFITS and WAGES rose because of the prices, in consequence of wartime demand, WITHOUT ANY RESPECT "TO THE QUALITY OF LAND TAKEN LAST
" FIXED CAPITAL, WHEN ONCE FORMED, CEASES TO AFFECT THE DEMAND FOR LABOUR BUT DURING ITS FORMATION IT GIVES EMPLOYMENT TO JUST AS MANY HANDS AS A � EQUAL AMOUNT WOULD EMPLOY, EITHER OF CIRCULATING CAPITAl. OR OF REVENUE" .
INTO CULTIVATION " . )
(John . Barton, Obseroatwns on the Circumstances which influence the condition of1 the labounng classes of socIety, London, 1817, p. 56). .
"During the Revolutionary War, the market rate of [VII-29] interest rose to 7, 8, 9 and even 10%, although during the whole time LANDS OF THE LOWEST QUALITY WERE CULTIVATED" (I.e., pp. 64-66). 'The rise of interest to 6, 8, 10 and even 1 2% proves the rise of profit. The depreciation of money, SUPPOSING IT TO EXIST, could not alter anything in the relation of capital and interest. If [200 were now only worth [100, [10 interest would now only be worth [5. What AFFECTED the VALUE of the PRINCIPAL, WOULD EQUALLY AFFECT THE VALUE OF PROFITS. IT COULD NOT ALTER THE RELATION BETWEEN THE TWO" (p. 73). "R.icardo's argument that the price of WAGES cannot occasion a rise in the price of commodities, does not apply to a society in which A LARGE CLASS ARE NOT PRODUCERS" (I.c.). "MORE THAN THE JUST SHARE IS OBTAINED BY THE PRODUCERS AT
"The COMMUNITY consi�ts of 2 classes of persons, the one which CONSUMES and REP.RODUCES;. the other, which CONSUMES WITHOUT REPRODUCTION. If the whole of society conslste� of PRODUC.E�S, it would be of little consequence at what price they exchanged their commodities amongst each other; BUT THOSE WHO ARE ONLY
CONSUMERS FORM TOO NUMEROUS A CLASS TO BE OVERLOOKED. THEIR POWERS OF DEMANDING ARISE FROM RENTS, MORTGAGES, ANNUITIES, PROFESSIONS al1d SERVICES OF VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS RENDERED TO THE COMMUNITY. THE HIGHER THE PRICE AT WHICH THE CLASS OF CONSUMERS CAN BE MADE TO BUY, THE GREATER WILL BE THE PROFIT OF THE PRODUCERS UPON THE MASS OF COMMODITIES WHICH THEY SELL TO THEM Among these purely consuming classes, the government holds THE MOST PROMINEN; STATION" (W. Blake, Ob�eroations on the Effects produced by the expenditure of
government dunng the restnctwn of cash payments, London, 1823, pp. 42, 43).
In or?er to . show .that capital loaned to the State is not necessanly capital WhICh WAS previously EMPLOYED productively Blak� .argues that and her� w.e are concerned only with hi� admISSIOn that a part of capital IS always DORMANT"the error lies in supposing, ( 1 ) that the WHOLE CAPITAL of the COUNTRY [is]
FULLY EMPLOYED; (2) THAT THERE IS IMMEDIATE EMPLOYMENT FOR SUCCESSIVE ACCUMU LATIONS OF CAPITAL AS IT ACCRUES FROM SA VING. I BELIEVE THERE ARE AT ALL TIMES SOME PORTIONS OF CAPITAL DEVOTED TO UNDERTAKINGS THAT YIELD VERY SLOW RETURNS AND SLENDER PROFITS: AND SOME PORTIONS LYING WHOLLY DORMANT IN THE FORM OF GOODS, FOR WHICH THERE IS NO SUFFICIENT DEMAND.. Now, IF THESE DORMANT PORTIONS AND SAVINGS COULD BE TRANSFERRED INTO THE HANDS OF GOVERNMENT IN .
•
I
,
THE EXPENSE OF THAT PORTION, WHICH OF RIGHT B�LONGS TO THE CLASS WHO ARE ONLY CONSUMERS" ([p.] 74).
This is, of course, important, since capital is not exchanged for capital alone, but for revenue as well, and every capital can itself be consumed as revenue. Nevertheless, it has no bearing on the determination of profit in general. Profit, under the different forms of PROFIT, INTEREST, RENT, PENSIONS, taxes, etc. (just as EVEN part of the wages), may be distributed under different names and to different classes of the population. They can never distribute more among themselves than the total surplus value or the total surplus produce. The ratio in which they distribute it is, of cours� , important economically, but it has no bearing on the matter III hand.
•
1 70
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
AMOUNT OF THAT FUND and (I.e.,
"If the circulation of commodities of 400 MILLIONS required A CURRENCY of 40 MILLIONS, and this proportion of 1/1 0 was the DUE LEVEL, then, if the value of the commodities to be circulated increased to 450 millions, FROM NATURAL CAUSES, THE CURRENCY, IN ORDER TO CONTINUE AT ITS LEVEL, would have to increase to 45 millions, or the 40 MILLIONS MUST BE MADE TO CIRCULATE with such INCREASED RAPIDITY, BY BANKING OR OTHER IMPROVEMENTS, AS TO PERFORM THE FUNCTIONS OF 45 MILLIONS... S UCH AN AUGMENTATION, OR SUCH RAPIDITY, is the CONSEQUENCE and not the CAUSE of the INCREASE OF PRICES" (W. Blake, I.e., p. 80 et sqq. Cf. Notebook, p. 70). "The UPPER and MIDDLE CLASS in Rome obtained great wealth BY ASIATIC
Civilisation, London, 1846, Vol. I, p. 66). "In the 1 5th century, Harrison ASSERTS" (see also Eden a), "the FARMERS were scarcely ABLE TO PAY THEIR RENTS without SELLING A COW, OR A HORSE, OR SOME OF THEIR PRODUCE, although they paid at most £4 for a FARM ... THE FARMER IN THESE
TIMES CONSUMED THE CHIEF PART OF THE PRODUCE TO BE RAISED, HIS SERVANTS TAKING THEIR SEATS WITH HIM AT HIS TABLE... T HE PRINCIPAL MATERIALS FOR CLOTHING WERE NOT BOUGHT, BUT WERE OBTAINED BY THE INDUSTRY OF EACH FAMILY. THE INSTRUMENTS OF HUSBANDRY WERE SO SIMPLE THAT MANY OF THEM WERE MADE, OR AT LEAST KEPT IN REPAIR BY THE FARMER HIMSELF. EVERY YEOMAN WAS EXPECTED TO KNOW HOW TO MAKE YOKES OR BOWS, AND PLOUGH GEAR; SUCH WORK EMPLOYED THEIR WINTER EVENINGS "
I.e.,
Vol. II, pp. 324, 325).
Interest and profit : "Where an individual employs his own SAVINGS productively, [he obtains] the remuneration for HIS TIME AND SKILL-AGENCY FOR SUPERINTENDENCE (the profit further includes [an allowance for] the risk TO WHICH HIS CAPITAL MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED IN HIS PARTICULAR BUSINESS) ; and the remuneration for the PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT OF HIS SAVINGS, INTEREST. The whole of this remuneration is the gross profit. Where an individual employs the SAVINGS of another, he obtains the AGENCY ONLY. Where an individual lends his SAVINGS to another, [he obtains] only the INTEREST or the NET PROFIT" ( Westminster Review, JANUARY 1826, pp, 107, 108),
Therefore, here
INTEREST
=
NET PROFIT= REMUNERATION FOR THE PRODUCTIVE
EMPLOYMENTS OF SAVINGS; profit proper is the AGENCY FOR SUPERINTENDENCE DURING HIS PRODUCTIVE
The same philistine says:
remuneration for the
EMPLOYMENT.
"E VERY IMPROVEMENT IN THE ARTS OF PRODUCTION that DOES not DISTURB THE PROPORTIONS between the PORTIONS of CAPITAL dedicated and not dedicated to the PAYMENT FOR WAGES, IS ATTENDED WITH AN INCREASE OF EMPLOYMENT TO THE LABOURING CLASSES; every FRESH APPLICATION OF MACHINERY AND HORSE-LABOUR IS ATTENDED WITH AN INCREASE OF PRODUCE and consequently of capital; TO WHATEVER EXTENT IT MAY DIMINISH THE RATIO WHICH THAT PART OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL FORMING THE FUND FOR THE PAYMENT OF WAGES BEARS TO THAT WHICH IS OTHERWISE EMPLOYED, its tendency.is, NOT TO DIMINISH BUT TO INCREASE THE ABSOLUTE
a F. M. Eden, The State of the Poor; or, an history of the labouring classes in England
etc., Vol. I , London, 1797, pp. 1 19-20.- Ed.
HENCE TO INCREASE THE QUANTITY OF EMPLOYMENT
"
p. 1 23).
[MONEY AS MEASURE OF VALUES]
CONQUEST, BUT NOT BEING CREATED BY COMMERCE OR MANUFACTURES, IT RESEMBLED THAT OBTAINED BY SPAIN FROM HER AMERICAN COLONIES " (Mackinnon, History of
(Tuckett,
171
•
, as ll we a , re asu me as y ne mo of n � tio na mi ter de e th From e th f ty -tI a qu e t at th la tal en <:> � am nd fu e th � . ? secondly, from IS , Ion lat cu CIr of . Ity lOC ve m rta ce a g in m su as , m ' iu ed m .ty . CIrcuIatIng , ntI a qu e t h b y ' d an es m d o m m co e th of s ice pr e th by ed in m deter . , e th b or s, Ice pr rta ce at e lat cu y cir ich wh , es iti �� of the commod .ICh IS. Its lf, total price, the aggregate volume of commodIties Wh commod�I y f el ev l he ) 1 ( : � rs cto fa 2 � by ed in � rm te de , rn in tu . . m rta ce at g m lat cu CIr es Iti od m m co of y tit an qu e th ) prices, and (2 of s an me as y ne mo at th law e th m fro ly, ird th d, an rices re �e a t, en om m nt ce es an ev ely er m a , in co �irculation becomes led taI de e o m w llo fo e er th s, ge an ch ex it ! ich wh es lu token of the va s r fa so m d an re wh lop ve de
b
See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 51-170.- Ed.
172
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
factors which concern the quantity of commodities thrown into circulation, the rise and fall of prices, the velocity of circulation, the volume of simultaneous payments, etc., lie outside simple money circulation. They are relationships which are expressed in it; it gives, so to speak, the names to them; but they cannot be explained by its own differentiation. Different metals serve as money, which have different, varying value relations to one another. Thus the problem of the DOUBLE STANDARD, etc., comes in, a problem that assumes world-historical forms. But it assumes these forms, and the DOUBLE STANDARD itself comes in, only owing to foreign trade. Hence, if its analysis is to yield any useful results, far more highly developed relations must be examined than the simple monetary relation. Money as the measure of value is not expressed in quantities of bullion but in coins of account, arbitrary names for fractional parts of a definite quantity of the money substance . These names can be changed, relation of the coin to its metallic substance can be changed, while the name remains the same. Hence debasement, which plays a great role in the history of states. Further, the currencies of different countries. But this question is only of interest in connection with the rate of exchange. [VII-30] Money is measure only because it materialises labour time in a definite substance, hence is itself value, and, specifically, because this definite material is regarded as the generally objective material of value, as the material of labour time as such in distinction from its merely particular incarnations. Hence, because it is an equivalent. Yet, since in its function as measure, money is a merely notional point of comparison, and only needs to exist ideally for the commodities are translated into their general mode of existence as value only notionally; since, further, in this quality as measure, it figures only as coin of account, and I say that a commodity is worth so many shillings, francs, etc., when I translate it into money; this has given rise to the confusing notion of an ideal measure, a notion developed by Steuart a and freshed up in England at different periods, quite recently too, as a discovery of deep significance. That notion implies that the names pound, shilling, guinea, dollar, etc., which are current as units of account, are not definite denominations of definite quantities of gold, silver, etc., but merely arbitrary points of comparison which themselves express no value, no definite quantity of objectified labour time.
Hence the whole claptrap about fixing the price of gold and silver understanding by price the name given to [their] fractional parts. An ounce of gold is at present divided into [3 1 7s. IOd. This is called fixing the price; it is, as Locke correctly remarks: merely a fixing of the names of fractional parts of gold, silver. etc. Expressed in terms of itself, gold or silver is,. of course, equal to itself. An ounce is an ounce, whether I call It [3 or [20. In short, this ideal measure, in Steuart's sense, means this: If I say that commodity a is worth [12, commodity b [6 an.d commodity c [3, their proportion to one another= 1 2 : 6 : 3. TheIr prices merely express the ratios in which they are exchanged for one another. 2 b exchanges for l a, and 1 1 /2 b for 3 c. But instead of expressing the relation of a , b and c in real money, which itself possesses value, is value, could I . not just as w.ell replace .the f" which expresses a definite quantity of gold, WIth any arbItranly chosen name devoid of content (this is called ideal here), e.g. mackerel. A = 12 mackerels, b =6M, c =3M. The word M is here merely a name, without any relation at all to its specific content. Steuart's example of the degree, the minute and the second proves nothing; for although the degree, the minute and the second have a varying magnitude, they are not mere names, but always e�press the fractional part of a definite spatial magnitude or penod ?f time. So they do have a specific su�stance. The fact t�at money III its determination as measure functIons merely as notwnal money, is here converted into the proposition that money is any arbitrary notion, a mere name, the name for the numerical value relation, the name for a mere relation of numbers. Yet then the correct thing to do would be to use no names at all and only express the relation of numbers. For it all boils down to this: I get 6a for 12b, and 3b for 6c; these relations may also be expressed thus: a= 12x, b = 6x, c =3x, where x itself is merely a name for the relatio� of a to b and of b to c. But the simple, undenominated relatIon of numbers WOULD NOT DO. For a:b= 1 2:6=2: 1, and b:c=6:3=2: 1 . Therefore, C = I/2 . Therefore, b=I/2' therefore b=c. Therefore, a=2 and b=2; therefore, a=h. Suppose I take any list of prices current, e.g. potash, per cwt., 35s.; COCOA, per lb., 60s.; IRON BARS, per ton, 145s.; etc.b To have the relation of these commodities to one another, I may not merely forget the silver in the shilling: the mere numbers 35, 6.0 ' 145, etc., are sufficient to determine the mutual value relatIons of
a
•
1 73
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
•
See this volume, pp. 164-65.
•
a Ibid., pp. 184-85.- Ed.
. ' b Marx quotes the prices from different issues of The Economzst for the penod 6 February to 6 March 185S.-Ed.
1 74
1 75
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
potash, COCOA, iron bars. Numbers without any name at all are now sufficient; and not merely may I give their unit, the 1 , any name I like, without reference to any value; I need not give it any name whatsoever. Steuart insists that I must give it some name, but that this name, as a merely arbitrary one, as itself merely a MARKING OF
reached a certain stage of development as barter, hence is a normal operation which is repeated, and not merely an isolated .act of exchange, some other commodity appears as the measurmg unit, e.g. cattle in Homer.' In the case of the savage Papuan of the coast,
PROPORTION, CANNOT BE FIXED TO ANY PARTICULAR QUANTITY OF GOLD, SILVER OR ANY OTHER COMMODITY.
Whatever the measure in question, as soon as it serves as the point of comparison, i.e. as soon as the different things to be compared are posited in a numerical relation to the measure as unit, and are now related to one another, the nature of the meas,ure becomes irrele� ant an? disappears in the act of compari son Itself. The measunng umt has become merely a numerical unit; the quality of that unit, e.g . that it itself represents a definite length, or a definite period of time, or an angle of a certain de.gree, etc., has disappeared. But it is only when the different thI? gS are presupposed as already measured that the measuring unIt MARKS ONL Y [THE] PROPORTION BETWEEN THEM, e.g ., in our case, the p:oportion of thei.r val,ues. The unit of account not merely has dIfferent names m dIfferent countries; it is the nomen for different fractional parts of, e.g ., an ounce of gold. Yet they are all reduced to the same weight unit of gold or silver by means of the rate of exchange. Hence, if I assume the different commodity magnitudes to equal, e.g ., as above, 35 s., 60s., and 145 s., then since the unit in wh ich all of the m are represented is now assum�d to be the same . .e. . smce they �ave been made commensurable, it is quite' � Irrele� ant to. their compans. on that the shilling is a definite quantity of sIlver, the name for a definite amount of silver. But they only become comparable with one another as mere numerical ma�nitudes, as numbers of a�y unit with the same name, and only . ns . begm to express proportio m relation to one another when each individual commodity is measured in terms of that which serves as unit, as measure. And I can measure them in terms of each other, can make them commensurable, only in so far as they have a common element. This element is the labour time contained in both. Consequ.ent!y, th� measurinl? unit must be a certain quantity of a commodity m WhICh a quantity of labour is objectified. Since the same �uantity of labour is not always expressed in e.g., the same quantity of gold, the value of this measuring unit itself is variable. Bu � to. � h� �xtent t�at money is considered only as a measure, this vanabilIty IS no hmdrance. Even in barter, as soon as it has
who "to have a FOREIGN ARTICLE BARTERS 1 or 2 of his children, and if they are IN not at hand, borrows those of his neighbour, promising TO GIVE HIS"OWN 35 EXCHANGE, WHEN THEY COME TO HAND, HIS REQUEST BEING RARELY REFUSED,
no measure of exchange exists. The s�le aspect of exchan�e that , belongmg to exists for him is that he can appropnate a thmg another only by alienating a thing belonging to himself. This alienation itself is regulated for him only by his FANCY, ON THE ONE SIDE, and the extent of his MOVABLE property, on the other. . In The Economist, 1 3 March 1 858 [po 290], we read the followmg in a letter to the Editor:
"As THE SUBSTITUTION IN FRANCE OF GOLD FOR SILVER IN THE COINAGE (WHICH
HAS BEEN THE PRINCIPAL MEANS HITHERTO OF ABSORBING THE NEW DISCOVERIES OF GOLD) MUST BE APPROACHING ITS COMPLETION, PARTICULARLY AS LESS COINAGE WILL BE WANTED FOR A STAGNANT TRADE AND REDUCED PRICES, WE MAY EXPECT ERE LONG THAT OUR FIXED PRICE OF £3 1 7s< 101/2D< AN OUNCE WILL ATTRACT THE GOLD HERE." b
Now, what does this
OUR "FIXED PRICE OF AN OUNCE" OF GOLD mean? NOTHING ELSE BUT THAT A CERTAIN ALIQUOT PART OF AN OUNCE IS CALLED A PENNY, A CERTAIN MULTIPLE OF THIS PENNY-WEIGHT OF (,;OLD A SHILLING, AND A CERTAIN MULTIPLE OF THIS SHILLING-WEIGHT OF GOLD A POUND? Does the gentleman
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imagine that [VII-3 1] in other count�ies a go!d gulden, l�:>uis d'or, etc., do not, likewise, denote a certam quantity of gold, l.e. that a certain quantity [of gold] does not have. a fixed nam� ? and that this is a privilege of England? or a speCIal feature of . It? Does h.e believe that in England an ounce of gold expressed �n I?�ney I� more than an ounce of gold and that in other countr.Ies It. IS less. We would be curious to know what this worthy fellow Imagmes the rate of exchange to be. . . . What misleads Steuart is this: The pnces of commodItieS express nothing but the ratios in which they are exchangeable for one another, the proportions in which they exchan�e for one anot�er. Given these proportions, I can give the umt any naI?e I hke, because the undenominated abstract number would suffICe for the purpose, and instead of saying .that thi� commodity=6 stivers and that=3, etc., I could say that thIS=6 umts and thc�t . 3. I would not need' to give the unit any narpe at all. Since now It IS only a matter See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 1 1 0 and 127.- Ed. b H. Stansfeld, "Will the Low Rate of Interest Last? To the editor of The Economist" .- Ed. a
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Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
., .g E . d en tr e m sa e th to g in ng lo be the more recent writers an om h w g on am , rs b er B e th � o le p am � .mary Iron bar, ser es as a Urquhart adduces the ex � ag Im ly re u p a r, ba on ir an R, BA l ea id r b on Ir al r e th ., g e. , � If ." lls fa � or n s standard which neither riseb If ; rs ba on Ir 2 th or w is r ba 9 ea d falls [in value] by, say, 50 % , the [i ItS value after the fall� , [the f [o % 00 1 by n ai ag s se ri ar b . al re e th to s lm la so al t ar h qu U r. M � ]. ar b l ea [r e � . al cnse , nor ideal bar is worth] only on n st u d m or n � al ci er m m co er th ei n at th ed rv se ob have te bu � tt d an , rs be er B e � th g on � am � , still less monetary crises, occu� , l ea Id IS h T E. LU VA OF RD DA � A ST L � E ID IS th of this to the magical effects , cy n fa a e, lu va al re y ar II ag Im � imaginary standard is merely. a� y ar et on m e th se ca b ty ah re e Iv ct je � � which does not attain any ob op el ev d a s n Io at m m er et d er h rt fu s it . ns. It IS. he .ltlO system has not developed � n co t � n re fe if d e it qu on p u t en d en ep d ment which is or en p su a gn SI aS to y, og ol h yt m e same a,s if one wished, in th t ou d ke or w en be ot n e av h es ti ei d e os h w position to those religions , ts p ce n co of re h sp ? t to ed n fi n � � as visual images, but remain co . ce n te Is eX c tI tI ar an ot n t u b al � rb ve i.e . attain at most a ed rt ve n co r te la as w h IC h W , ar b on ir al re The BAR is based upon a ld go of ce n ou n A . ch su as d xe fi into an object of fantasy and 1 ELL. WELL. W . d / 0 1 . 7s 1 2 3 £ t= n u co ac . expressed in English coin of e th y tl ac ex en be ad h k sd of d Suppose that the price of a poun nese raw silk stood at £ 1 8s . ila M . g e. as , n lle fa r te la ad h t u b e, m sa c 8. ]5 18 [ ch ar M 2 1 on n do on L in . per lb on Ir an , on Ir of ty ti an qu a of e ag The ideal bar is the mental im r h ot l al ) 1 ( to t ec � sp re h it w le ab bar whose value is invari Is th e, rs u co f O � t. in d in ta n co � co�modities; (2 ) the labour time "STANDING d an d xe fI as e It qU ot n ly iron bar is purely imaginary, on and, nearly 1 0 0 ear� l�ter, � Steuart LIKE A ROCK IN THE SEA", as d xe fI IS h I h w r b on ir e th t � ou ab � Urquhart believe. The only thing , es n o l ea Id 2 s se n p m co ar b on ir al re is its name; in one case, the e, m sa e th at th ay w a ch su in ed ss in the other, only 1 . This is expre and at a other= 1 real [bar]. If , 2 = e m ti e � n o at ar b l ea id , le ab ri va in , e g an ch a h r � b n o Ir al re � e � this is granted, only the relation ofinthone case the Id IS ar b n Ir l ea � , CT the ideal one has not. BUT IN FA e am n S It l n o an , se ca er th � o � e th h it w double its length compared A ed ll ca IS n o Ir f o s lb 0 10 . g e. , n is unchanged . On the one occasio . n 20 0 [lbs) BA R, on the other occasio
of the numerical relation, [I] can give the unit any name I like. But here it is already presupposed that these proportions have been given, that the commodities have prior to this become commensurable magnitudes. Once magnitudes have been posited as co�mensur�ble, the relations between them become simple numencal relatIOns. Money appears precisely as measure, and a definite quantity of the commodity in which it is represented [appea:s] as the measuring unit employed to determine the proportwns, to express the commodities as commensurable AND TO HANDLE them accordingly. The real common element is labour time, which is relatively objectified in them. But labour time itself is posited as general. . The process by :vhich values within the money system are determmed by labour time does not come within the consideration of money itself and falls outside circulation; it stands behind circulation as its motivating basis and presupposition. The 9ue�tion could only be this: Instead of saying this �oI? modIty IS=tO an ounce of gold, why do we not say directly that It IS=tO x labour time objectified in the ounce of gold? Why is labour time, the substance and measure of value, not also the �easure of . pric�s; or, in other words, why are price and value dIfferent thmgs m general? The Proudhonist school believe to be doi?g something great in demanding that this identity should be posIted �nd that the J?ric.e of commodities should be expressed in labou: time. The comcIdence of price and value implies the equahty of demand a�d supply, the simple exchange of equival ents (hence not of capItal for labour), etc. In short, formulated in economic terms, it is immediately obvious that this demand is the negation of the entire groundwork of production relations based on exchange value. Yet, if we assume this basis to have been a�olishe? , the . problem itself is eliminated, for it only exists on and wI�h thIS basIs. To say . that the commodity, in its immediate eXIsten�e as use value, IS not value, not the adequate form of v�lue, IS the. sa�e as saying that it is value if transposed into a dIfferent obJectI�e form or if equated to another object;. or that value possesse� Its adequate form in a specific object as distinct from other objects. As values commodities are objectified labour; hence adequate value must itself appear in the form of a definite object, as a definite form of objectified labour. Steuart supports his drivel about the ideal standard with 2 historical examples. T�e first of these, the bank money of Amsterdam, s� ows preCIsely the opposite, since it means nothing but the reduction of the circulating coinage to its bullion content (metallic content). The second example has been echoed by all of
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, 57 18 r be m ve No 25 , 22 o. N , ess Pr ee Fr e [D. Urquhart,] "Currency" , Th pp. 545 and 546.- Ed. b Mil-rx has " 100%" .- Ed9,. 13 March 1858 , p. 300.- Ed. The Economist, No. 75 . 7 10 p. , II . ol V , my no eco O l ica lit Po of les cip in Pr n Inquiry into the d J. Steuart, A a
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Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Suppo�e that money w�s issued which represented labour time, F.1. hour tickets; some baptismal name could be arbitrarily bestowed . � pon them m turn, e.g. one pou.nd; I /2? of an hour would be Is., /240 of an hour I d. Gold and sIlver, lIke all other commodities d�pending on the prod�ction time they cost, would expres� dIfferent MULTIPLES or fractIOnal parts of pounds, shillings, pence; and an ounce of gold might just as well=£8 6s. 3d. as £3 1 7s. 10 �/2d. These . number� would always express the proportion in WhICh a certam quantity of labour is contained in the ounce. Instead of saying that £3 1 7s. 10 1/2d., equal to one ounce of gold, now costs only 1/2Ib. of silk, we can imagine that the ounce now=£7 1 5s. 9d., or that £3 1 7s. 1 0 1/2d. is now only equal to half an ounce, because that money is now only half its value. Comparing prices in En�land . in, e.g., the 15th century with those m the 18th, we mIght fmd that two commodities had precisely th� sa.me nominal money value, e.g., £ 1 stg. Here the poun� sterlmg IS the standa!d, but in the first case it expresses 4 or 5 Umes as �uch value �s I ? the second, and we could say that if the value of thIS cO.mmodIty m the 1 5th century was= I /4 ounce, in the 1 8th century It was= 1 ounce of gold, because in the 1 8th century . 1 .ounce of gold expresses the same labour time as 1/4 ounce dId m the 15th century. It might therefore be said that the measure, the pound, had remained the same, but in one case it ,:"as equal to four times as much gold as in the other. This is the zdeal standard. People of the 1 5th century, if they had lived until the 1 8th, could have made the same comparison as we have done and �ould have said that 1 ounce of gold, now worth £ 1 stg., wa� prevIOusly worth .only 1/4, Now 4 pounds of gold is worth no more than 1 was,. e.g., m the. 1 5t� century. If this pound was previously called th� lIvre, � c�n Imagme that a livre then was=4 pounds of gold, whIle now It IS only= 1 ; that the value of gold has changed, but the measure of value, the livre, has remained unchanged. IN F�CT, a livre originally signified in France and England 1 pound of sIlver, and now only 1/,. Hence it can be said that the name livre the standard, has always remained nominally the same, but silve; has, by contrast, changed its [VII-32] value. A Frenchman who had lived from th� time o� Charlemagne up to the present day could say that the lIvre of sIlver had always remained the standard �f valu�, unchanged, but that, while it was once worth 1 pound of sIlver, It had, because of a diversity of circumstances, eventually come to b� wort.h only /, of half an ounce. The yard, although the same, IS �f dIfferent length in different countries. It is, IN FACT, the same as If, e.g., the product of a day' s labour, the gold that
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d an e, vr � l e m na e th n ve gi e er w y, da ng ki or w can be mined in one ry ve g sm es pr ex gh u th al e, m sa e th � this livre always remained . a s. od en p t en er . different quantities of gold at dIff h It W ry u nt ce h 5t 1 e th f o g lin er st d n ou p When we compare the e th e ar o tw e h T ? it o d e w o d ct fa that of the 1 8th century, how in en th r fo e; lu va nt re fe � di of t bu ), s. 20 = .It IS now. Hence, we say same quantity of metal (each as h uc m as es m ti 4 th or w as w al et m the y. da to ns ai nt co it al et m of nt ou am that then the livre = 4 times the , d ge an ch n u ed ai m re ad h re liv e th ? at And one could imagine th . o n 1 ly on h It w ed ar � p m co as .III ten s of the quantit but was = 4 real gold livres then y ot n t, ec rr co ly � ve ti la re ly on be That would IS th d an e; lu va s It of s rm te in t u b , re liv of metal contained in the 1/ a 4 th n f e t? in ly � ve ti ta ti an u � q � ed ss re p value itself is , in turn, ex l, ca ti en Id IS re hv e � t ; L EL W . ow n ld livre of gold then = 1 livre of go t n rr cu e th t on ti la re � y (b ld go <;> of e but then it was = 4 REAL libra se n or l al � S It � an , lu va i lls fa ld go If � . ? value), and is only = 1 now of d ea st m , ce n p r eI th m ed ss re relative to other articles is exp , 2 s st co ow n ld go of 1 £ st co y sl ou vi re .IS now worth saying that an object which p d n u o p a t u b d n u o p a s st co ill st it at it could be said th c. et s, re liv ld go al re 2 s se � p m co 1 2 real gold livres, etc. ; henc� £ am I , 1 £ r fo ay d er st ye y It d o m m co IS Instead of saying: I sold th ay d er st ye t u b , 1 £ r fo it ll se I at selling it today for £4, I can say th £ 1 of 4 real pounds. r fo ay d to d an , £ al re 1 of £ a r fo e th �s on so as , ly al ic at m to au ed in m All other prices are deter ; ed sh bh ta es n ee b as h e on y ar in relation of the real BAR to the imag ween the past value of the BAR et b n o is ar p m co e th ly p m si is is th d . an r u o l al o d to e er w e w If as e and its present value. It is the sam 5th centur , FOR INST�NCE. What 1 e th f o g y n li er st £ e th in s n o ti la u calc e th e, ag n co f o d km e m sa e � th es ac tr the historian must do who t n te n co hc al et m e m sa e th f o in same name of account for a co ons it in present-� ay money, ck re e h en h w , es ri tu n ce e th h g u ro th ld o g f o ty ti an u q r l al s or � . having to equate it with a gr�atervalue � s Ie u n ce t en fe If d m � : g ' m : depending on the coin s chang f o g n v n st e th IS It . ro � eg N r o this precisely is done by the Berber e, too, the monetaI umt, the lu J: va as in ta n ai m to ed lis vi ci im se the as e lu va IS th ld o h p u to ; re su ea m as quantity of metal which serves e th , er ev w o h e, m ti e m sa e th a fixed measure as well. At . ed g an ch as h R BA e th f o e lu va al re e shrewdness of knowing that th
e n ou e th y ur nt ce th � 18 e th n "I e: ag ss pa g in . . 4 ounces of gal?, III a Here Marx crossed out the follow I.e y, ur nt ce th 15 e th in as w it e lu va e th of 1/4 ly of gold was on as n ke ta e er w " ce un "o e m na e th If r. ie rl ea s terms of value is 1 ounce 3 centurie the ounce in the 15th century was worth 4 the unit of ac�ount, one could say thatEd. real ounces, in the 1 8th only one."-
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Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
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Si.nce this Berber has few commodities to measure, and tradition is still fr�sh �mong the. �ncivilised, this complicated method of calculatIon �s not so diffIcult as it appears to be. 1 ounce Is=£3 1 7s. 1 0 1 /2d., i.e. not quite =£4. For the sake of conveni�nc� let us assume it is exactly =£4. Then 1 /4 of an ounce of . gold IS given the nan;te of pound, and serves under this name as com .of acc�>unt. B �t thIS pound changes its value; partly it does so relatively, m relation to the value of other commodities whose value alters, an� partly in so far :'ls it is itself the product of more or less labour time. The one thmg constant about it is its name and the quantity, th� fractional part of the ounce, the weight-par� of gO.ld w�ose baptismal name it is; i.e. the weight-part of gold contaIned In a PIECE OF MONEY CALLED ONE POUND. The sa�age seeks t� uphold it as unchanging value, and so it is the quantIty of metal It contains that changes for him. If the value of gold falls by 50%,a in his view the pound is still the measure of value, but a £ of 2/4 ounce of gold, etc. He sees the pound as always equal to an amount of gold (iron) which has the same value. But since this value changes, the pound is equal now to a greate� and now to a smaller quantity of real gold or iron, accordmg as m?�e or less of them must be given in exchange for othe: comn;todItles . . He compares the present value with the prev�o� s w�ICh .functIOns for him as the STANDARD and lives on only m hIS ImagmatIon. Consequently, rather than reckoning in terms of 1 /4 ounce of gold whose value varies, he reckons in terms of the possessed previously, i.e. by reference to an �alue. 1 /4 ounce of gold . Imagmary, . unchangmg value of 1 /4 ounce, which, however, is expressed m varying quantities. On the one hand, he seeks to � phold the measure of value as constant in value; on the other, he IS shrewd enough not to come to any harm in applying this roundabout �ethod of calculation. In assimilating the measuring o� values With money, a procedure imposed on them from w.lthout, the s�mi-savages first displace it and then, out of this dIsplacement, fm� their .bearings again. But it is utterly absurd to regar? that fortUltou � dIsplacement �s an organic historical form or, still worse, to set It up as somethmg superior in opposition to more . develo�ed relations. These savages, too, proceed from a quantI�y, the. �ron bar; but they uphold as a unit of account the value It tradItlonally possessed, etc: The whol � problem acquired its significance in modern political economy chIefly because of 2 circumstances: a
Marx has
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g rin du . e.g d, a';l gl En in es ti nt re ffe di at ed en pp ha s � ha ( 1 ) It e ov ab se ro on lh bu ld go of ce pn e th at th ar W the Revolutionary be o d re ea �p on en om en � ph al ric sto hi p is Th . ld go ed that of coin l na l( c fra te fIm de by d sse sse � po � es m na e th irrefutable proof that , ng Ilh sh d, un po al) et m us io ec pr e th f (o ld go weight-parts of s lve se em th t uc nd co s es oc pr e bl ica pl ex in e m so by pence, etc. e. ar ey th es m na e os wh e nc ta bs su e th s rd wa to tly en independ e th an th e or m rth wo be ld go of e nc ou an d ul Otherwise, how co e nc ou an d ul co 1 w ho r O ? / d. 10 . 7s 1 £3 2 to in ed in co same ounce e th ely er m is re liv , if ld go of s re liv 4 an th e of gold be worth mor name for 1 /4 ounce? e on to e du s wa is th at th d ale ve re r, ve we ho n, tio ga Closer investi e m na e th r de un ed lat cu cir ich wh s in co e of two causes. Either, th F.} ., t; en nt co ic all et m al rm no e th of er ng lo no CT of pound were IN FA f (o ld go of e nc ou e on ly on d he ig we CT FA IN ds un po 5 circulating d 1/4 te en es pr re ly ib ns te os at th in co a e nc Si s). es en fin the same s wa it ' 1( d te se re re ly on ct fa in s) 5 ut bo ea er � 'p th ounce of gold (or e nc he s; £ g m lat cu Clr ch su 5 e= nc ou e th at th le ab nd quite understa , as £ 1 IN ICE PR NT MI e th e ov ab se ro ICE PR ION LL that the value of the BU 1 1 / ly on t bu , /4 ed at in 5 m no de er ng lo no d, te en es FACT no longer repr 1 e . nc ou / r fo e m na e th ly on 5 w no s wa ; ld go of e nc . ou t en nt co iC all et m e th gh ou th en ev , en wh Or the same happened al rm no e th w lo be n le � fa t no d ha n io lat cu cir .iated paper of the gold coins in ec pr de th Wi sly ou ne ta ul sim ed lat cu cir ey th , re su ea m . em th rt po ex d an ow ? em th t el m to d ite ib ? money, and it was proh . £ a of rm f e th m g tm la cu Clr ld go 1 � of e nc ou . In this case, the /4 m ld go Ich wh o fr te fa a s, te no e th of n � tio ia ec pr de shared in the e th 3] -3 II [V : am ag CT FA e m sa e th s wa It bullion was exempt. * 1 r /4 fo e m na e th be to ed as ce d ha d" " un po name of account s wa e nc ou he T y. tit an qu r le al sm a r fo e m na e th ounce was e th at th , en th , nt ea m s hi T . ds un po ch su 5 , g. theref�re equal to, e. NT PRICE. MI e th e ov ab en ris d ha ICE PR N IO BULL as st ju all , en om en ph al ric sto hi s ou � og al .first SO it was these or an at � t s, ne se e m sa e th to g in ng lo be l al d an simple to explain at th ew vi e th or e, ur as me l ea id e th of n sio us sc di e th gave rise to d an on ris pa m co of t in po a y el er m be ld ou sh . money as measure n tte wn en be ve ha es m lu vo of s ed dr un H y. tit an qu not a definite on this CASE in England over the last 1 50 ye�rs . m . a of e lu v e th e ns a t ou ab ge
th e ov ab ice pr nt mi e th ise ra y ma e ag or gn sei . try un co * Within a given pnce . •
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Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
making (shaping) of coin involves the addition of new labour. But the value of a particular kind of coin may rise above its bullion �ontent for other reasons too. Yet this is without any economic Interest whatsoeve �, and has not given rise to any economic i?vestigations. All It means is that for definite purposes gold or sIlver WAS REQUISITE precisely in this form, SAY OF BRITISH POUNDS OR OF �PANISH �OLLARS . .The B �nk directors naturally had a particular Interest In provIng that It was not a fall in the value of the notes but a rise in that of gold. The latter problem can only be deal� with later. (2) But the theolJ' ?f the IDEAL MEASURE OF VALUE was first put fon:va�d at the begInnIng of the 1 8th century, and was raised agaIn ill the second decade of the 1 9th century, in connection with matters in which money figured not as measure, or as means of exchange, but as an invariable equivalent, as value-for-itself (money in its third determination) and hence as the universal material of contracts. On both occasions, the point at issue was whether or not State and other debts contracted in a depreciated money sh �uld be paid back and honoured in money of full value. The question was merely one between the creditors of the State and the mass of the nation. This question as such does not concern us here. Those who demanded a readjustment of claims on the o�e hand, and of obligations, on the other, strayed into th� wrong fIeld by asking whether the STANDARD'"-OF MONEY should be altered or not. In this connection, such CRUDE theories were advanced about the STANDARD OF MONEY, the fixing of the price of gold, etc.
precisely their opponents that put forward this theory of the "ideal STANDARD" , and the creditors themselves that opposed it. Instead of simply demanding a READJUSTMENT, or that the creditors of the State should only be paid back the quantity of gold which they had in fact advanced, they demanded that the STANDARD should be lowered in proportion to the depreciation; that is, e.g., if the £ sterling had fallen to 1 /5 ounce of gold, the name pound should in future be borne by this 1 /5 ounce, or the pound should perhaps be coined into 2 1 shillings instead of into 20. This lowering of the STANDARD was called raising the value of money, since the ounce would now be equal to £5 instead of, as previously, to £4. So they did not argue that those who had advanced, e.g., one ounce of gold in 5 depreciated pounds should now get back only 4 pounds of full value. They said, rather, that the creditors should get back £5, but that in future the pound should express 1 /20 ounce less than it did before. When they put forward this demand in England after the RESUMPTION OF CASH PAYMENTS, the coin of account had regained its previous metallic value. In this connection other CRUDE theories about money as the measure of value were also advanced, and on the pretext that those theories were false, which was easy to demonstrate, the interests of the creditors of the State were smuggled through. The first conflict of this kind. was that between Locke and Lowndes. From 1688 to 1695, the loans of the State were contracted in depreciated money depreciated because all the full-weight money had been melted down, leaving only light money in circulation. The guinea had risen to 30 shillings. Lowndes (Master of the Mint?) wanted to have the £ sterling reduced by 20%; Locke insisted on maintaining the OLD STANDARD of Elizabeth. In 1695,a the remelting, the GENERAL RECOINAGE. Locke carried the day: debts contracted when the guinea passed current for 1 0 or 14 shillings were discharged at the RATE OF 20 shillings. This was equally advantageous to the State and the landed proprIetors.
1 82
("ALTERING THE STANDARD [is] LIKE ALTERING THE NATIONAL MEASURES OR WEIG�TS''' Steuart [An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy, Vol. II, Dub1m, 1 770, p. 1 1 0].
It is immediately obvious that a nation's stock of grain is not altered by the volume of the bushel being, e.g., doubled or reduced by half. But such a change would be of great importance to, e ..g., tenant farmers who had to discharge corn rents in a , defImte number of bushels, i.e. if the size of the measure had been doubled, and they had to supply the same number of bushels as before.) In this case, it was the .creditors of the State who clung to the , abstraction from the fractional weight-part of name p�)Un? , In gold whIch It expressed, and hence to the "ideal STANDARD" for IN FACT this �s merely the name of account of the weight-part of the metal WhICh serves as measure. Singularly enough, however, it was
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"Lowndes put the question upon the wrong footing. First he maintained that his SCHEME implied no DEBASEMENT of the former STANDARD. Then he ascribed the rise of the price of BULLION to the intrinsic value of silver, and not to the LIGHTNESS OF [the] COIN with which it was bought. He always supposed that the STAMP, and not the substance, made the CURRENCY. Locke, for his part, only wondered whether or not Lowndes' scheme implied a DEBASEMENT but he did not analyse the interests of those who are engaged in PERMANENT CONTRACTS. MR.
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1696.- Ed.
185
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
LOWNDES'S GREAT ARGUMENT FOR REDUCING THE STANDARD WAS, THAT SILVER BULLION WAS RISEN TO 6s. 5D. PER OUNCE (I.E. THAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN BOUGHT WITH 77 PENCE OF SHILLINGS OF 1/77 PART OF A POUND TROY), and therefore he was of the opinion that the POUND TROY SHOULD BE COINED INTO 77 shillings, which was a DIMINUTION
n me art qu or d, yar e Th . ers oth all m fro t en fer dif ite qu ard nd "Silver is a sta IT s, nd ha n's rso pe ' rd thi a or s, ler sel or r's ye bu the in t measure by, may res AINS, IT IS TH E RG of BA re asu me the ly on t no is er silv t Bu IS. IT E OS WH T NO MATTERS , AS BEING ler sel the to r ye bu the m fro s sse pa e erc mm co in d an R, FO ED AIN THING BARG
INTEREST OF THE CROWN, WERE ONLY ATTENDED TO. TRADE AT THAT TIME WAS ALMOST AT A STOP, AND HAD BEEN RUINED BY A PIRATICAL WAR... RESTORING THE STANDARD WAS THE MOST FAVOURABLE, BOTH FOR THE LANDED INTEREST AND THE EXCHEQUER; AND SO IT WAS GONE INTO" (Steuart, I.e., Vol. II, pp. 178, 179).
(pp. 1 19, 120 ).
1 84
RES THE ASU ME LY ON T NO IT SO D AN ; LD SO ING TH E TH TO T EN AL UIV EQ Y TIT AN IN SUCH A QU AS OF IT. R E FO NG HA EXC IN EN GIV IS T BU . TO D LIE APP IS IT ITY OD MM CO E VALUE OF TH ). 92 (p. E" ELS ING TH D NO AN Y, TIT AN QU ITS BY LY ON ES DO IT IS TH T BU EQUAL VALUE. OF ANY TS PAR OT IQU AL TO RE ASU PLE AT S ME NA OF ING GIV T BU NG BEI G "THE RAISIN Y , MA NY PEN A D LLE CA BE LL SHA E NC OU AN OF T PAR TH TIE SIX E TH W NO PIECE, VIZ. THAT S, HA ON LLI BU AT TH EGE VIL PRI HE "T . 18) (1 " ASE PLE U YO SE REA INC AT BE DONE WITH WH LET IN, CO R E OU OV AB CE PRI IN E NC VA AD TLE LIT A IT E GIV L WIL , ELY TO BE EXPORTED FRE IS ERE TH T ILS WH , ASE PLE U YO AS LEN FAL OR D, ISE RA BE AT TH OF THE DENOMINATION " LAW BY D ITE HIB PRO IS IN CO R OU OF N TIO TA OR NEED OF ITS EXPORTATIO N, AND THE EXP
of the value of the [ sterling by 20% or lIs . Locke answered him that the 77d. WERE PAID IN CLIPPED MONEY, and that they were not in weight above 62 PENCE STANDARD COIN . But ought a man who had borrowed [1,000 sterling in THIS CLIPPED MONEY to be obliged to pay back [1 ,000 IN STANDARD WEIGHT? Both Lowndes and Locke exa�ine� only very slightly the influence of changes in the STA�DARD upon the . rel�uonshlp between debtors and creditors... In those days, the credit system was sull lIttle developed in England . . . THE LANDED INTEREST and THE
Steuart remarks about the whole
TRANSACTION
ironically:
"By this RAISING OF THE ST�NDARD, the government gained considerably upon the. score of taxes, and the creditors upon their capital and interest; and the nation, whICh was t�e PRINCIPAL LOSER, was quite PLEASED, because its standard" (i.e. the measure of Its own value) "was not DEBASED; thus ALL THE THREE PARTIES WERE SATISFIED" (I.e., Vol. II, p. 1 56).
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Cf., in John Locke, Works, 4 vols, 7th edition, London, 1 768, the essay Some Considerations of the [Consequences of the] Lowering of Inter�st, a,,!,d Raising the Value of Money (169 1 ) and also Further Constderatwns concerning raising the value of Money, wherein Mr. Lowndes's arguments fo � it, in �is �ate Repor� concerning "An Essay for , the amendment of the stlver COlns are parttcularly examined, both in
Vol. II. The first treatise says, among other things:
. [VII-34] "THE RAISING OF MONEY, about which so much nonsense is talked now, IS EITHER RAISING [the] VALUE OF OUR MONEY. and you cannot do that; or RAISING :HE DENOMINATION OF OUR COIN" (I?' 53). "Call, e.g., a crown what formerly was . I called \ a crown. The value remams determmed by the metallic content. I F THE ABATING 120 OF THE QUANTITY OF THE SILVER OF ANY COIN DOES NOT LESSEN ITS VALUE' THE ABATING 19120 OF THE QUANTITY OF THE SILVER OF ANY COIN WILL NOT ABATE ITS VALUE. SO according to this theory, A SINGLE THREEPENCE, OR A SINGLE FARTHING,
BEING CALLED A CROWN, WILL BUY AS MUCH SPICE OR SILK, OR ANY OTHER COMMODITY, AS A CROWN PIECE WHICH CONTAINS 20 OR 60 TIMES AS MUCH SILVER" (p. 54). "The RAISING OF MONEY is therefore nothing but GIVING A LESS QUANTITY OF SILVER THE STAMP AND DENOMINATION OF A GREATER" (I.e.). "The STAMP of the mint was a guar�ntee to the PUBLIC that under SUCH A DENOMINATION so much silver was contamed" (p. 57). IT IS SILVER, AND NOT NAMES, THAT PAYS DEBTS AND PURCHASES COMMODITIES" (p ' . 58). "The mint stamp suffices as a guarantee of the weight and . fmenes .s of the pIece of money, but lets the GOLD MONEY SO COINED FIND ITS OWN RATE, lIke other commodities" (p. 66). In general, by the RAISING OF MONEY you can only make "MORE MONEY IN TALE", but not more "MONEY IN WEIGHT AND WORTH" "
(p. 73).
[In the second essay:]
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in e ris e th at th ed gu ar d ha s de wn Lo , ke Loc th In his conflict wi r ise a en be d ha er th at th ct fa e th to e du s wa � ON LLI . . the price of BU .m the value of the com of account (I.e in its value and hence a fall al on cti fra a of lue va e th , en ris d ha ON LLI BU of because the value s wa ion sit po me sa e Th . n) lle fa d ha [, d lle ca at part of it, th em m r he ot e th d an d oo tw At N -ME NG LLI SHI LELITT e th adopted by 36 tt" be ob (C s. rd wa on 9 1 8 1 m fro L, OO CH S am gh in rm Bi e th bers of L NA TIO NA OF T EN STM DJU N-A NO : sis ba ht rig e th on n tio had put the ques ry eo th t ec rr co in s hi by ng hi yt er ev ed oil sp t bu .; etc DEBTS, RENTS, at ed riv ar he , gh ou en y dl Od . ey on m r pe pa g tin jec re er altogeth at th iss em pr t ec rr co in e m sa e th m fro ng di ee oc this conclusion pr l cu cir of ns ea m e th of y tit an � qu e th by ed in rm te price was de . n. ) TheIr . e conclusIO tion as led Ricardo to draw the OpposIt s: se ra ph ng wi llo fo e th in d ise pr m co is om sd wi ole wh s: ask el Pe R. ir � E ERC MM CO OF BER AM CH m ha ng mi Bir the h wit el . "In his quarr
mmt Ge e Th . IOn est Qu ncy rre Cu e Th ( ?" NT ESE PR RE TE NO D UN PO UR YO "WHAT WILL in gold) . "Wh t able � Letters, London, 1844, pp. 266) (i.e. the pound note if not redeem It es do d., �/ O 1 7s. 1 [3 .. ? UE � VA OF D AR ND 2 STA T SEN PRE the . by d oo rst is to be unde Ir the by gs thm l cal t rio y wh lf, itse nce ou the If ue? val its or d gol of ce denote one oun d an S ING ILL SH DS, UN PO of d tea ins S AIN GR D AN TS, IGH WE NY PEN ES, NC names, and say OU ). 269 (p. R" TE BAR OF TEM SYS ECT DIR A TO k bac us ng bri PENCE? This would
le op pe if ed in ga ve ha d oo tw At r. M d ul wo at (Not QUITE. But wh " T IGH WE NY PEN said' "ounce" instead of [3 1 7s. 10 1/2d. , and "so many ience in en nv co of ke sa e th r fo at Th "? ng lli hi "s instead of s, ow sh ich wh rts pa l na tio ac fr e th to n ve gi e ar calculation names to en ali n io at in rm te de l cia so a n ve gi re he is al et m e th besides, that d's oo tw At st ain ag or r fo r he eit ce en id ev is th it in what sense is theory?)
at ld go is y wh d., 1/ 10 . 17s [3 e= nc ou an If ? 2 lue va the "Or does it denote S HA D UN PO ON SSI PRE EX the ... .? 9d . 17s [3 ain ag n the d an different periods [5 4s. " W. Cobbett, Paper against Gold.-Ed. 8-785
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Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
REFERENCE TO VALUE; BUT NOT A FIXED STANDARD VALUE. . . LABOUR IS THE PARENT OF COST, AND GIVES THE RELATIVE VALU E TO GOLD OR IR ON ."
(And this is IN FACT why the value of one ounce and of [ 3 1 7s. 1 10 /2d. are both variable.) " W:HATEVER
LABO
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DENOMINA TION OF WORDS AR E USED TO EXPRESS THE DAlL Y OR WEEKL Y OF A MAN, SUCH WORDS EXPRESS THE
270). The word
COST OF THE COMMODITY PRODUC " ED
ONE POUND IS THE IDEAL UNIT"
(p. 27 2) .
(p.
This last proposition is significant because it sh the.ory of the " IDEAL UNIT " boils down to the deman ows how the d fo r a mone WhICh s�ould represent labour directly. " POUND " w express!on for, e. g ., 1 2 days' labour. It is demould then be th� . an d �t�rmmatIon �f v�lue should not give rise to that ded that the o f m one as a dIstmct determmatIon, or that labour's being � th e m ea su e of values s�ould �ot lead to the labour objectified in a pa rt ic u la r o m m o d It y � m g. made t�e measure of other values. The � Importa� t thmg IS that thIS demand is here standpomt o f the b�urgeois economy (thus, ammade from the o n Gray, who really carnes the matter to the extrem g others, b and of who� �e shall . speak presently) and not from that o f thee,neg ation of the ourgeOls economy, as was the case with, . e. g ., Bra . The Proudholllsts (see, e. g ., Mr. Darimon a) have in postulate . the demand, b?th as one correspond fact man; ed t in day relatIons C?f I?�oductIon, and as a great inno g to the fesen� va ti o n, a �emand totally revolutlOlllsmg these relation s. They ca beca� se, lI.ke the crapauds b they are, they o f n afford to do so co nothm� whatsoever of what has been written urse need know o r th o �ther �de of .the Channel. AT ALL EVENTS, the simple faugcthtthon th at th: eman was fIrst put forward more than 5 0 ye ar s of .bfurgeois economists in England, shows in a 0 b a soc�a IStS wh � pretend thereby to be advancing itself ho� f!;��� so m et h in g n ew an d n t �f b o u rg eo ls h ve strayed onto the wrong track. On the deman � � d Itse , see above. (Here we can only bring in a few points from Gray. A s for the rest we can only go in to th e d et ai ls of this matter : when we come to dISCUSS banking.) [MONEY AS MEANS OF C IRCULATION A N D AS IN DEPENDENT VALUEj
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As regards money as an equivalent that remain s eq u al to itself e. as value as such, and hence as' the material of al l contracts, i� a
Se� 'p�esent edition, Vol. 28 , pp. 51 -72.- Ed . b Phllistmes (literally : toads).- Ed. See present edition, Vol. 28 , pp. 60-93.- Ed.
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1 87
is obvious that changes in the value of the material in which it is represented (directly, as in gold or silver, or indirectly, as a draft upon a specific quantity of gold, silver, etc., in the form of notes) must give rise to great revolutions between the different classes of a State. This is not to be examined here, since the relations in question can only be discussed given a knowledge of the differ ent economic relations. [VII-35] Only so much by way of illustratIon. In the 1 6th and 1 7th centuries, as is well known, the depreciation of gold and silver, resulting from the discovery of America, lowered the standing of the working class and of the landed proprietors, and raised that of the capitalists (especially the industrial capitalists). In the Roman Republic, the plebeians became the slaves of the patricians because of the APPRECIATION of copper.a •
"Since the largest sums had to be paid in copper, one had to accumulate this metal either IN MASSES or as shapeless fragments which could be given and accepted by weight. Copper in this state was called aes grave. b Metal MONEY was weighed." //Initially, the copper circulating among the Romans bore no stamp; later it bore the stamp of foreign mints. Seroius rex ovium boumque effigie primus aes signavitC (Pliny, Historia Naturalis, Book 18, Ch. 3).// "After the patricians had accumulated a mass of this dull and rough metal, they sought to get rid of it either by buying from the plebeians all the lands which the latter agreed to sell to them or by lending it out at long term. They were forced to sell cheap a value which was an inconvenience to them, and which they had acquired without cost. The competition between all those who wished to get rid of it was bound to result in a considerable decline in the price of copper in Rome in a short time. At the beginning of the 4th century after the foundation of Rome, the ratio of copper to silver= 1:960, as can be seen from the lex Menenia (302. A. U .C.d).... "At the same time, this metal, so depreciated in Rome, was one of the most sought-after articles in trade (since the Greeks made works of art out of bronze, etc.).... The exchange of the precious metals for copper in Rome yielded enormous profits, and so lucrative a trade daily stimulated fresh imports.... "Gradually, the patricians replaced in their hoards the piles of old copper, so inconvenient to store and so unpleasaut to see, with ingots of gold and silver, aurum infectum and argentum infectum After the defeat of Pyrrhus and especially after the conquests in Asia ... the aes grave completely disappeared and the needs of circulation necessitated the introduction of the Greek drachma, under the name of victoriatus, weighing 1 1/2 scruples of silver, like the Attic drachma; in the 7th century after the foundation of Rome the lex Clodia made it into Roman coin. Usually, it exchanged for one pound of copper or the as of 12 ounces.
a
The passages from Garnier's Histoire de la monnaie that follow are reproduced by Marx partly in French, and partly in German translation or rendering.- Ed. b Heavy copper (measured by weight).- Ed. Servius was the first king who stamped the copper with the images of sheep and oxen.- Ed. d From the founding of the city (of Rome).- Ed. C
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Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
"So, owing to export, the ratio of silver to .copper was n.ow 1 92: 1 , I.. e. the advantage of silver had declined to 1/5 f ha a te :� ��ia��o; : �opper. Nevertheless, c�pp r �� ��I h� :�rr:� o:: ��:� i� ia . s "This great revolution in the exchange value of the material of � r:�: :�: d ��O���: ab�ut the cruellest deteriorati<;m in the lot of the : ���;u�a:: � i � n
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sum t ey a actually " themselves free from servitude.... Who borrowed The had no means O.f bUyIng . � had borr wed � , OOO as when thIS sum was=300 oxen .or 900. scruples of sIlver could now obtain that amount only for 4 .500 scrrples of sIlver, SInce by then the as was represented by 1 1 / scr I f h e contract a ' to that of silver had risen five-fold been made Th. e vaIue 0f copper relatIve ' "Th i:b�a�:nd�;�� ed . a revisi.on of thei� de�ts.' a new assessment of �he e �1:I � of th:l� �ngInal obligations. True, the sums d�e� n he capIta , . ut as a result of the excessive creditors did not demand r:st:�ut� � appreciation of the mone ' the very payment .of . Interest originally stipulated at 12%, had become unbea abl . e, as Ionerous as .If It had been set at 60% of the princi al. The debtors � ���ed : �w subtractIng the accumulated interest from the c ital, but gained g y It.... "Th in d h the people r� eld t�e mo� : :�� e;���e:c�. ���� �e: �ra�:�s �17� � l:�d S e propert.Y' armed . ' o ron and subJect them WIth legal tItles authorising them to throw their d b�:s � � . t e most � to corporal punishment, they crushed the rebel o a . ageJ. agaInst h unruly ones. The house of eve atrician .�as a pnso� . FInally: w�rs were provoked, which provided pay to t e ebtor, WIt a suspen.slOn of oblIgatIons, and opened up new sources of wealth and power to the credItor n a t�� �: o o�e .at t�e time of th� defeat of Pyrrhus, "Th" a t the seiz�r; �f a;���:' n p r an .vlctones over the Samnites, Lucanians and other South Italic PeOP Ies, ete. The .fIrst Roman silver coin, the libella,. was issued in 483 0f Rome] ,' I't was caIIed the IIbeUa . . or 485 [after the foundatIon ' because, beIng of small weight' it was the llbra .0f 12 ounces of copper" (GermaIn . . Garmer, ' Hl
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// Assignats. 37 " NATlONAL PROPERTY Ass' t 100;RANCS " LEGAL TENDER. They differed from all other NOTES IN NOT E V�N p;l[;�S�:G n R�PRESE�T ANY SPEC:IFIED THING. The words ' va �e cou � be obtaIned by purchasing with "NATIONAL PROPERTY" signified that thelr them the CONFISCATED PROPERTY at th: e ch t u rt B er ro u th 0 r � Y �: � 7 ' � � � ancs. t epended on the was no reason why that value should h ::t�e� :� COMPARATIVE QUANTITY of the PROPERTY SO PU B1L :n� the number of assignats �� issued (N assau W . Senior, Three Lectures on t��� 0 tazmng Money etc., London, 1 830, pp. 78, 79). "Tl;!e livre of accoun4 introduced b Ch Iemagne, and. alm?�t . neve.r represented by a real equivalent coin, retained iis na:e as well as ItS dIVISIOns Into sous and deniers, up to the end of the 1 8th tent�ry. BY contrast, there was infinite variation in the name, form , weight and va ue 0 reaI money, not only at every change of
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of re liv e th of e lu va e th e, ru T t. en m rn ve go e m government, but under the sa done s ay w al as w is th t bu , ns io ct du re s ou m or en account was also subjected to forcibly" (Garnier, I.e ., Vol. I, p. 76 [77] ). .). id (ib s ht ig we ly al in ig or re we s nt cie an e th of s in co All OR
ODITY. MM CO LE AB ET RK MA Y LL SA ER IV UN E TH E AC PL "MONEY IS IN THE FIRST M CO R HE OT G IN UR OC PR OF E OS RP PU E TH THAT IN WHICH EVERY ONE DEALS FOR "I T IS THE . 1) p. 7, 83 1 , on nd Lo ., etc es �ODlTIES" (Bailey, Money and Its Vicissitud e GENERAL COMMODITY OF CONTRACTS, th is It . 2) p. , c. (I. Y" IT OD MM CO L IA ED M GREAT LETED AT MP CO BE TO , TY ER OP PR T OU AB NS AI RG BA OF TY OR THAT IN WHICH THE MAJORI AS ALL . ow . N E. LU . VA OF E UR AS ME " e th is it , lly na Fi AS A FUTURE TIME. ARE MADE (p. 3) . E AR B D AN A OF ES LU VA AL TU MU ARTICLES ARE EXCHANGED FOR MONEY. THE NEY OR THEIR PRICES.. [VIl-36] AS THE O M IN ES LU VA R EI H T BY N W O SH Y TO NECESSARIL ON TI LA RE IN TS GH EI W R EI H T BY EN ARE SE COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS OF SUBSTANCES . 4) . (p S" IE T VI RA G IC IF EC SP R EI H T R. O , ER WAT ITS IN M OR IF UN BE LD OU SH Y NE MO AT TH IS "THE FIRST ESSENTIAL REQUISITE L AS CA TI EN ID R FA SO BE LD OU SH IT OF ES TI TI AN PHYSICAL QUALITIES, SO THAT EQUAL QU d an N AI GR e, pl am ex r Fo R. HE OT E TH TO E ON TO PRESENT NO GROUND FOR PREFERRING N AI GR OF s ie tit an L qu UA EQ e us ca be ly on if CATTLE are not suitable for this purpose, CH HI W R FO S IE IT AL QU E TH IN E IK AL S AY W AND EQUAL NUMBERS OF CATTLE ARE NOT AL THEY ARE PREFERRED" (pp. 5-6). Y IT OD MM CO AL DI ME e th as ey on m in E BL "H ence STEADINESS OF VALUE IS DESIRA UNESSENTIAL TO IT IN ITS CAPACITY OF E IT QU is it ; CT RA NT CO OF Y IT OD MM AND A CO BE T YE D AN E, LU VA IN RY VA Y LL UA IN NT Y CO THE MEASURE OF VALUE" (p . 9) . "MONEY MA INED PERFECTLY STATIONARY. SUPPOSE. MA AS GOOD A MEASURE OF VALUE AS IF IT RE e reduction in value implies A REDUCTION for example, IT IS REDUCED IN VALUE and thRE COMMODITIES; SUPPOSE IT IS REDUCED IN MO OR E ON E M SO TO ON TI LA RE IN E LU VA OF LD OU W EA IN GU A N, IO CT DU RE E TH RE FO BE . VALUE IN RELATION TO CORN AND LABOUR X DAYS' LABOUR ; SUBSEQUENTLY, IT WOULD SI R O , AT HE W OF S EL SH BU E RE TH SE PURCHA THE s, se ca th bo In . UR BO LA ' YS DA 4 OR PURCHASE ONLY TWO BUSHELS OF WHEAT ONS TI LA RE AL TU MU R EI TH N, VE GI G IN BE EY RELATIONS OF WHEAT AND LABOUR TO MON ASCERTAIN THAT A BUSHEL OF WHEAT IS N CAN BE INFERRED; IN OTHER WORDS, WE CA L THAT MEASURING VALUE IMPLIES, IS AS AL WORTH 2 DAYS' LABOUR. THIS, W HI CH IS FORE. T HE EXCELLENCE OF ANY TH IN G AS A READILY DONE AFTER THE REDUCTION AS BE ENT OF ITS OWN VARIABLENESS IN VALUE . . ND MEASURE OF VALUE IS ALTOGETHER INDEPE WITH IN VARIABLENESS IN FINENESS AND E A One confuses IN VARIABLENESS OF VALUBE E, LU VA S TE TU TI NS CO CH HI W AT TH ING WEIGHT. ... THE COMMAND OF QUANTITY E UN IFORM COMMODITY MUST BE USED AS A M DEFINITE QUANTITY OF A SUBSTANCE OF SO DEFINITE QUANTITY OF A SUBSTANCE OF IS TH IS IT D AN E; LU VA E UR AS ME TO . IT UN . 1) 1 ] 9. [p ABLE" (p RI VA IN BE ST MU CH HI W Y IT AL QU M OR IF UN quantity of gold and silver to be
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..
e th ith w d ne er nc co e ar s ct ra nt co y ar ni All pecu ct ra nt co a is it at th ts sis in on rs pe a f "I . loaned, not with their value (p. [1 00-] 10 3) US, HE TH Y: IT OD MM CO T HA W TO ON TI LA RE IN OW for a definite value, HE IS BOUND TO SH CT DOES NOT RELATE TO A QUANTITY
CONTRA Y AR NI CU PE A AT TH NG NI AI NT AI M BE LD OU W ITY OF OD MM CO ME SO OF TY TI AN QU A TO T BU , IT OF MONEY AS EXPRESSED ON THE FACE OF . 4) 10 . (p E" AD M IS ON TI EN M NO CH HI is W It . nt le is ey on m al tu ac re he w s ct contra "I t is not necessary to confine this to PA TICLES AR R FO ER TH HE W , EY ON M OF TS EN YM RE true FOR ALL STIPULATIONS FOR THE FUTU ICES, O R AS RENT OF LAND OR HOUSES; they are RV SE R FO R O , IT ED CR ON LD SO ND KI Y AN OF IF A SELLS Y. IT OD MM CO AL DI ME E TH OF S AN LO RE PRECISELY IN THE SAME CONDITION AS PU MONTHS' CREDIT, IT IS JUST THE SAME IN EFFECT A TON OF IRON TO B FOR 10 POUNDS, AT 12 ct ra nt co e th to s ie rt pa th bo of s st re te in e th d an , AS LENDING THE TEN POUNDS FOR A YEAR I l l). , 10 1 p. (p " CY EN RR CU E TH IN S GE AN CH BY r will BE AFFECTED in the same manne
1 90
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
The naming of s�ecific and invariable fractional parts of the money subs�ance. �hIch are to serve as the measuring unit is. ' ' the price of money . Th IS confused . wIth fIxmg f con uSlOn IS . . " ' ch aractenstIc of,. among others ' Mr. Adam Muller , the h IghfaIutIn Roman tIc ' poI'ItIcal economist. He says, among other things: .
.
� �: t;:� : ���� ���;�::i;
e if "Everybody realises how important it is to determin h s es�ecially in a cou�try lik,� �ngland, where the govern e gn m m�nei rat It�usly (I. e. at the expense of the country and to the profit of n RS � h eig?iorage .is levied, etc., and co se �en�y ir h go e n i t pnce co slderably above th: I?arket price, if instead of paying £3 1 7s. 10 1 / d for n �¥nce 0 d as.at pr sent! It fixed the mint price of an ounce of gold at £l l 9s all g d o I 0; mt� t e mmt and the silver obtained there would be exchan�ed for t:e �heap r go d on the . market and, as a result, again brou ht to the mint t g n ; m into disorder" (Die Elem�nte der Staatskunst: P �� I, ��� I8 2
�� � � �
f � : � : e: : � : �: �� : � � �� �� �� :
;; ;��: � ;�
� �� J :�
�
i: � ���
So Mr. Muller is unaware of the fact that pence and shilling here are lD:erely names for fractional parts of a gold coin. Because pieces ' coppe of sIlver and r w IC , h h notabe ne, are not starn ed . accordmg to the ratio of si!ver and copper to gold, but are iss� ed merely as tokens representmg portions of gold of the same n and hence . have only to be taken in payments in ve s�a�i �mo� nts Circulate under the names "shillings" and "peZ:e" he Imagmes that an ounce of gold is divided into pieces of gold silver ;nd copper (hence a triple STANDARD OF VALVE) . But a fe� lines urther, he .recalls that .in England there is not even a . double standard, still less .a tnple one . Mr. Mu"ller' s hazy notIons 0f "c�mm �� " econ �mIC relations is the real foundation of h IS' " higher conceptIOn. 1 Fr � m the gener law that the total price of the commodities in � . . Clrcu �tIon dete :�mes th� volume of the circulating medium, ass��mg a d �fInIte veloCity of circulation, it follows that, at a defmIte sta.ge m the growth of values thrown into circulation the mo:e preClo� s metal-the metal . of greater specific value,. i. e., ' IIer quantity 0f a m con tams more labour tIme I whICh n s a . lf It;e .-sup�rsedes the less precious metal as the dominant means � CI�cul �tIon. Hence, copper, silver, gold, one ousts the other as h� ommant means ?f circulation. The same aggregate sum of ��Ices c�n, e. g., be �Irculated with 14 times less gold coins than Sl �er coms. The dommance of copper coins, and still more of iron �Olfo1s, as the means of circulation implies a low level of circulation n Just the same way, the �or� powerful but more valuable mean � of transport and commUnIcatIon replace the less valuable, as the
191
l ra ne ge in n io at ul rc ci of d an n tio la cu cir volume of commodities in Increases. of e, lif ay yd er ev of e ad tr il ta re tty pe e th , nd ha On the other e iv ut in m di a on e ar ch hi w ge an ch ex of course, requires acts l ve le e th er w lo e th d an y tr un co e th er or po e scale the smaller th ry ve ch hi w in e, ad tr il ta re is th in is It of circulation in general are. e ar , es lu va l al sm ry ve e nc he d an , es iti od m small quantities of com d or w e th of e ns se t es ct ri st e th in s ar pe ap ey circulated, that mon as ed fix t no is d an n io at ul rc ci of ns only as an evanescent mea ns ea m ry ia id bs su a e ad tr is th of s ed ne e th realised price. To serve of n ke to e th y el er m is ch hi w ed uc od tr in e or ef of circulation is ther y he T n. io at ul rc ci of ns ea m t an in m do the fractional parts of the ed in co t no , ly nt ue eq ns co e, ar ch hi w s ip are silver and copper ch e th to e nc ta bs su r ei th of e lu va e th of n tio or according to the prop en ev n, ke to a as y el er m s ar pe ap ey on m e er H . ld value of, e. g. , go , g. e. d, ol G e. nc ta bs su le ab lu va y el tiv la though itself still in a re to ns tio ac fr l al sm y gl in ed ce ex to in d de vi would have to be di ch hi w es iti od m m co of n sio vi di e th to nt le va ui correspond as an eq is required by this retail trade. r de un , ed ne n io at ul rc ci of ns ea m ry ia id Therefore, these subs n ca ey th so s; nt ou am l al sm in ly on t en ym pa law, to be taken in , g. . E ] 37 11 [V e. ic pr of n tio isa al re e th never assert themselves as nt ou am e th to r ve sil d an ., 6d of nt ou am e in England, copper to th in n io at ul rc ci of t en pm lo ve de of of 20 s. The higher the degree es iti od m m co e th of es ic pr of m su e th general, and the greater OLESALE exchange of WH e th is e or m e th n, io at entering into circul e or m e th d an , ge an ch ex il ta re r ei th commodities separated from he T n. io at ul rc ci r fo in co of s nd ki t en do they require differ e th to d te la re y el rs ve in is s ip ch velocity of circulation of the magnitude of their value. •
"In the EARLY STAGE OF SOCIETY,
WHEN NATIONS ARE POOR, AND THEIR PAYMENTS TRIFLING, COPPER HAS FREQUENTLY BEEN KNOWN TO ANSWER ALL THE PURPOSES OF CU�RENCY; and IT IS COINED INTO PIECES OF VERY LOW DENOMINATIONS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE INCONSIDERABLE EXCHANGES WHICH THEN TAKE PLACE. Thus in the EARLY AGE of the ROMAN REPUBLIC and Scotland" (David Buchanan, Observations
on the Subjects Treated of in
Dr.
Smith's Inquiry etc., Edinburgh, 1814, p. 3).
"THE GENERAL WEALTH OF A COUNTRY IS VERY ACCURATELY MEASURED BY THE NATURE OF ITS PAYMENTS AND THE STATE OF ITS COIN; AND THE DECIDED PREVALENCE OF A COARSE METAL IN ITS CURRENCY, JOINED TO THE USE OF COINS OF VERY LOW DENOMINATIONS, MARKS A RUDE STATE OF SOCIETY " (p. 4). "Later the BUSINESS of the
CURRENCY divides itself into 2 DISTINCT DEPARTMENTS: THE DUTY OF EFFECTING THE MAIN PAYMENTS being reserved for the MORE PRECIOUS METALS, while the INFERIOR METALS are RETAINED FOR MORE TRIVIAL EXCHANGES, and are thus merely SUBSER VIENT TO THE MAIN CURRENCY. Between the first INTRODUCTION of a precious metal into the CURRENCY of a country, and its exclusive USE in the MAIN PAYMENTS, there is
1 92
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
a wide interval; and the PAYMENTS of the RETAIL TRADE must, in the meantime, have become so CONSIDERABLE, in consequence of the INCREASE OF WEALTH, that they COULD, in part at least, BE CONVENIENTLY MANAGED BY THE NEW and MORE VALUABLE COIN; SINCE NO COIN CAN BE USED FOR THE MAIN PAYMENTS " (this is wrong, as is seen in the case of banknotes) "WHICH IS NOT SUITED, at the same time, TO THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE RETAIL TRADE, because every TRADE ultimately derives THE RETURN OF ITS CAPITAL from the CONSUMER . . . . On the Continent silver has held its ground everywhere in the MAIN PAyMENTS . . . . In Britain, the quantity of silver in circulation does not exceed what is necessary for the SMALLER PAyMENTS. . . . In point of fact, FEW PAYMENTS to the amount of 20s. are made in silver. Before the REIGN OF William III, SILVER WAS BROUGHT IN LARGE BAGS TO THE TREASURY IN PAYMENT OF THE NATIONAL REVENUE. At this period the great change took place.... The exclusive INTRODUCTION of gold into the MAIN PAYMENTS OF E NGLAND WAS A CLEAR PROOF that the RETURNS of the RETAIL TRADE were by this time chiefly made in gold; this possible without a SINGLE PAYMENT ever EXCEEDING or even EQUALLING ANY OF THE GOLD COINS; BECAUSE, IN THE GENERAL ABUNDANCE OF GOLD, AND SCARCITY OF SILVER, GOLD COINS would naturally be OFFERED FOR SMALL SUMS and A BALANCE OF SILVER DEMANDED IN RETURN; as a result of which gold, BY THUS ASSISTING in the RETAIL TRADE, and ECONOMISING THE USE OF SILVER, even for the SMALL PAYMENTS, WOULD PREVENT ITS ACCUMULATION BY THE RETAIL TRADER. ... The substitution of gold for silver in the MAIN PAYMENTS in England" (1695) "coincided with the substitution of silver for copper in Sweden.... " It is clear that the COIN USED FOR THE LARGER PAYMENTS CAN ONLY PASS CURRENT A T ITS INTRINSIC WORTH. . .. But intrinsic worth is not necessary to a SUBSIDIARY CURRENCY.... In Rome, as long as COPPER was the PREVAILING COIN, it was CURRENT ONLY FOR ITS INTRINSIC VALUE.. .. Silver was introduced 5 years before the commencement of the First Punic War, and superseded copper in the main payments only gradually.... Gold was introduced 62 years after silver; BUT IT NEVER SEEMS TO HAVE EXCLUDED SILVER FROM THE MAIN PAyMENTS. .. . In India, copper is not a SUBSIDIARY CURRENCY; therefore, passes current for its INTRINSIC WORTH. The RUPEE, A SILVER COIN of 2s. 3d., is the MONEY OF ACCOUNT; IN RELATION to which, the MOHOUR, A GOLD COIN, and the PICE, A COPPER COIN, ARE ALLOWED TO FIND THEIR VALUE IN THE MARKET; the NUMBER OF PICE CURRENTLY EXCHANGED FOR A RUPEE constantly VARIES with the weight and value of the COIN; while here 24 HALFPENCE always I s. without regard to their weight. In India, the RETAIL DEALER must still accept CONSIDERABLE QUANTITIES OF COPPER in return for his GOODS; and he CANNOT AFFORD TO TAKE IT, therefore, BUT for its intrinsic worth. In the CURRENCIES of Europe, copper PASSES for whatever value is fixed on it, without examination either of its weight or FINENESS " (pp. 4-18). "In E NGLAND, an excess of copper coin was issued in 1798, BY PRIVATE TRADERS; and although COPPER is LEGAL PAYMENT for no more than 6d., the surplus found its way to the RETAIL TRADERS, who sought to put it back into circulation; but it ultimately returned to them. When this CURRENCY was stopped, COPPER had accumulated with the RETAIL TRADERS, in sums of [20, [30 and even [50, which they were finally obliged to dispose of for their INTRINSIC worth" (p. 3 1). =
In the SUBSIDIARY CURRENCY the means of circulation as such, as a mere evanescent medium, assumes a special existence, alongside the means of circulation which simultaneously is an �quivalent, realises prices, and is accumulated as independent value. Here, therefore, purely a token. Hence it can only be issued in the
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
1 93
quantity that is absolutely necessary for the petty RETAI� TRADE, ar;;; e uently it can never be accumulated. That quantIty. � ust ���; s it ci culates � ined by the aggregate of the pric lVlded by r ? � � .Its veI 0Cl'ty . Since the amount of the CIrculatmg medIUm, f a � . . certain value, is determined by the pr� ces, 1� f0IIo.ws that l f a greater quantity were artificially thrown mto CIrculatIon �h�� that required by circulation itself, and could not flo� of� (�hlC IS n�t the case here, because as a mea� s of circulatIon It IS above �ts TRINSI WORT ) it would be depreCIated-no t because the quantIty �eter��mes �he prices but because the prices determine the quantIty, so that only �. definite quantity of it, to a definite value, can remain in circulatIon. . . . Hence, if there are no openings thro� gh w� lch CIrc� latIon can throw out the excessive quantity, if the CIr�ulatlI�g m�dIUm �anno� ch ange· frOm its form as means of CIrculatIon mto t at 0 must fall. But value-f0r_l'tself , the value of the means of circulation . . unless there are artificial hindrances, prohl'b'ltlon 0f the m�ltIngdown of coin, of its export, etc., this can onl� take place 1f the circulating medium is merely a token, does not Itself possess a real value which corresponds to its nominal value, ':lnd �ence canno� pass over from the form of circulating medIUm. mto th.at 0. . 1f It' IS bears, It stamp the of self i ng commodity in general, divesti � imprisoned in its existence as com. On the other hand, it follows that the token, the money. ch1' � � whlCh ey mo the of value al nomin can circulate at the � re resents without in fact possessing �ny va!ue .of ItS own . on�y in �o far as it represents the means of CIrculatIon m the quantI�� m h' h that means would have circulated itself. But the con�ltIOn �:� is, simultaneously, that it itself ei�her is ava�la?le only m . so small a quantity that it circulates only m the s.ubsldl�ry f?rm ' � · e· never ceases for a moment to be means of CIrculatIon (m wh lCh situation it constantly serves partly to effect the exchange Of smaII quantities of commodities, and partly merely for the �change 0f the real means of circulation), and hence can never . e ac�um� lated; or else it must not possess any �al�e �t �ll, . so t at �ts nominal value can never be compared WIth It.S m.trlI� slc value. n token, whIch l �dlCates a v�lue mere a as posited is it case the latter . . as eXlstmg out.SI'de it ' In the former case ' the occaSIOn never anses for a companson to be made between its intrinsic value and its nominal value. [VII-38] That is why debasements of money become mam'f�st immediately, while a total abolition of its value has no negatIve effect. Otherwise it would look paradoxical that money could be
1 94
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
another; IT ONLY HAS SUCH WITH ITSELF. One piece of gold �s always ?f the same value as another of exactly the same fineness. the same weight and .m t�e same lace; BUT THIS CANNOT BE SAID OF GOLD AND ANY OTHER ARTICLE. e..g. silve.r ([ The1 �con[omist). Vol. I. [No. 37. 1 1 May 1844.) p. 77 1). "The POUND IS nothmg but A DENOMINATION IN ACCOUNT, WHICH HAS REFERENCE TO A GIVEN and FIXED QUANTITY OF GOLD OF STANDARD QUALITY " (ibid.). "To speak OF M � KING an ounce of gold worth £5 instead of £3 17s. 10 1 /2d. is merely to say that It ought henceforth to be minted into 5 SOVEREIGNS instead of into 3 429/480 SOVEREIGNS. We would not thereby alter the value of gold. but merely the weight a?d consequently the value of the pound or SOVEREIGN. An ounce of gold would contmue to have the sam� value relative to wheat and all other commodities; but since a pound. though bea:mg the same name as before. would represent a smaller part of an ounce of gold �t would represent a CORRESPONDINGLY less quantity of wheat and other com��dlues: Just exactly as if we were to say that a quarter of wheat should no longer be diVided mto 8. but into 12 B USHELS; we could not thereby alter the value of :w�e�t b.ut [onl�l diminish the QUANTITY. contained in a BUSHEL and consequently diminish Its value (I.e.. p. 772). . "Whatever temporary or permanent CHANGE may take pIace [m the vaIue 0f gold) its price will always be expressed in the same AMOUNT OF MONE: : ?ne ounc.e of g;ld will continue to be £3 17s. 10 1 /2d. OF OUR MONEY . Th� . chang.e m. Its value I.� indicated by the greater or lesser quantity of other commodltles whICh It can buy (I.e.. [ The Economist. No. 42. 15 June 1844.) p. 890).
replaced with valueless paper, while the least diminution of its metallic content depreciates it. In general, there is a contradiction in the dual determination of money in circulation, i.e. as mere means of circulation, in which role it is an evanescent mediator; and simultaneously as the realisation of prices, in which form it is accumulated and converted into its third determination as money. As means of circulation, it is worn out, and therefore does not comprise the metallic content which makes it a fixed quantity of objectified labour. Hence its correspondence to its value is always more or less illusory. Here an example should be given. It is important, already at this point in the chapter on money, to introduce the determination of quantity, but deduced in a way that is the very opposite to that in the usual doctrine. Money can be replaced, because its quantity is determined by the prices which it circulates. To the extent that it itself has value as in the case of the subsidiary means of circulation its quantity must be so determined that it can never be accumulated as an equivalent and in fact always figures only as an auxiliary wheel of the actual means of circulation. But if it is to replace the latter itself, it must have no value at all, i.e. its value must exist outside it. The VARIATIONS in circulation are determined by the AMOUNT and NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS ([ The] Econ [ omist] ) The circulation may increase because of an increase in the AMOUNT of commodities, prices remaining the same; because of a rise in prices, the AMOUNT of commodities remaining the same; because of a combination of the two factors. The proposition that the prices regulate the QUANTITY OF CURRENCY and not vice versa, or, in other words, THAT TRADE REGULATES CURRENCY (the quantity of the means of circulation), AND CURRENCY DOES NOT REGULATE TRADE, implies, OF COURSE. AS OUR DEDUCTION HAS SHOWN, THAT PRICE IS ONLY VALUE TRA NSLATED INTO ANOTHER LANGUAGE. Value, more specifically value determined by labour time, is the presupposition. Hence it is clear that this law is not equally applicable to price FLUCTUATIONS at all epochs; e.g., to those in the ancient world, e.g. in Rome, where the circulating medium does not itself spring from circulation, from EXCHANGE, but originates from looting, plunder, etc. a
a
•
.
The ideal bara may be compared, e.g., with the ide�l milrea in Brazil (similarly with the POUND in England at the �lme of the depreciation of bank notes, etc.). What is fixed her� IS the ?am: milrea; what fluctuates is the quantity of gold or stIver WhICh It expresses.
.
"No country can consistently have more than one STANDARD; MORE THAN ONE STANDARD FOR THE MEASURE OF VALUE; for this STANDARD must be UNIFORM and UNCHANGING. No article has a uniform and unchanging value in relation to "On the Use and Functions of Bank Notes.-Circulation.- The Bank Act of 1844". The Economis� No. 226. 25 December 1847.- Ed.
1 95
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Buenos Aires the CURRENCY is an INCONVERTIBLE paper money (paper dolla�s) ' this dollar �as originally=4s. 6d now about 3 1 /4d and HAS BEEN AS LOW AS 1 1 / d. A yard of CLOTH was previously worth 2 dollars, now nommally 28 dollars in co�sequence of the depreciation of the paper [ The Economist, No. 57. 28 September 1844. p. 1253). . " "In Scotland. THE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE . not to be confused With the STANDARD OF VALUE "of the AMOUNT OF £1 and UPWARDS, MAY BE SAID TO BE EXCLUSIVELY PAPER an d GOLD DOES NOT CIRCULATE AT ALL; YET GOLD IS AS MUCH THE STANDARD OF I
.•
. •
� AS IF NOTHING ELSE CIRCULATED, BECAUSE THE PAPER IS CONVERTIBLE INTO THE SAME FIXED QUANTITY OF THAT METAL; AND IT CIRCULATES ONLY ON THE FAITH OF BEING SO CONVERTIBLE" ([ The Economist. No, 58. 5 October 1844.) p. 1 � 75 ! .
VALU
" GUINEAS
are HOARDED IN TIMES OF DISTRUST". (Thornton. [An EnqUiry mto the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Bntam. London. 1802.) p. 48).
"
The HOARDING PRINCIPLE, in which money functions a� ' i.ndepende? t value, is necessary as a moment leaving aside the st=lkm� .forms m which it appears-of exchange based on mon�y CirculatIOn. For, as A. Smith says,b besides one's own commodity everyone needs ..
.
,
See present edition. Vol. 28. pp. 80 and 128.- Ed. b A. Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NatIOns. Vol. I. London. 1835. p. 85.- Ed. a
.
196
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
the MEDIAL QUANTITY, a definite proportion, of the "general com modity".
fluid in the course of the analysis. But it is ofoi ly by fixing them at the outset that one can undertake the analysIs WITHOUT CONFOUNDING EVERYTHING. B ESIDES, IT IS PRACTICALLY SURE, THAT, FOR INSTANCE, HOWEVER THE
"THE MAN IN TRADE HAS PROPERTY IN TRADE" (I.e. [Thornton], p. 2 1).//
STANDARD OF NECESSARY LABOUR MAY DIFFER AT VARIOUS EPOCHS AND IN VARIOUS
[ever]
"EQUAL CAPITALS. or, in other words, EQUAL QUANTITIES OF ACCUMULATED LABOUR. WILL OFTEN PUT IN MOTION DIFFERENT QUANTITIES OF IMMEDIATE LABOUR; but
this changes nothing in substance" (Torrens, An Essay on the Production of Wealth, London, 1821, pp. 29-30). "In the EARLY PERIOD OF SOCIETY, it is the TOTAL QUANTITY OF LABOUR, ACCUMULATED and I MMEDIATE, EXPENDED ON PRODUCTION, that determines the relative value of commodities. But as soon as STOCK has ACCUMULATED, and there emerges a class of capitalists distinct from that of labourers, WHEN THE
PERSON WHO UNDERTAKES ANY BRANCH OF INDUSTRY DOES NOT PERFORM HIS OWN WORK, BUT ADVANCES SUBSISTENCE and MATERIALS TO OTHERS, THEN IT IS THE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL, OR THE QUANTITY OF ACCUMULATED LABOUR EXPENDED I N PRODUCTION, that
determines the EXCHANGEABLE POWER OF COMMODITIES" (pp. 33-34). "As long as 2 capitals are equal, their products are of equal value, HOWEVER WE MAY VARY THE
QUANTITY OF IMMEDIATE LABOUR WHICH THEY PUT IN MOTION, OR WHICH THEIR PRODUCTS MAY REQUIRE. If they are unequal, their PRODUCTS are OF UNEQUAL VALUE, THOUGH THE TOTAL QUANTITY OF LABOUR EXPENDED UPON EACH SHOULD BE PRECISELY EQU AL" (p. 39). "Therefore after the separation of CAPITALISTS and LABOURERS, it is the AMOUNT OF CAPITAL, the QUANTITY OF ACCUMULATED LABOUR, and not, as before this separation, the SUM OF ACCUMULATED and IMMEDIATE LABOUR, EXPENDED ON PRODUCTION, that determines the exchange value" (I.e., [pp. 39-40]).
Mr. Torrens' confused approach is correct compared to the ABSTRACT WAY of the RICARDIANS. In itself, fundamentally wrong. Firstly, the determination of value by pure labour time takes place only on the basis of production [VII-39] of capital, hence on that of the separation of the 2 classes. The equalisation of prices IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE SAME AVERAGE RATE OF PROFIT (and EVEN this is to be taken cum grano salis') has nothing to do with the determination of value, but rather presupposes value. The passage is important for showing the confusion of the RICARDIANS. The rate of surplus value as profit is determined ( 1 ) by the volume of surplus value itself; (2) by the ratio of living labour to ACCUMULATED labour (the ratio of the CAPITAL EXPENDED in wages TO THE CAPITAL EMPLOYED AS SUCH) . The two factors which determine ( 1 ) and (2) must be examined specially. E.g., the law of rent pertains to ( 1). For the time being, necessary labour as such is assumed, i.e. that the worker always receives only the necessary minimum of wages. This assumption is, of course, necessary in order to establish the laws of profit, to the extent that they are not determined by the rise and fall of wages or by the influence of landed property. All the solid assumptions themselves become a
With a grain of salt.-Ed.
1 97
���:����:��::�:,
MUCH IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE CHANGING PRICES OF RAW
�
AMOUNT AND RATIO M AY CHANGE, AT ANY GIVEN EPOC H E
E
��:��:: ; :�� :�: : :�; :: �:���� H
L
��: :;�: : � � �: ::
OR IN CONSE UENCE OF THE DEMAND A
EL
S
T
ONE BY CAPITAL.
U
To
O
A O
D R
S
I
CONSIDER THOSE
R TO THE CHAPTER TREATING OF WAGES·
LABOUR.
"EXCHANGEABLE VALUE IS DETERMINED, NOT BY THE ABSOLUTE, BUT BY THE
GOLD HAV
1/2'. and this DIMINUTION in its exchange value would be precisely the same, IN EFFECT, as if the COST OF PRODUCING ALL OTHER THINGS REMAINED UNALTERED, WHILE THAT OF PRODUCING GOLD HAD BEEN REDUCED 1/2 " (Torrens, I.e., pp. 56-57). EXCHANGEABLE VALUE WOULD FALL
This is important for prices, but not at all for the determinati?n . To sa that the value of a commod Ity that it exchanges for the same q�a� tIt� 0 other form of use value. Hence It I� C ear �h at , if the labour time 1 f it is , by the eql!alitY of labour time or of the quantIty 0 a dIfference III val ue IS' OF COURSE determined by inequality of these, or labour time is the measure of value. "In 1826 the VARIOUS MACHINERY USED IN MANUFACTURING COTTON enabled 1 man 1:0 PERFORM THE WORK OF 15 w s min that only 280,000 men are employed in it, half a century ago 2 O�dO�� �en ] ould have had to be in it" 72) (Hodgskin, [popular Political Economy, Lon 1827 " THE RELATIVE VALUE OF THE PRECIOUs � �ALS ';0 �HE� COMMODITIES DETER.
��
�
,
� � ��:; �� ;:��::� �
MINES HOW MUCH OF THEM MUST BE GIVEN FOR OTHER THINGS' AND THE NUMBER OF T AS AR AS MONEY IS THE SALES TO BE MADE, W IT H IN A GIVEN PE REQUIRED " (I .e ., p. 18 8 ). INSTRUMENT FOR EFFECTING SALES. THE Q I "ABUNDANT REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE PRACTICE OF COINING ORIGINATED WITH RE T WAS SEIZED ON AND MONOPOLISED IN D IV IDUALS and was CARRIED ON BY TH M B � pr etiee in RUSSIA" (see Storch ') (I .e ., BY GOVERNMENTS. Such was for a LONG time
p. 195, note). a
��� �
H. Storch, Cours d'economie politique, Vol. II, p. 128.- Ed.
1 98
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Hodgskin takes a different VIew from that of the romantic Muller ': •
�:::' 7
"THE MINT STAMPS ONLY WHAT INDIVIDUALS BRING. MOST INJUDICIOUSLY CHARGING THEM NOTHING FOR THE LABOUR OF C I G; AND TAXING THE NATION FOR THE . BENEFIT OF THOSE WHO DEAL IN MONEY" ( vyu aT p,0/thca/ Economy, etc., London, 1827,
p. 194).
[MACHINERY AND PROFIT]
After all these digressions on money -and we shall have . . occaSIOnally to take up the subJ' t g bef��e ENDING THIS b) CHAPTER �� � �� e we return to the point de " pa � p . . ' m manufacturing industry too the e Here ow IS an exampl f h .0 .Improvement f machmery, and the increase in producti�e p�wer ? effect�d .by It, creates (relatively) raw material' rather than necessltatmg an absolute increase in it: . "The FACTORY SYSTEM in the LINEN TRADE is very new. Pnor to 1828, the great bulk of the linen yarn in Ireland and E Iand was spu� BY HAND. About that time, pr<;>ved, partIcularly by the perseverance FLAX-SPINNING MACHINERY was so much of Mr. Peter Fairbairn of Leeds' that it came mto very GENERAL USE. From that time extensivel e at el a SPINNING MILLS ve and other parts of the North of . . Ireland, as well a in DIFFERE�T : ; l e, ancashire, and i � S�otland, for the spinning of fine yarns, and in t co� s 0 a ew years hand spmnmg was abandoned. FINE TOW YARN is now manufactured from what was 20 years ago thrown away as refuse" ( [ The EconomIS' t,] N O. 366 3 1 August 1850, [po 954] ).
7!
7
� i� ;�� � ; �: � ! ,
.
Whenever machinery. is empIoyed . I�t u � fIrst consider the CASE ' n mg d h x a orm, I.e. t at a capItalIst, mstead of e in its immediate f P � . . part of hIs .capItal on immediate labour, puts I' t I'nt0 machmery a ���t �f c�r�:I;'�;:kfn a;ay fro; the v�riable �nd self-multiplying ti n i O� �; �O�tIO� whIch exchanges with living labour, in �rd:� t� e d d 0 he constant part whose value i�:;:reIy reproduced or is maintained in the prod� ct. Yet this is TO MAKE THE REMAINING PORTION MORE PRODUCTIVE . F'lrst case: The value of the machine lS ' equ�I to the value of the l labour capacity which it replaces. In thi7 no mcrease m the same . ' as Its amount diminished. If 50 of l OO k p �op?rtIon wor ers are . . ' dIsmIssed and replaced by mac hmery, the remammg 50 . must produce as much surplus labour time as did the 100 pr�lousI� employed. If the l OO worked a total of 1 ' 200 h s which 200 hours was surplus labour time, the saC:::; a�lO;�� �f , See this volume, p. 190.- Ed. b Ibid., pp. 158-61 .- Ed.
on
Capital
1 99
rs u o h 4 . e ; i. 0 5 e th y b d ce u d ro p e surplus labour time must now b the former only produced 2 . In s ea er h w ], em th f o ch ea y [b ly dai as e m sa e th , 0 0 2 = 4 x 0 5 s n ai m re e this case, the surplus labour tim the absolute labour time has h g u o h lt a ), 0 0 2 = 2 x 0 0 1 ( re o bef f o n io ct u d ro p e th h it w ly n o ed diminished. Since capital is concern f o e m lu o v e h T . SE CA is th in it r fo s surplus labour, nothing change remain the same, and hence the ld u o w p u ed rk o w l ia er at m raw ld u o w r u o b la f o t n e m ru st in e outlay on it; the outlay on thdecline. The value of the total increase, and that on labour ause it would equal the same sum ec b , e m sa e th e b ld u o w ct u d pro . e m ti r u o b la s lu rp su d n a d ie if of object it t a h W . ll a t a l a it p ca r fo e v ti n ce in Such a CASE would hold no in se lo ld u o w it , d n a h e n o e th n o e m ti r u o b la s lu rp su in d e gain as n io ct u d ro p to in r te n e ld u that part of capital which woble value. Yet we must bear in a ri a v in as . e i. r, u o b la d ie objectif f o ts n e m ru st in t n ie ic ff e ss le s ce la p re ry e in ch a m e th t a th d min d e in ta b o n e e b d a h . e i. , e lu a v in a rt ce a d e ss e ss o p h ic h w , n io ct u d ro p e th f o se ca e th In . y e n o m f o in exchange for a certain sum ness, if not in that of the one si u b w e n a s rt a st o h w st li a capit s a w h ic h w l a it p ca e th f o rt a p e th , ss e n si u b in d e sh li b a st e y d a e alr to in r te n e t o n s e o d y it iv ct u d ro p r employed in instruments of lowe the cost of the machinery. to ry e in ch a m f o n io ct u d o tr in [V II -40] Hence if, e .g ., with theacities) an earlier outlay of, say, p ca r u o b la 0 (5 0 0 ,2 1 £ f o e the valu f o y a tl u o a tr x e e th , y a w a s ll fa n io ct u d ro p f o ts n e m ru st in n o £240 a r fo rs e rk o w 0 4 f o ce ri p e th , 60 9 £ ly n o to t n u o m a ld u o w l a it p ca n e e tw e b ce u d ro p rs e rk o w 0 5 g in year. If in this case the remainbour as the l OO did before, so 200 la s lu rp su ch u m s a ly ct a x e them , 0 6 1 , 2 f o l a it p ca a h it w d ce u d ro p w o n re a r u o b la s lu rp su f o rs u o h f o r e b m u n e h T . 0 0 ,4 2 f o l a it p ca s u io v re p e th h it w d re a p as com d e in a m re s a h r u o b la s lu rp su te lu so b a ; d e lv a h n e e b s a h rs e rk wo e th in t u o id la l a it p ca e th ; re fo e b the same, 200 hours of labour amsained the same; but the ratio of material of labour has also re ble part of capital has increased a ri a v in e th ' to r u o b la s lu rp su absolutely.' , e m sa e th d e in a m re s a h l a ri te a m w ra in t u o id la l a it p ca e th ce in S e m sa e th in t o n t u b , d se a e cr in s a h ry e in ch a m in t u o id la t and tha , d e h is in im d s a h r u o b la in t u o id la l a it p ca e th h ic h w y b n io rt o p pro r u o b la s lu rp su ; ed as re ec d s a h l a it p ca of y a tl ou l ta to e th t a th it means d n a l, a it p ca to e v ti la re d se a e cr in s a h it . e i. , e m sa e th d e in a m has re st u m e m ti r u o b la s lu rp su h ic h w not merely in the proportion by e th n ee tw be on ti la re e th of on ti la u lc inished ca Ed. Here Marx crossed out an unfco .al it p ca of s rt pa le ab ri va d an nt ta ns e th d an r u bo la s lu rp su of e m volu a
200
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
increase to remain the same with half as many workers, but to a greater extent, i.e., by the extent to which the [outlay] on the former means of production is deducted from the costs of the new ones. The introduction of machinery or, more generally, an increase in productive power which makes objectified labour the sub stratum of this productive power itself, and therefore involves costs; when, therefore, part of the capital previously laid out on labour is laid out as a component of the capital that enters into the production process as lasting value the introduction of machin ery can only take place if the proportion of surplus labour time not merely remains the same, and hence increases in relation to the living labour employed, but increases in a greater proportion than the ratio of the value of the machinery to the value of the workers displaced. This may occur either because the entire outlay made for the previous instrument of production must be deducted, in which case the total sum of the capital laid out diminishes, and although the rati? of the tota� sum of labour employed to the constant part of capital has declmed, the surplus labour time has remained the sam.e, and has, therefore, increased not merely in relation to the c�pItal ex�ended �)ll labour, i.e., in relation to necessary labour time, but m relation to the total capital, the total value of the capital, because this value has diminished. Or it may be that the value of the machinery is the same as that previously laid out on the living labour which has now become superfluous, but the ratio of surplus labour yielded by the part of capital still employed has increased, so that the 50 workers perform not merely as much surplus labour as the 100 did previously, but more. Suppose, e.g., that each now performs 4 1 /4 hours [surp!us �abour] . instead of 4. In this case, however, a larger part of capital IS reqUIred for raw material, etc., in short, a larger total capital is needed. Suppose that a capitalist who previously employed l OO workers at an annual cost of £2,400, discharges 50 and substitutes for t�em a machine costing £ 1 ,200 . This machine although it costs him as much as the 50 workers did before-is the product of fewer workers, because he pays to the capitalist from whom he buys. it not only. the necessary labour but the surplus labour, too. Or, If he had his own men make the machine, he could employ a smaller number of workers and have them perform only the necessary labour. The introduction of machinery, therefore, leads to an increase
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
in surplus labour and an absolute decline in necessary labour time. It may be accompanied by either an absolute decrease or an increase in the capital employed.
I i , ,
20 1
;
,
as posited by capital itself, a?d �easur�d �y . its numerical ratio to the total value of the c�pltal, IS proftt. LI:m� labour as appropriated and absor�ed by capital app�ars as capital s own life-power, its self-r� produ�mg P?wer, modlfie? , moreo:er, by the motion of �apital . ltSel�, CIrculation, an? the .tIme re�U1red for that motion, CIrculation time. Only thus IS �apltal. posl�e� as self-perpetuating and self-multipl�ing value, �y ItS bemg dlstmguished as preposited v�lue from Its�lf as posited value. . . Since capital enters mto production wholly, and as c�pltal Its different components are distinct from one another only m form, being sums of value evenly, the positing of value appears to . be evenly immanent to them . ' Moreover, since t�e part of . capital which is exchanged for labour operates produ�tIvely only . tn so f�r and . smce the ratio of thiS as the other parts of capital are postted too productivity depends on the value magmtude, et� ., and the different determinations of these components relative to each other (as fixed capitaV etc.), so the positing of surplus value : of profit appears to be evenly determined by all parts of �apltal. Since : on the one hand, the conditions of labour are pos� ted �s objective components of capital, an? , (;>D the oth�r, labour Itself IS posited as an activity incorporated m It, the entire . l�bour process appears as the process of capital itself, and the po�ltlng of surplus value as its product, whose magnitude, therefore, IS not measured by the surplus labour which c�pital forces labou� �o per.form, �ut appears as [deriving from] the mcreased productiVity whICh capital imparts to labour. . . The real product of capital is profit. T? that exten�, capital IS now posited as the source of . wealth. But I� so far as It . produces , value const�tutes the : value by d mme deter are these s, value use product" (Say ) Consequently, it produces for consumption. In S? far as it is perpetuated by the constant renewal of labou� , It appears as the permanent �alue �res,! pposed for produc�lO� , which depends upon its bemg mamtamed. In so far as It IS constantly exchanged for new labour, it appears as the wages fund. Obviously, the worker cannot produce without the objective Surplus value
a
.
a Cours complet d'iconomie politique pratique, VoL I, Brussels, 1 836, p. 243. Marx
quotes in French.- Ed.
,
202
l a it p a C n o d n a y e n o M n o rs Addenda to the Chapte
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
conditions of labour [VII 4 1. ] These are now separated from him in the form of ca i�al and In?�pendently confront him . He ca.n Iy m ' so far as hIS on relate himself to ttem as cond1tIons 0f labour . . I abour Itself has previously be�n �ppropnated by capital. From the standpoint of capital , the 0bJecUve condit'�ons 0f I. abour do not appear as necessary for the �orker. What IS essentIal to it is that . him, th�t �e should be :gamst they should exist independen se�arated from them, that they sh�uf;� by the �apzt�l�st, and th�t thIS se�aration could only be. aboli�r:1 by �IS gIVmg up hIS productIve power to caPital m retur? f�r WhICh . capital should 'our capacIty, 1. e" preCIseIy as a mere maintain him as abstract lab . . . capacIty to reproduce wealth as a force. dommat'mg that capaCIty . and confrontmg it in the form 0f capItaI . Hence all parts of capital yield profIt SImultaneously, ' both the . I circulating part (laid out ' m wages and raw m t a ena , etc.) and that . I aId out in fixed capital C 'taI c � ow 7 p oduce i self e�ther in � : 1 the form of circulating �ap�f� or ��. t at ? fIxed capItal. Smce, as we saw above, in our anal sis °f CIrcul�tIon: the value of capital . . returns. in different for�s, dependmg upon whether It IS preposIted m " . eIther the one or the other for�, �nd. smce, ' from the standpomt of capital which produces . profIt, It IS not merely value which returns but th aIu e 10f capI�al �nd p�ofit, value as �alu� itself and as self-valor�si.�g va ue, capItal IS ObVIously .posited m eIther. of these forms as, In .d'fI ferent way fIt-bearmg . s, pro . The Circulating capital enter�/�t CIrculatIon ' wholly, with . its use value serving as the bearer tS exch�nl?e value, and IS thus exchanged for money' I .e . , ther�fore, It IS sold, sold entirely although each time onl� �d��rt o: It �nters i.nto circulation . B u t i � a single turnover it is n P ss� . o�er . II:!tO consumption as a product (whether this consu �pti° �s m fIVI�ual or productive), and is fully reproduced as value. . ThI.S va u� mcludes the surplus value, which now a e:s as pr�!lt CIrculatmg capital is alienated as use value in orl!r be rea Ised as exchange value. So this is selling at a profit. . fixed capItal only returns By seen th h contrast, we have e at t . piecemeal, in the course of a nU� ber 0 f years, a .number of cycles . of .the circulating capital , an It oes so onl h 1 1 t e egree m d d d ! Y . . the Immediate act of WhICh It' IS consumed (we saw th'IS h aPl?en m production) enters as exChange value mto circulation and returns as such. val�e from it . However' both. the entry 0f. exchange value ' Circulation and its return from It are now pOSIted as the entrY mto
ly s u o e n a lt u im s t u b l, a it p a c f o e lu a v e th f o ly e r e m and return not so that a fractional part of profit corresponds to of profit as well, t of capital. the fractional par
e h h ic h w l a it p ca e th f o s rt a p ll a n o t fi ro p l a u q e n a s ct e p ). x 8 e 6 2 . p , 6 3 18 , n o d "The capitalist n o L ., d e d n Economy, 2 l a ic it ol P of s le p ci in Pr IN IS s, , D E T C E N N O C Y L R A E advances" (Malthu N ST O M E H T PS A H R PE E R A E U L A V D N A . H 1) T L 0 3 . p ., id b (i " R "WHERE WEA E M R FO E H T F O N IO T C U D O PR E H T O T ER TT A L E H THE NECESSITFIXYEDOFCTAPITAL (IN COTTON FACTORIES) usually = 4 : 1 to the circinuglahtiisngM;ILsoL, ct re e in //"The 0 0 ,0 0 4 £ d n e p x e l il w e h , 00 ,0 0 5 £ s a h R E W R A U R F T C O FA SE U A N H A C M R PU a E H if T O T that 0 0 ,0 10 £ ly n o te o v e d d n a , Y R . E IN H C A r, io n e S W u a ss a (N S" E G and FILLING IT WITH M A W F O T N E M Y PA e th d n a .) tc e S, L A O MATERIAL (CthOe TTFacOtoN,ryCAct etc., [London] 183 7 , pp. 1 1- 12). m o fr ly n o t o n , N IO T A R Letters on IO R E T E D T N A SS E C IN O T T C JE B SU IS L A T PI A C "THE FIXEDR, but also from CONSTANT MECHANICAL IMPROVEMENTS... " f(ibagide.).are WEAR AND rTEthAe present law, NO MILL in which PERSONS under 18 yearsRS ofor 5 days U O H 2 " U nde 1 . e i. , Y A D a S R 1 U O H / 1 1 N 2 A H T E R O M D E K SO R O L W IL M E B A N A C IN T A H T w o employed sh l il w s si ly a n a g in w o ll fo e th , w o a N . se o p p u S . R U O H ST A L and 9 on Saturday E H T M O FR D E IV R E D IS T FI O R P T E N E WORKED, THREERWHtoOLinvest £ 100,000-£80,000 IN HIS MILL AND MACILHLIN, SUERPPY,OSIanNdG MANUFACTU RAW MATERIAL and WAGES. The ANNUAL RETURN of that M , ought to be % 15 E B O £20,000 IN T S T FI O PR SS O R G D N A , E A YEAR
0
b
a
b
.
Se� thiS volume, pp. 1 02-28.- Ed. Ibid., pp. 1 09- 1 0, 1 1 7-20.- Ed.
20 3
)
\
C N O ED N R U T E B O T L A T PI A THE C TH £ 1 15 ,000, PRODUCED BY THE CONSTANT CONVERSION AND RMECGOOONVDESRINSIOTNO GOODS WOR0,000 CIRCULATING CAPITAL, FROM MONEY INTO GOODS AND FROrplus labour OF THE £2 N FACT, the CONVERSION and RECONVERSION of su" IN PERIODS OF MONEY" (Icommodity and then again into necessary labour, etc.) 2 3 HALF HOURS E H T F O first into H C A E 0 0 ,0 15 1 £ se e th f O S. H T N E L O O M H 2 W N E A H H T T E R G 23 O IN M T U R E IT H T ST A N R O C / 23 e th f O 1 , / r o 23 , OF WORK 2PR0/O3DUi.CeE.,S £5/101105,000 out of the 1 15,000 simply replace thefcathpeitaMl;IL1/L23a(ondr o N IO T £1 15,000, 2 , A R IO R E T E D E H T R FO P U S E K A M ), 0 0 Y R ,0 E 15 V E 1 F E O H S T R F U O O H T F L A H 3 2 5 ,000 OU E H T F O 2 2 ST A L e th . e i. , / G 23 IN . IN A M E MACHINERYUCETThHe ERNET PROFIT OF 10 % . If therefore (PRICES REMAININAGNTHADEDSAITMIOE)NthOeF DAY, PRODcould be kept AT WORK 13 hours instead of 1 1 1 /2, BYLD BE MORE THAN FACTORY 2,600 TO THE CIRCULATING CAPITAL, THE NET PROFIT WOU ABOUT £ " DOUBLED. te a n o ti r o p o r p g in s u t u o h it w d e y lo p m e e b ld u o (I .e ., the 2,600 w l and without any payment of labour AT ALL. The ly more fixed capitTa is=to the material which is worked u p gratis GROSS and NET PROFIand then an extra hour is of course = to 1 00 % , if for the capitalist, Mr. Shit wrongly assumes, is only = to 1/ 12 of the surplus labour2, as as Senior says.) day, or only /23, Y A D r e p r u o h 1 y b d ce u d re re e w g in rk o w f o rs u o h e th " O n the other hand, if E), NET PROFIT WOULD BE DESTROYED; if they were M G SA IN E T H A L T U G C IN IR C IN A e M h E T R . S o E to IC R d (P e y o r st e d e b ld u o w IT F O R P E SS H O T R G E s, T r u SA o N E h P M 1/ O 1 C O y T b 2 d D e N c u FU d O re N E B D L U O W E R E H T T U B , D E C A ). 3 -1 12 . p p .,] CAPITAL WIVOEUDLEDTBEERIORREPL id ib ([ " L A T PI A C D E X FI E H T F O N IO T A SS PROGRE y r e v is s e iv g e h le p m a x e e th , e r ' a ta a d s r io n e (I ncorrect as M r . thS eory .) important for our
204
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
e h t k c o t s is h w e n e r . EPER c a n E K P O H S e h t er d tra : ' , k c o t s in s d o o g effect that the retad p e e k to d e g li b o s s e I IS . c n e h d n a , � ly k ic u q more t n e m o m n LY U hIS w rene can he � :: : Ydevelopm �nt of production , use beca e t wlt how, s ly n o it ; s e n li c e All this. show d ly e iv t la . . RDIN G re A O H f e s n e s e h t s u o m u m t n o c s a e accumulatIon r e h w , l ta l ' p a . c . d ' lxe ' f f form m e h t increases m labour (produ t" on) increases in regulanty, ity simultaneous . volume, too. ;: an increasing extent, the veloc ts intensity, and mof ransport, aIong with their u niversality, conveErNT � TECED N A r o f y of the means tIon it s s e c e ULTURE) the n AGRIC of (with the excep CIRCULATING CAPITAL IS CONCERNED, into that for thees h c n a r b d e . t ia t n e LABOUR, AS FAR AS . r e f if d t n e d n e e d mte f : I?IS impo�tant for the section o n rat.lOn simultaneous ope(ThI n rvatIo obse S n. of productio accumulation).// THE G IN O G T P E K E R E W T ENCEMEN
"The ratio of FIXED to CIRCULATING CAPITAL grows constantly owing to 2 causes: ( 1 ) the TENDENCY OF MECHANICAL IMPROVEMENT TO THROW ON MACHINERY MORE AND MORE OF THE WORK OF PRODUCTION; (2) the IMPROVEMENT of the MEANS OF TRANSPORT, and the CONSEQUENT DIMINUTION OF THE STOCK OF RAW MATERIAL IN THE
MANUFACTURER'S HANDS WAITING FOR USE. FORMERLY, WHEN COALS AND COTTON CAME BY WATER, THE UNCERTAINTY AND IRREGULARITY OF SUPPLY FORCED HIM TO KEEP ON HAND 2 OR 3 MONTHS' CONSUMPTION. Now, A RAILWAY BRINGS IT TO HIM WEEK BY WEEK, OR RATHER DAY BY DAY, FROM THE PORT OR THE MINE. UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, I FULLY ANTICIPATE THAT, IN A VERY FEW YEARS, THE FIXED CAPITAL, INSTEAD OF ITS PRESENT p'ROPORTION, WILL BE AS 6 OR 7 OR EVEN 10 TO 1 TO THE CIRCULATING; AND, CONSEQUENTLY, THAT THE MOTIVES TO LONG HOURS OF WORK WILL
0
BECOME GREATER, AS THE ONLY MEANS BY WHICH A LARGE PROPORTION OF FIXED CAPITAL CAN BE MADE PROFITABLE. 'WHEN A LABOURER,' SAID Mr. Ashworth TO ME,
See present edition, Vol.
28,
pp.
447-59.- Ed.
0
COMM IR THE AT ORIES RY, AND E IN FACT H C A N M E H COTTO T G IN r IR " Ou G A N D REPA IN OF ULTY OUBLE DIFFIC D A G THE IN Y O L P HOURS. M E F O 24 WHOLE THE NECESSITY
cr:;: �!�: l�; ���
G F ARISIN O THIS ITY, T D N NSIBIL E N A RESPO T U P ED Y L THE DIVID HAVE NEAR T R BOOKFACTORIES lR 9 S, O' OKER , 6 LO OVER TO STAFF OF UCED THEM ; O H B 1 5 ). 0 . p H ., IL it T C N . U p o T ,] U r B io n ; e E S IC ([ T PRAC S PER WEEK" R U O H 0 8 TO 0 7 FROM GENERALLY WORKED
,
:�
BE BUILT , OT CANN RY FACTO ON-SPIN NING . COTT ATE -R FIRST , under A S K es, R O W Bam S A G to g d n ordin a S "Acc EAM ENGINE T S h w D FITTE WHICH , and S E L D ery, IN P S machin 0 0 ,0 0 5 N with FILLED WILL TUR R E W O P HOR 100 OF ACTORY , NE F ENGI A H C U S STEAM N I ' Y A A D [ 1 00 , 000 . EAD PER R H T N O T T O C E IN F 0F WITH 0UT MILES COULD 0 62,50 NS UCE PEllsO WILL PROD AS 250,000 HREAD T MUCH SPIN AS WILL NS . 4 p . 7 5 ). PERSO 4 8 1 n d 1 000 L D'IStress al SOME O Nation T E M , O C E Laing B O (S. T ISPOSE ACHIN ERY" I IT G LATIN CIRCU MAKING NEW FALL, IN S USED PROFIT be EN not "WH . CAPITAL would 5% is st e r te G LARGE m If IN D N O L P A S E IT R P R A O C C D E IX A F D L EXTENT WORKS YIE e e t il t u D FOR E C AYS, N A V � D RAILW A E B OR D L U O S APITAL W C ROADS CANAL 1 '1 3 R 0 ly n o PERCENTAGE. INTEREST IS N E H W LOWER T U B ; e L g ta TIONA � e rc e p OPOR A y ON NED I OBTA THE NATURAL , IF IT ARE NTS VEME TS, N VEME IMPRO SUCH REAT IMPRO MPLISH ACCO TO TO FIX. T.HEIR ANIES, IDUALS COMP INDIV STOCK CES JOINTALSO INDU IT . PROFIT for ln OF Bnla RATE Great ING FALL ns, A Hopki OF OFFSPRING HINERY" (Th. MAC AND DINGS OF BUIL CAPITALS IN THE FORM 23 2) 4 1 83 on, COTTON Lond the etc., IN GED Years ENGA Forty the Last C 0 ES of those IN n a S R E B M C och computes the NU
�� .
'
;
�
,
h
" M c ull
MANU FACTURE
as:
,
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, ,
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AT [24 , . tc e , S R E H C A E L B , NERS 8 3 3 ,000 WEAVERS, SPIN . EACH A YEAR RS, etc., MAKE INE MACH , INEERS 1 1 1 ,000 JOINERS, ENG .. .. .. .. .. .. . AT £30 EACH AND L A O C , E C N E D N E T SUPERIN PROFIT, . . ES IN CH MA OF S AL RI TE MA • . . .•.• . • . • . . .
i·
a
0
0
'LAYS DOWN HIS SPADE, HE RENDERS USELESS, FOR THAT PERIOD, A CAPITAL WORTH 1 8d. WHEN ONE OF OUR PEOPLE LEAVES THE MILL, HE RENDERS USELESS A CAPITAL THAT HAS COST [ 1 00,000'" ([ibid.,] pp. 1 3 - 1 4).
(This is striking proof that, under the domination of capital, the employment of machinery does not reduce work, but rather lengthens it. What it reduces is necessary labour, not the labour necessary for the capitalist. Since fixed capital is devalued as long as it is not employed in production, its growth is linked with the tendency to make work perpetuaL With respect to the other point . emphasised by Senior, [VII-42] the decline in the ratio of circulating capital to fixed would be as great as he assumes if prices remained constant. But if, e.g., COTTON has fallen below its AVERAGE PRICE, the manufacturer will purchase as large a stock of it as his floating capital permits, and vice versa. On the other hand, in respect of coal, whose output is regular and not subject to any special circumstances which might warrant expectations of an extraordinary increase in demand, Senior's remark is correct. We have seen a that transport, and hence means of communica tion, do not determine circulation, in so far as they are concerned with the bringing of the product to market or its conversion into a commodity. For, seen from this angle, they are themselves included in the production phase. But they do determine circulation in so far as they determine ( 1 ) the return [of capital]; (2) the reconversion of capital from the form of money into that of conditions of production. The more rapid and uninterrupted the supply of materials and matieres instrumentales, the smaller stocks of them the capitalist needs to buy. He can therefore turn the same circulating capital into this form, or reproduce it, the more frequently, instead of having to keep it on hand as dormant capital. On the other hand, as Sismondi remarked, it also has the
205
. tal Capl on and Money on ers Chapt Addenda to the
. . . . . .
. . • • . . . . •
. . . . .
.
944,000
. • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •
. . . . . • • •
. . .
. • . . . . .•
. . . . . . . . . . .
[20, 000,000 [3,33 3,000
.
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
[6,667 ,000
_ _ _ _ _
[30,000 ,000
206
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
•
MILLIONS, 2 MILLIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO GO FOR COAL, IRON, AND OTHER MATERIALS, FOR MACHINERY AND OTHER OUTGOINGS, WHICH WOULD GIVE EMPLOYMENT, AT £30 A YEAR EACH, TO 66,666, MAKING A TOTAL OF PEOPLE EMPLOYED OF 1 , 010 , 666 ; to these are to be added 1/2 the number OF CHILDREN, AGED, etc., DEPENDENT ON THOSE WHO WORK, OR AN ADDITIONAL 505,330; so A TOTAL, SUPPORTED ON WAGES, OF 1 ,5 15,996 PERSONS, To these are to be added those who ARE SUPPORTED, " DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BY THE 4 2/ MILLIONS OF PROFIT , etc. (Hopkins, ibid "
OF " E XPENSE OF OD FABRIC GO A VE EA W TO ED AT UL LC CA 500 LOOMS, , ERALLY N GE IS AS CH SU , OF CALICO, OR SH IR TI NG ,"""""" , . " " " T OU AB BE LD OU W , OW MADE IN GLASG YARDS, 24 OF ES EC PI 0 00 0, 15 Y SA E, UC ANNUAL PROD .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GS IN L AT 6 SHIL
capital, the
OOM FACTORY ERECTING A POWER-L
3
According to this calculation, therefore, 833,000 are directly engaged in production; 1 77,666 in the production of the MACHINERY and the matieres instrumentales, which are only required because of the employment of machinery. But the latter are reckoned at £30 per head; hence, to reduce their number into LABOUR OF THE SAME QUALITY as that performed by the 833,000, they are to be reckoned AT £24 per HEAD ; according to this, £5,333,000 would employ ABOUT 222,208 workers, which would mean 1 worker employed in the production of machinery and matieres instrumentales to ABOUT 3 3 /4 employed in the production of COTTON fabric. More than 1 to 4 but let us say 1 :4. If now the 4 workers still employed worked only as much as 5 did previously, i.e. if each worked 1 /4 surplus labour time more, there would be no [increase of] profit for capital. The remaining 4 must provide more surplus labour than 5 did previously; or the number of workers employed in the production of the machinery must be less than the number of workers displaced by it. Machinery is only PROFITABLE to capital to the extent that it increases the surplus labour time of the workers working with it (not in so far as it reduces labour time; only in so far as it raises the ratio of surplus labour time to necessary, so that the latter not merely decreases relatively, while the number of simultaneous working days remains the same, but decreases absolutely). An increase in absolute [surplus] labour time implies the same or an increasing number of simultaneous working days; ditto an increase in productive power due to the division of labour, etc. In both cases, the aggregate labour time remains the same or increases. With the employment of machinery, relative surplus labour time increases not merely in relation to necessary labour time and hence to aggregate labour time; as well, its ratio to necessary labour time increases, while there is a decrease in aggregate labour, i.e. in the number of simultaneous working days (in proportion to surplus labour time). A Glasgow factory-owner gave J. C. Symons, for his Arts and Artisans at Home and Abroad (Edinburgh, 1 839), the following data (we reproduce several of his tables here to have examples at hand
FIXED CAPITAL, CIRCULATING
illustrating the proportI�n of I WAGES, etc. ): II t u o id la al it p ca part of [V Il -4 3] Glasgow :
"Of the 6 2/3
pp, 336-37),
20 7
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
• ,
£45,000
.
.
WHICH COST INTEREST
[18,000
AS UNDER:
DEPRECIA ON SU NK CAPITAL, AN D FOR INERY " " " " " " . TION OF THE VALUE of the MACH ING UP STEAM-POWER, OIL, TALLOW , etc., KEEP MACHINERY, UTENSILS,
YARNS AN D FLAX
2,000 32,000 7,500 1,700
etc. "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""
. . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . .
WAGES TO WORKMEN SUPPOSE PROFIT
1,800
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . • . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . .
45,000" (p. 233).
IS Hence, if we take 5 % . ts n u o am es ag w in ed d en p x � 1 ,7 0 0 + 90 0 = 2 ,600. B u t the capItaIrtlO es ag w to t fi ro p of n o p to only £ 7 ,5 0 0 . i The pro 2 % / 34 e or ef er th , ' 15 : /5 5 = 3 5 :7 26 therefore = INTEREST ON MACHINERY,
, •
" PROBABLE EXPENSE OF ERECTING A SPINNING COTTON MILL with HAND MULES, CALCULATED TO PRO DUCE No. 40 OF A FAIR AVERAGE QUALITY . " " " " " . " ADDITIONAL. 0 00 2, £ , RS O CT ·A LF SE T EN T PA IF PRICES OF COT T EN ES PR E H T O T Y LL UA N PRODUCE A N H YARNS COULD BE IC H W AT ES T RA E H T D N A TONS ........................... . SOLD . .
£23,000
£25,000
• • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • •
.
. .
. . . . .
GROSS PROFIT
. . . . . .
COST OF WHICH AS FOLLOWS: INTEREST OF SU N K CAPITAL,
ALLOWANCE FOR OF MACHINERY DEPRECIATION OF VALUE ... ... ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ... ... ... ...
70 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 m . . . COTTON . . . .
. . . . . .
. .
. . . . .
. . . . .
.
.. . . . . .
. .
. .
. . .
.
. .
.. . . . .
.
. .
. .. . . .
.
. . .
.
�
. . .
ND GENERA A S, GA , W O LL TA , IL O , ER STEAM.POW UTENSILS an EXPENSE OF KEEPING UP .......................... . . . . . . IR PA RE IN Y ER IN CH A M ................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S ER RK WAGES TO WO PROFIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
,
i I ,
\
2, 30 0 14,000 1,800 5,400 1,500 £25,000" (p. 234).
•
208
20 9
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
(Floating capital of £7,00 0 is thus assumed ,/( since 1 ,500 is 5% on 30,000.) "The PRODUCE of the MILL TAKEN AT 10 , 000 lb. WEEKLY " (IbId., p. 234 ). Hence, profit here= 1 , 1 50+ 1 ,500=2 ' 650 ,' 2 , 650 .' 5 ,400 (wages) = 1 :2 2/53 =49 8/ 1 08 %.
s se es ss o p al it p ca ed x fi at th t n introduced machinery. To the exteuces the productivity of labour. d re t u b t en m g au t o n es o d it e, valu
.
.
"COST OF A COTTON SPINNING MILL OF 10, 000 THROS TLES. CALCULATED TO PRODUCE A FAIR QUALITY OF
· · TAKING PRESENT VALUE O; �������: ;�·� ;��� �; WOULD ANNUALLY BE COSTING · ·· · INTEREST ON SUNK CAPITAL. DEP���;�;� �� �; ����� No. 24 .......................... .
.
. .
.
.
.
OF MACHINERY at lO% ............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COTTON . STEAM-POWER. TALLOW. OIL . . ��.��;��.. ��.�.�;���� IN REPAIR. ETC. . . . . . . . . . . .. WAGES TO WORKERS PROFIT . ...... . ... . .
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
���
. . .
. . . • . . . • . . . • . . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . . . • • • . • • . . • . . . • . .
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
. . . . . . . . . . .
. . .
. . . . . . . . . . ..
. . .
[20,000 [23,000 2,000 13,300 2,500 3,800 1,400 23,000" (p. 235).
Hence GR30SS PROFIT = 2,400,' WAGES 3 ' 800 ; 2,400:3,800= 24:38= _ 1 2 . 1 9 63 iJ 9 %. I n the first cas�, 34 �/3 %; in the second, 49 8/ 1 08 %; and in the last ' . 0f 63 3/ 1 9 %. In t?e fIrst case, wages constitute I I6 of the t0tal prIce . 1 the product; In the second ' more .than /5; In the last, less than 1 /6 , But in the firs cas e ro�ortIOn °f wag�: to the value of the capital employ;d t. 4 � 1 5,. n e second , 1 :5 127 ; and in the third ' . I IaId 1 .' 7 7/ 1 9 ' In the same measure as the ratio of the p�rt 0f �apita . out in wages to that laid o�t In ' ery :�� �Ir�ula�ng capital ' �:ch�� (this eq� als, TOGETHER, in e fi c e 3 ' f0 ' I n � e secon? , 30,0?0; In the third, 28,00 0) declines ' the pro It on t e part laId . . . out In wages must , 0f course, Increase If the percentage of profI' t IS . to remaIn the same. The absolute decrease of th� �g;�;!�te I �b
=
7
ERS TO LESSEN TH E RATE OF UR CT FA NU MA "THE SURPLUS HANDS BE FOLLOWED LD OU W N IO CT DU RE LE AB ER ID NS ANY CO WAGES; BU T TH E CERTAINTY THAT D VARIOUS AN S, GE PA OP ST ED ND TE EX , TS OU OM TURN BY IM M EDIATE IMMENSE LOSSES FR EFER TH E PR EM TH S KE MA , AY W R EI TH IN N W BE THRO OTHER IMPEDIMENTS W HI CH WOULD TRIPLE Y MA EY TH GH OU TH , CH HI W BY T, IM PROVEMEN SLOWER PROCESS OF MECHANICAL , on nd Lo , ry ne hi ac M " d an ns sa rti A ll, ke W ME N (Gas PRODUCTION, THEY REQUIRE NO NE
would enable the
1836 , p. 3 14 ).
EY WILL RENDER TH , AN KM OR W E TH CE LA SP DI E IT QU "W HE N TH E IM PROVEMENTS NOT PRODUCTION OF [a] E TH , NG DI EN NT RI PE SU ER TH RA OR ONE MAN CAPABLE OF PRODUCING, . 5) 1 3 p. ., id (ib S ER UR BO LA 20 OR 10 QUANTITY NOW REQUIRING E AS MU CH UC OD PR TO N MA E ON LE AB EN CH " MACHINES HAVE BEEN INVENTED W HI ENABLE 1 CH HI W O, AG S AR YE 70 ED UC OD PR D HA VE YARN AS 25 0, OR 30 0 EV EN , COUL D BOYS RE ND HU A D AN N ME D RE ND HU A GOODS AS MAN AND 1 BOY TO PRINT AS MANY e uc od pr LS IL M NG NI IN SP E TH IN EN KM OR The 1 50,000 W " (ibid ., COULD HAVE PRINTED FORMERLY. EL HE W AD RE TH Ee ON th ith w ed uc od pr ve ha d ul co S ON LI IL M 40 as rn as much ya
p. 3 16). SAID BE Y MA L, TA PI CA R FO EW Fl or L, TA PI CA R FO [VII-44] "The IMMEDIATE MARKET VEN MOMENT, GI A AT ED ST VE IN BE N CA CH HI W TO BE LABOUR. TH E AMOUNT OF CAPITAL T LESS THAN A GIVEN RATE OF
AS TO RETURN NO SO , LD OR W E TH OR Y, TR UN CO N IN A GIVE W HI CH IT IS , UR BO LA OF TY TI AN QU E TH DEPEND ON PROFITS, SEEMS PRINCIPALLY TO NU M BE R OF NG TI IS EX EN TH E TH CE DU IN CAPITAL, TO POSSIBLE, BY LAYING OUT THAT ature of N e th g tin ec sp re les cip rin P e os th n Inquiry into HU M AN BEINGS TO PERFORM" (A to n io sit po op in AN DI AR IC R a by en tt ri (w ) 20 p. , 21 18 n, do on L c., et d an em D Malthus's Principles etc.).
[ALIENATION]
f o es rc fo e iv ct u d ro p e th f o t en m p The FACT that, with the develo f o s n io it d n co d ie if re e th in labour, there must be an increase to living labour strictly ve ti la re r, u o b la d ie if re in labour, e iv ct u d ro p e th f o th w ro g e th ce n si speaking, this is a tautology, is r u o b la te ia ed m im ss le at th ly n o n ea m n ca r u o b la f o er w o p al ci so , re o ef er th , at th d an , ct u d required to create a larger pro the conditions of labour created in ed ss re p ex ly g n si ea cr in is h lt ea w , al it p ca f o t in o p d an st e th m o fr t, by labour itself this fact does nom d ie if re , ty vi ti ac al ci so f o t en m o e appear in the form that the on body of the other moment, of labour, becomes the ever huger and this is important in the subjective, living labour. Rather rs in the form that the objective ea p ap it r u o b la e ag w f o t x te n co f o e re eg d al ss lo co re o m er ev conditions of labour take o n an r VERY EXTENT, over against living ei th y b d te n se re p re , ce en d en ep d in r u o b la ts n o fr n co s n io rt o p er g u h labour; and that social wealth in The emphasis is not laid upon e. rc fo g in at in m o d d an n ie al an as , p u n ve gi d, te na ie al g n ei b s it on labour' s being objectified, but up e enormous objectified power sold ; it is laid upon the fact that th
2 lO
which social labour has set up over against itself as one moments belongs, not to the worker, but to the personof its ifi ed conditions of production, i.e . to capital. To the extent that, from the standpoint of capital and w age labour, the creation of this objective body of activity takes pl ac e in op position to the immediate labour capacity to the ex te this process of objectification IN FACT appears from the st nt that an dp oint of labour as a process of giving up, or from the st andpoint of capital as one of appropriation of alien labour this dist or tion and inversion is a real, not a merely thought one, not one w hi ch exists onl� in the imag�nation of the workers and the capita ObVIOUS that thIS process of inversion is merely lists. Yet it is an historical necessity, merely a necessity for the development of th e pr od uctive forces from a definite historical point of departure, or ba si s. In no way is it an absolute necessity of production ; it is , ra th er , a ra ns it or y on e, and the result and (immanent) aim of this process � IS to transcend this basis itself and this form of th e pr oc es s. The bourgeois economists are so wrapped u p in the definite historical stage of social development that th notions of a e ne cessity for the . objectification of the social powers o f labour ap pe ar s to them to �e . Inseparable from the necessity for their aliena tion over against hVIng l�bour. But as soon as the immediate char ac te r of living labou.r IS transcended, i.e ., its character as merely in di vi du al, or as onlx . Inter� all� ?r only e�ternal�y general, with th e actIvIty of IndIVIduals as ImmedIately general or so positing of the ci al ac tivity, this form of alienation is stripped from the reif produ.ction . Then they are posited as [social] ied moments of p ro . org.am� .soCIal body in which the individuals repr perty, as the od uc e th emselves as IndIVIduals, but as social individuals. The co t�em to be such in the reproduction of their lif nditions enabling e, th ei !Ife-process, are o?ly posited by the historical ec r productive Itself; both the objective and the subjective cond onomic process merely two different forms o f the same condit itions, which are io n s. 'The. . propertylessne�s of the worker and th e property of . hv objectIfIed labour In ing labour, or the appropriation of alien labour by capital both merely expressing th two op�osite poles- are basic conditions of the ebosame relation at productIOn, by n o means indifferent accident urgeois mode o f al fe at ur es o f it. These modes of distribution are the produc ti selves, only sub specie distributionis.a Hence nothon relations them absurd than the statement by, e. g ., J. St. Mill inthg could be more at a
,
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
From the viewpoint of distribution.- Ed.
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
211
"THE LAWS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PRODUCTION OF WEALTH PARTAKE OF THE CHARACTER OF PHYSICAL TRUTHS. . . . IT IS NOT SO WITH THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. THAT IS A MATTER OF HUMAN INSTITUTION SOLELY " (Principles of Political Economy,
2nd ed., London, 1 848, Vol. I, pp. 239, 240).
f
.'.'.
",-
i
.
_
The " LAWS and CONDITIONS" of the production of wealth and the " DISTRIBUTION of wealth" are the same laws un? er LAWS of the . different forms, and both change, undergo the same h� stor�cal process; they are, in general, merely moments of an hlstoncal process. No extraordinary intellectual powe�s are needed to compreh. �n d that if the initial situation assumed IS that of free labour ansI� g fro� the dissolution of serfdom, or wage. l.abour, ��e only way In which machines can originate is in oppoSItIon to hVIn� l�bour, as property alien to it and a hostile power opposed to �t, . I.e., they must confront labour as capital. On the other hand , It IS equally simple to understand that machines will not cease to be agents of social. production when they become, e.g., . th� p�op�rty .of the the I.e. , utIOn aSSOCIated workers · But in the first case ' theIr dIstnb . . fact that they do not belong to the worker, IS Just as much a condition of the mode of production based upon wage labour. In the second, the changed mode of distribu�ion woul? set out from a changed, new basis of production, one WhICh has ansen solely as a result of the historical process.
'iflif .' . .
[VARIA]
,
,
In the figurative language of the Peruvians, gold is "THE TEARS WEPT BY THE SUN " ([W. H.] Prescott [ History of the Conquest of Peru, 4th ed., Vol. I, London, 185 ' the USE of the TOOLS or the machinery FAMILIAR TO THE EUROPEAN, '?whh ' Peru) "COULD HAVE DONE BUT LITTLE; BUT ACTING IN LARGE EACH INDIVIDUAL " ( III MASSES and UNDER A COMMON DIRECTION, THEY WERE ENABLED BY INDEFATIGABLE PERSEVERANCE TO ACHIEVE RESULTS" ete. (I.e. [po 127]).
���
,
,
,
liThe money used by the Mexicans (to a greater extent with BARTER and oriental landed property) [was]
��
: � �:�� :���� �:������
"A REGULATED CURRENCY Of' DIFFERENT VALUES. THIS CONSISTED OF TRANSPARENT O QUILLS OF GOLD DUST; OF BITS OF TIN, CUT IN TH O OF T i y CONTAINING A SPECIFIED NUMBER OF GRAINS. esse
, �c�nt pos� ��r� mankind with a sweet and nutritious beverage and protects It. � Illn � e from the infernal disease of avarice, since it cannot be long oar e , nor underground.' SAYS Peter Martyr (De orbe novo), (Prescott, [po 123]).a a
Marx quotes in Latin.- Ed.
1
212
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
"Eschwege ( 1 823) estimates the total value of the DIAMOND WORKINGS in 80 ears AT A SUM HARDLY EXCEEDING 1 8 MO�THS' PRODUCE OF SUGAR OR COFFEE IN BRr ZIL " . ��H.] Menv�le [Lectures ,�n ColonizatIOn and Colonies, Vol. I , London, 184 1 ' . 52]) The FIRST (BRITISH ) SETTLERS" (IN NORTH AMERICA) "CULTIVATED THE ciEARE� �O�N � �BOUT .T� EIR VILLAGES IN COMMON .... This CUSTOM PREVAILS until 1619 in , Ir��ma ete. (IbId., pp. 91-92). (Notebook, p. 52.38 ) ( The C.ortes addressed ,the following petition to Philip II in 1 593: The Cortes ? f Valla�olI� of th� y�ar 48 requested Your Majesty not to permit the further Im �rtatIon . mt� thIS kmgdom �f candles, glassware, jewellery, knives and similar ar es commg rom abroad, WhICh, though they are of no use in human life have to � ex�hanged for gold, as though the Spaniards were Indians" (Se� Pere' [ cOnstde,ral!?ns sur les causes de la grandeur et de la decadence de la monarchie espagnole' Vol. l , pans, I 82 6, pp. 275-76]).) a
more than 2 hat ew som s wa ad] bre [of on pti sum con ly dai 's zen citi n ma Ro e (Th es 0.9 3 pound sum con ian ris Pa A ds. un po 3 an ym ntr cou a of t tha ds; un po French main source of the is n cor ich wh in nts me art dep 20 the in an ym ntr cou a ad; bre of ounces, 8 lb. 1 ly, Ita ay t-d sen pre In . 7]) 27 [po ., (I.c ds un po .70 1 t, nourishmen relatively eat ns ma Ro the did y Wh t. en shm uri no of rce sou in ma the is where corn s, they ard erw aft ; ter wa in ed ten sof ly on or raw n cor the ate y the lly more? Origina o flour, int n cor ing nd gri of art the up ked pic y the ter La it. g stin roa got the idea of d use y the in, gra the nd gri To . raw ur flo s thi m fro de ma h ug do and at first ate the ier sold n ma e Ro Th .... er oth h eac t ins aga d ate rot or ked knoc nes sto a pestle or two . ys da l era sev for him t las uld wo t tha is, pu h, ug do raw s thi prepared a supply of nd fou s s wa an me a in; gra the s een scr ich wh , ted en inv s wa Then the winnowing-fan d at first bread an d, de ad s wa ven lea , ally fin ur; flo the m fro n bra the g tin ara for sep the bread it g kin coo by t tha d ere cov dis lly nta ide acc s wa it til un , raw was eaten r. It was ge lon ch mu p kee uld wo it t tha d an r sou ing go m fro ted ven could be pre (I.e ., me Ro in d are pe ap s ker ba t tha 0, 58 in us, rse Pe st ain ag r wa the not until after ills" dm win of ge led ow kn no d ha ns ma Ro the , era n tia ris Ch the p. 27 9). "B efore (I.e., p. 280).) at gre de ma s ha g llin mi of art the nce Fra in t tha wn sho s "Parmentier ha of ld yie the en twe be e enc fer dif the t tha d an V, XI uis Lo of e progress since the tim the by ed pli sup ad 1 bre the /2 to nts ou am g llin mi of d tho the old and the new me ed ign ass re we eat wh of ers seti 1/3 1 ally fin d an 2 n the 3, n same grain. At first 4, the the enormous So . ris Pa of nt ita ab inh an of n tio mp nsu co al nu an for the and by us is ns ma Ro the by eat wh of on pti sum con ily da the en we bet n disproportio d breadan g llin mi of ds tho me ct rfe pe im the m fro ms ste it d; ine easily expla making" (I.e ., p. 28 1 ). PROPERTY AMONG ACTIVE ED ND LA OF N TIO ITA LIM A S WA law ian "The agrar E EXISTENCE
�
t \
•
" I N DENSELY PEOPLED COLONIES THE LABOURER, ALTHOUGH FREE IS NATURALLY DEPENDENT ON THE CAPITALIST; IN THINLY PEOPLED ONES THE WANT O THIS NATURAL . " DEPEN!lENCE MUST BE SUPPLIED BY ARTIFICIAL RESTRICTIONS (M envaIe, Lectures on
ColOnizatIOn etc., Vol. II, London, 1 842, p. 3 1 4).//
�
[VII-45] Roman Money: the aes graveb was a pound of coP ( e :�s et libram�). This was the as.* In 485 A.V.C.d silver denarii= 1 0 as ( ia l . ar t t nd; i 1O [A.V.C. ] 75 denarii to the pound; the denarius t1 ounces). In 5 1 3 the as was reduced to 2 ounces ' the as 0 . . denanus .stIli = 1 q as, now represented only 1 /84 of a pound of silver. This figure, ' was rated at 16 of the Republic but 537 th d e en anus in 1 /84, applIed untIl the end . ' one o unce, a� m 665 only at 1 6 as of half an ounce.... In the ear 485 of d as of . the RepublIc the sIlver denarius= 1 franc 63 [centimes] ' in 5 10-8 �e� .: s� between 5 1 3 and 707= 78 centimes. From Galba to th� Antonines (Dureau de la Malle, [l�cono�ie politiqu� des Romains,] Vol. I , [ pp. 15, 1 6, '448, 450]). . A th tIme of the fIrst sIlver denanus, the ratio between 1 pound of silver and I oun 0 copper 400 : 1 . At the beginning of the Second Punic War 39 it was 1 1 2 : 1 ( .e., Vo1 . l , pp. 76-77, 81-82). ' dIrect ' " !he Greek colonies in Southern Italy drew silver from Greece and A SIa, . ' a age, and mmted sIlver coins from the sixth and fifth or VIa Tyre and C rth . centunes B. ' C . onward� . Despite this proximity, the Romans proscribed the use of �ld and s.Ilve for polItIc. al reasons. The people and the Senate felt that so facile a eans 01 ctrcu atlOn would be conducive to concentration, an increase in the number � �laves, and the decay of the ancient customs and of agriculture" (I.e., pp. 64, ) ' vocale, the animal an . "According to Varro, the slave was an mstrumentum mentum semi-mutum, and the plough an instrumentum mutum" (I.e., pp. 253,
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E FOUNDATION OF TH TH ED RM FO TY PER PRO OF N TIO ITA LIM IS TH . CITIZENS [Vol. II, ] p. 25 6). AND PROSPERITY OF TH E OLD REPUBLICS" (I.e .,
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as
or libra= 1 2 ounces; I ounce=24 scrupula; 288 scrupula to the pound.
a Marx quotes in French.-Ed. b �eavy copper (measured by weight).- Ed. e LIterally : to buy with t�e help of copper and scales; figuratively: to buy with due . observance 0f the formahtIes.- Ed. From the founding of the city (of Rome) .- Ed. . ThIS and the followl �g passages are partly in French and partly in German translation in the manuscnpt.- Ed.
:
213
I! i
ent ym pa d, lan n ow Cr m fro ns ur ret the of ted sis con te Sta the "The revenues of d an rt po im the on id pa es tax y ne mo of er mb nu a d an r, in kind, statute labou de mo is Th . ies dit mo com n tai cer of e sal the on ied lev or export of merchandise, 's lla Su of e tim the At e. pir Em an tom Ot the in , ge an exists, almost without ch ts eip rec al nu an the 7, 69 no an y, tur cen 7th the of d en dictatorship and even at the revenue of the 0, 78 1 In .... ncs fra n llio mi 40 ly on ed all tot lic ub p re' n of the Roma e Romans Th .... ncs fra n llio mi 70 or es str pia n llio mi 35 ly on s wa tan sul the Turkish Romans, the of e cas the In d. kin in s ue en rev ir the of st mo ted lec col and the Turks Turks, the g on am it; fru the of 1/5 p, cro in gra the 1 of / to d nte 10 the taxes amou merely s wa e pir Em n ma Ro the ce Sin .... ce du pro the of 1/ 1/2 to they varied from 10 of the rt pa r ate gre the es, liti ipa nic mu nt de en ep ind of ion rat me an immense agglo 2-05). charges and expenses remained communal" ([Vol. II] , pp . 40 84 6,6 26 ly on d ha s, urb sub the ut ho wit ro, Ne d an s stu gu Au (The. Rome of s urb sub the era n tia ris Ch the of y tur cen rth fou the in t tha inhabitants. Assumes a lls; wa ian rel Au the hin wit ed liv le op pe 95 2,6 38 t tha d an , nts had 1 20,000 inhabita ly gh rou d tol all rs; ne eig for 0 ,00 30 d an rs die sol 0 ,00 30 s total of 50 2,6 95 ; plu ital cap the V es arl Ch of e tim the m fro ies 1 tur 2 cen / 1 for d, dri 562,000 people. Ma with ces en nd po res cor ny ma d ha , rld Wo w Ne the lf ha of d an e of a part of Europ nce" rta po im cal liti po its to n tio or op pr in w gro t no did , too , ion Rome. Its populat (I.e ., [Vol. I,] pp . [37 0, 40 3,] 40 5-0 6). ) the in or a ssi Ru in t tha d ble em res e tim the at me Ro in y iet "The state of soc rce me com le litt : nd gla En in or nce Fra in t tha n tha re mo far Ottoman Empire, ., [Vol. II, ] (I.e ty" ver po me tre ex e sid ng alo es tun for nse or industry; imme p. 2 14) .
2 14
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda
(Luxury only in the capital and at the residences of the Roman satraps .) " �rom the destruction of Carthage to the founding of Constantinople, the
relation ? f Roman Italy to Greece and the Orient was the same as that of Spain to . Europe m t�e eIghteenth century. I Alberoni's words: ' Spain is to Europe what � the mouth IS to the body: everythmg goes into it, no thing stays there '" (I.c ., [Vol. II, ] pp . 399-400). . Us.ury was initially free in Rome. The law of the Twelve Tables (303 A. U. C. ) fIxed mterest on money at 1 % per annum (Niebuhr says l O% ).4 0 These laws were promptly v�ol�ted. Duilius (398 A. U. C. ) once again redu ced the interest on money to 1 %, UnClaTl�m foenus.a Reduced to 1/2 % in 40 8; in 4 1 3, lending at interest was absol'! t� ly forbIdden by a referendum held by the tribune Genucius. It is not surpnsmg that in a republic in which industry and wh . olesale and retail trade were forbIdden to citizens, trading in mo ey was likewise forbidden (I.e ., Vol. II, pp . � . [25 9,] 260, 26 1). ThIS state of affaIrs lasted for 30 0 years, till the capture of Carthag-e. Then [�he m�ximum chargeable] 12 %; the usual rate 6% per annum . . (I.e.., p. 26 1). Justlman fIxed the mterest rate at 4% . In 'an's time' the usura Tr aJ 9umcunxb was the legal interest of 5% . In Egypt in 14 6 B. C. , the commercial rate of mterest was 12 % (ibid ., p[p. 26 1-] 26 3).
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[V II-46] The INVOLUNTARY ALIENATION of feudal landed prop er ty develops with usury and money: " THE INTRODUCTION OF MONEY, WH IC H BU YS ALL THIN GS , and hence the FAVOUR for the CREDITOR who loans MONEY to the landown er, BRINGS IN THE NECESSITY OF LE
a
An increase of one ounce.- Ed. An interest of 5 ounces.- Ed.
to
the Chapters on Money and on Capital
2 15
"When payment was in silver, weighing, mostly in marks, was the general practice in all larger payments. Coined silver, too, was wei�hed in sU,ch payments, smce the coins were still almost totally composed of pure sIlver, and It was only a matter of weight, Hence the names pound (livre, lire) * and 'mark' in part si�nified i.magi�ary coins or coins of account, and in part were transferred to real sIlver coms. SIlver coins: denaren or kreuzer, In Germany, these denaren were called pfennigs (pennig, penning, phenning) from as early as the ninth century, �riginally pending, pent�ing, pfentinc, derived from pfilndig,a .in th� old f?r� pfilndmg, as much as full-weIght: hence pfiindige denaren, abbreVIated mto Pf,!ndmge, Another name for the denaren, from the beginning of the twelfth century , m France, Ger�any, the Netherlands, and England, derives from the star [Stern, m German] whICh replac�d the cros�es stamped on the coin: stemlinge, sterlinge, starlinge, Denaren s.terlIng=pfenmgs sterling, In the fourteenth century, 320 of the Netherlands sterImge compo�ed a pound, 20 pieces to the ounce, Silver sol�d! in German w�re called schIldlInge, . schillinge. In the early Middle Ages, SIlver soh�1 were not r�al COIns but the content ?f 12 denaren. 1 gold solidus = 1 2 denaren or sterImge, for thIS was the average ratio of gold and silver. " Obols, half pfennigs, halblinge were in circul�tion as small change,,:. As ��e small crafts became increasingly widespread, a growmg number of tradmg cities and petty princes obtained the right to strike their local coin, which was theref�re mostly small change. They admixed copper, this went f�rther. and �urther"" ThICk pfennigs, gros deniers, grossi, groschen, groats, were fIrst comed I?" :rOUTS before the middle of the thirteenth century. These groschen were ongmally double pfennigs" (pp. 4 1 5-33). . "The fact that the Popes levied ecclesiastical dues upon almost. all CatholIc countries contributed not a little, first, to the development of the entire monetary system in trade-plying Europe, and then, as a consequence, to vanous attempts to get round the Church ban (on interest). The P?pe made use of Lo�bards for the collection of the pallium-fees from the ArchbIshops, and for exactmg the other dues. They were the most important usurers and pawnbrokers, �nder Papal protection. Known ever since the middle of the twelfth century. Particularly from Siena. 'Official usurarii'. In England, they were called 'Romish-episcopal money dealers'. Some bishops, La. those of Basel, pawned their episcopal ring, silken vestmen'ts and the whole of the Church valuables to the Jews m return for a small sum, and paid interest. On the other hand, bishops, abbots and priests themselves engaged in usury by pawning the Church valuables, with Tuscan money-dealers from Florence, Siena and other cities for a share in the profits", ete. (see I.c. [Part II, pp, 36-45], Notebook, p. 3942). •
t, I
Since money is the universal equivalent: th� GENERAL .POWE.R OF PURCH1-SING, everything is purchasable, everythmg IS convertible l? to money. But it can be converted into money only by bemg alienated, by its owner giving it up. EVERYTHING IS THEREFORE ALIENABLE, or indifferent for the individual, external to him. The so-called inalienable, eternal possessions, and the immovable, settled property relations corresponding to them, therefore collapse before money. Furthermore, since money itself only exists in circulation and is * Notabene: In Mexico, there existed money, but no weights; in Peru, weights,
but no money.
a Weighing one pound,- Ed,
216
l ta pi Ca on d an ey on M on rs te ap Ch e th Addenda to
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
. lt
exchanged for enjoyments, etc. for values which ����� re��cibl: t� p¥rely in?ivid�al enjoyments, e:;�t�!n� :� i 0 ar as It eXists for the individual Th . d led lyvalue of things except in so far as it consists i� m �pen ent . thelr mere belng for 0ther purposes, their relativity,. exchangeabili. d. relations IS thereby ty the absolute . value of all thOmgs an . . ' dIssolved. Everythmg is sacrificed t0 egOistic en]oyme� t. For, just can be alienated for money, everythmg can be as everything . obt�ned for money, Everything can be had for "read m ey " which as something existing externally to the individual �an : go� , ' hold of BY FRAUD, VIOLENCE, etc, Hence everything IS appropr�able, by everyone, and what the individ I n r cannot appropnate IS a matter of chance, since it de e��s � o� th e h����;�sesi In this , way, the individual fn hims�f is ;o:�� :s � everythmg, There are no absolute values since valu , , ', ' money, The "res sacrae" everyt mg can be appropnate ' d and with " , " re,rlglOsae ' " , whICh can" be " in nullius bonis" , " nec aestlmatlonem ' ' h are exempted reclpere, nee 0blIgan allenarique posse"" Wh IC from "commercio hominum" _
. "As the ecclesiastical law against usury had I�ng �mce become a dead letter, , . [Pope] Martin in 1425 abolished it in narne too (Hullmann, I.e., Part II, Bonn' . . "In 1 827, p. 55). the Middle A es g , no country had a ge?�ral rate 0f mterest. First, . the stnctness of the clerics. Insecurity of the Ie�al I?ro�I�lOns for protecting loans. The interest rate was so much the hIg ' her m mdlvl�ual cases. The limited circulation of money, the need t m ke m st par e �s m cash, �VII-47] the bill business being as yet undevelop d' he e ore W,I e . Iver.gences m interest rates and in the concept of usury In Cha � agne s orne, It was only considered usurious to charge 100% [or �ore] � In .m au on. I �ke Constance, in 1344, local burghers took 216 2/3% In Zurich h C ty C?�n lXed the legal interest rate at 43 1/3% , In Italy, 40% had someti�es o e Pal , t ough the usual rate from the 1 2th to the 14th centu d'd n c decre d that 12 1/2 % s�ould � b� the legal rate. Fred ic� II � � . r t ut on y for Jews. He did not 0, wish to speak for Christians In Rh sh Germany, lO% was the usual rate as early as the 13th century" (I.e., �p. 55_;; .
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' . no one's possession" and The "sacred and religious objects" , wh'Ieh ,can be ,,m "can neither be put a valu nor paw?e� 0: .a�lena.ted" , and which are exempted from the "trade o (Corpus tuns CWdlS, Dlgesta I, 5, 8, 9 and Institutiones II, 1, 7, 8). Ed. _
-
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217
A PART OF IS ity od m m co a of n io pt um ns " Productive CONSUMPTION, where the co y, m no co E al ic lit Po of ts en lem [E , an m ew N ] h. P S. ([ ON TI UC OD PR OF " IT WILL BE NOTICED ESS OC PR E TH 2 ). 4 10 , II V X k oo eb ot N ] 6, 29 p. , 35 18 k, or Y ew N d an er ov nd A ME VALUE SA E TH E, LU VA OF N IO PT UM NS THERE IS NO CO " THAT IN THESE INSTANCES OPRIATION PR AP e th N IO PT UM NS CO " (ibid .). Further EXISTING UNDER A NEW FORM " (I. e. , p. 29 7) . ES US T EN ER FF DI S IT TO OF INDIVIDUAL REVENUE W TO BU Y NO IS IT AS SY EA SO E AD M BE MES "To SELL FOR MONEY SHALL AT ALL TI ING CAUSE IL FA R VE NE D AN M OR IF UN E TH COME WITH MONEY, AN D PRODUCTION WOULD BE m etc., Edinburgh, 183 1 , p. 16 ). "After ste Sy l cia So he T " y, ra G n oh (J ND MA DE OF e th : is n tio uc od pr of on iti nd co y ar ss ce ne land, capital and labour, the "fourth p. 18). "To BE ABLE TO EXCHANGE IS FOR THE . • .
INSTANT POWER OF EXCHANGING (I. e. ,
AS IT WAS TO T AN RT PO IM AS Y ET CI SO IN MAN
PRODUCE " (ibid., p. 2 1) .
ROBINSON CRUSOE
TO BE ABLE TO
ue tr is s hi T . ne no s te ea cr t bu l, ta pi ca s "According to Say, credit merely transftaer it ed cr of t no t bu , ts is al ri st du in to ts pi lis only in the case of loans made by caad to es nc va ad er uc od pr e on t ha W . vances between producers in their mutual ucts e es th , ts uc od pr se he T . es iti od m com , od pr is it l; ta pi ca ' t no is r he ot an the of s nd ha e th in l ta pi ca e tiv ac e m co be commodities, can and doubtless will but in the hands of their owner they are, in borrower, i.e. instruments of labour; nsequently inactive ... . One must distinguish fact, merely products for sale, and cod agents of labour, or productive capital. As between products, or commodities, an s of its producer, it is merely a commodity, y long as a product remains in the hand an ng ri fe of om fr r Fa l. ta pi ca t er in e, activ a or, if one wishes to put it this way, in , m hi to en rd bu a is t uc od pr at th , it holds e, advantage to the manufacturer who ov ag or st of st co e th : es ss lo d an s st co head e constant source of inconvenience, of reer th g tin un co t no , e. et y, tla ou e th on t maintenance and safeguarding, intely stever no is it n he w t ec bj su is ity od m m co y ar ne ch hi w to te as w or n io at or ri te r de he ot an to it ed cr on ity od m m co s hi lls se e, or ef er th , he If . ... e tim ng lo a r fo ed us ity is od m m co e th , ur bo la of nd ki n ow s hi industrialist who can apply it to erchandise into active capital. In this way, the converted, for the latter, from inert meases without any diminution in that of the productive capital of one party incr that the seller, even though disposing of his other. What is more: if it is admittedreceives for them bills of exchange which it is commodities on credit, nevertheless ce, is it not clear that he thereby acquires the to legal for him to have discounted at on m hi g lin ab en , ur bo la of ts en m ru st in d l an , ds means to renew his own raw materiain or w r he ot in l; ta pi ca e tiv uc od pr in se ea ns da resume work? There is thus a double hacr s ue nq ba s de et it ed cr Du , lin ue oq C power acquired by both parties" (C . 3rl1es, 1842 , pp. 799-800).l'industrie, Revue des deux mondes, Vol merchandise for sale passes rapidly, without "[Suppose] that the whole of the inert product to that of active capital: what an t fi delays or obstacles, from the state of ra ne be e th ly ise ec pr is n io at m or sf an pid tr n new activity in a country! .. , This ac ca it ed cr , ay w is th In n. io at ul rc ci of tivity e th brought about by credit. This is the tene, tim of od ri pe n ve gi a In . fold n multiply the industrialists' business raw m te t bu ce on t no ts uc od pr d an ls ia ater is merchant or producer renewed his everyo th of d ea st In . er w po ng si ha rc pu 's ne times. Credit effects this by increasing are able to pay at the given moment, credit ho w e os th to ed ct ri st re g in be er w re po tu fu of e te an ar gu a r fe of ity al or m d of confers it upon everyone whose positiocanpaan ns ea m by ts uc od pr e th g in us of e repaymen t; it gives it to whoever isedit isblthat it increases, if not the sum of the labour. Hence the first benefit of cr ds or w an m er G g in us , ch en Fr in lin ue oq C Here and below Marx quotes from occasionally.- Ed. _
9- 78 5
218
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
values possessed by a country, at least the sum of the act ive values. This is the immediate effect. From it flows an increase in the productiv e forces, hence also in the sum of values, ete. (I.e . [pp. BO l , B02, B0 5]) . " LETTING IS A CONDITIONAL SALE, OR SALE OF THE USE OF A THING FO R A LIMITED TI ME " (T h. Corbet, An Inquiry into the Ca uses and Modes of the Wealth of Individuals etc., London, I B4 1 , p. B 1 ). "
" TRANSFORMATIONS TO WHICH CAPIT AL IS SUBJECTED IN THE WORK OF PRODUC TION. CAPITAL, TO BECOME PRODUCTIVE, MUST BE CONSUMED " (S. P. Newman, Elem ents of
Political Economy, Andover and New York, I B3 5, p. BO). "ECO NOMIC CYCLE .. .
THE WHOLE COURSE OF PRODUCTION, FR OM THE TI ME THAT OUTLAYS ARE MADE, TILL RETURNS ARE RECEIVED. I N AGRICULTURE, SEED TIME IS ITS COMMENCEMENT, AND HARVESTING ITS EN DI NG " ([ibi d. ,] p, B l). The
distinction between FIXED and CIRCULATING CAPITAL is based on the fact THAT DURING EVERY ECONOMIC CYCLE, A PART IS PARTIALLY, AND ANOTHER PART TOTALLY CONSUM ED (I. e.) . CAPITAL AS DIRECTED TO DIFFERENT EMPLOYMENTS (I.e. [p o B2 ]).
This belongs in the theory of competition.
"A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE: In undeveloped nations,
WHATEVER COMMODITY CONSTITUTES THE LARGER SHARE OF TH E WEALTH OF THE CO MM UN ITY, OR FR OM AN Y CAUSE BECOMES MORE FREQUENTLY TH AN OTHERS AN OBJECT OF EXCHANGE, IS WONT TO BE USED AS A CIRCULATING ME DI UM . Hence CATTLE are a means of ex change among PASTORAL TRIBES, DRIED FISH IN N EW FOUNDLAND, SUGAR in the West In di es , tobacco in Virginia, PRECIOUS METALS [have the] advantage: (a ) SAMENESS OF QUALITY IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD; (b) ADMIT OF MI NU TE DIVISION AN D EXACT APPORTIONMEN T; (c) RARITY AN D DIFFICULTY OF ATTA IN ME NT ; (d ) THEY ADMIT OF COINAGE (I. e., p[ p. 99 ,] 1 00 [ 1 0 1 ]). •
The notion of capital as an entity which reproduces itself-as a value which perpetuates and augments itself by VIRTUE OF AN INNATE QUALITy- h as led Dr. Price to prodigious fancies, which far outstrip the fantasies of the alchemists. Pitt took them seriously and, in his laws on the SINKING FUND (see Lauderdale), made them into the pillars of his financial wisdom.43 The following are a few striking extracts from Price: [VII-4B]
"MONEY BEARING COMPOUND INTEREST INCREASES AT FIRST SLOWLY. BUT, THE RATE OF INCREASE BEING CONTIN UALLY ACCELERATED, IT BECOMES IN SOME TIME SO RAPID, AS TO MOCK ALL THE POWERS OF THE IMAGINATION. ONE PENNY, PUT OUT AT OUR SAVIOUR'S BIRTH TO 5% COMPOUND INTEREST, WOULD, BEFORE THIS TIME, HAVE INCREASED TO A GREATER SUM, THAN WOULD BE CONTAINED IN A 1 50 MILLIONS OF EARTHS. ALL SOLID GOLD. BUT IF PUT OUT TO SIMPLE INTEREST, IT WOULD, IN THE SAME TIME, HAVE AMOUNTED TO NO MORE THAN 7 SHILLINGS 4 1/ 2 d. OUR GOVERNMENT HAS HITHERTO CHOSEN TO IMPROVE MONEY I N THE LAST, RATHER THAN THE FIRST OF THESE WAYS" (Richard Price, An Appeal to the Public, on the Subject of the National Debt, 2nd
ed., London, 1 772, pp. I B- 1 9).
(His grand idea: The Government should borrow at simple interest, and loan out that money at compound interest.a) a
2 19
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
In his Observations on Reversionary Payments etc. ([2nd ed.,] London, 1772), his fantasy soars even higher: "A
SHILLING PUT OUT TO 6% COMPOUND INTEREST AT OUR SAVIOUR'S BIRTH WOULD HAVE INCREASED TO A GREATER SUM THAN THE WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM COULD HOLD, UPPOSING IT A SPHERE EQUAL IN DIAMETER TO THE DIAMETER OF SATURN'S ORBIT" (I.e.. p. XIII, note). "A State NEEDS NEVER. THEREFORE, BE UNDER ANY DIFFICULTIES; FOR, WITH THE SMALLEST SAVINGS, IT MAY, IN AS LITTLE TIME AS ITS INTEREST CAN REQUIRE, PAY OFF THE LARGEST DEBTS" (Pp. XIII-XIV).
�
The worthy Price
WAS SIMPLY DAZZLED BY THE ENORMOUS QU � NTITIES . RESULTING FROM GEOMETRICAL PROGRESSION OF NUMBERS.
SInce he conSIdered capital WITHOUT ANY REGARD TO THE CONDITIONS OF REPRODUCTION OF LABOUR, as A SELF-A�TING THING, merely as a number which multiplies itself, � e was well able to believe that he had discovered the law of �ts growth in that formula (see above). Pitt, in 1 792, in a speech In which he proposed inc�eas.ing th� sum �llocated to the S�N:��G FUND, took Dr. Price's mystifIcation quite senously. (S=
Throughout his polemic with Bastiat, in Gratu,ite du credit. Discussion entre M. Fr. Bastiat et M. Proudhon, Pans, 1 850, the whole argument of the worthy Proudho� hing� s on. the fact that lending appears to him to be somethIng qUIte dIfferent from selling. The lending of money at interest :' is the .ability of selling the s�me ?bject over and over a ain, and receiving the pnce of It, over an� over agaIn, WIth?ut ever giving up t�e owners� ip of what is sold" a (p. 9, in the first letter of Cheve, one of the editors of La Vo�x du Peuple).
c The different forms in which the reproductio of � �pital ' appears here prevent him fr?m seeinf? that thIS contInual reproduction of capital-the pnce of WhICh consta� tly retu.rns, and is over and over again exchanged for labour with profit, a profit which is over and over �gain realised in purchase and sale-constitutes its concept. He IS led astray by the fact that the
See present edition, Vol. 2B , p. 29B.- Ed. 9*
a
Here and below Marx quotes from Proudhon in French.- Ed.
220
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
"object" does not change owners, as in purchase and sale; hence, au fond, by the form of reproduction, which capital loaned out at int�rest shares with fixed capital. In the case of house rent, of whlCh Cheve speaks, the form involved is, directly, that of fixed capital. If circulating capital is considered in its entire process, it is evident that, although it is not the same object (e.g., a particular pound of sugar) that is sold over and over again, the same value is reproduced over and over again, and the alienation only concerns the form, not the substance. Obviously, people who are capable of raising such objections are . sull confused about the most elementary concepts of political economy. Proudhon does not understand how either profit or, therefore, interest originates from the law of exchange of values. Hence he argues that "house", money, etc. should not be exchanged as "capital" but as "commodities ... at cost price" ([ Gratuite du credi� pp. 43,] 44). The worthy young fellow does not understand the crucial point that value is exchanged for labour, according to the law of values; and consequently that, if he is to abolish interest, he would have to abolish capital itself, the mode of production based on exchange value, and therefore abolish wage labour, too. Mr. Proudhon's inability to find even one distinction between loan and sale: "Actually, the hatter who sells his hats ... obtains the value of them, neither mo�e nor le�s. But the capitalist who loans out his capital ... not merely gets his capital back m full; he gets back more than his capital, more than he brought to the exchange; over and above his capital, he gets an interest" (p. 69).
Consequently, Mr. Proudhon's hatters do not reckon either profit or interest in their cost price. He does not understand that precisely by obtaining the value of their hats they obtain more than the hats have cost them, because a part of this value has been appropriated without equivalent in the exchange with labour. Here is also his great proposition, elucidated above ": "It is impossible, with interest on capital being added in commerce to the worker's wages to make up the price of the commodity, for the worker to be able to buy back what he himself has produced. Living by working is a principle which, under the rule of interest, is implicitly self-contradictory" ([I.e.,] p. 105).
In letter IX (pp. 144-52), the worthy Proudhon confuses money as means of circulation with capital, and on this basis concludes that the "capital" existing in France yields 160% (viz. 1 ,600 million in annual interest on the national debt, mortgages, etc., for a " See present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 352-62.-Ed.
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
22 1
capital of 1 ,000 million ... the sum of money ... circulating in France). . How little he understands about capital in general and Its continuous reproduction is evident from the fo�lowing assertions which he makes specifically about capital-money, 1.e. money loaned out as capital: "As, by the accumulation of interest, capital-money, �rom exchange to
exchange, always returns to its source, it follows that the re-lendmg, always done by the same hand, always profits the same person" (p. 154). " All labour must yield a surplus" [po 200]. (Everything should be sold, nothing should be loaned. T? �t is the
whole trick. Inability to see that the exchange of commodItIeS rests upon the exchange between capital and labour, and the latter form of exchange involves profit and interest. Proudhon wants to cling to the simplest, most abstract form of exchange.) . Mr. Proudhon provides the following elegant demonstratIon: "Since value is only a proportion, and all products .neces�arily �ar a certain proportion to one anot):J.er, it follows that from the SOCI� 'pOl�t of view prod�cts are always values and realised values; for society, the distinction �tw�en capital and product does not exist. The distinction is completely subjective to the individuals" (p. 250).
The antagonistic nature of capital, and �he n�cessity for it of the existence of the propertyless worker, IS naIvely expressed by earlier English economists, e.g. the REVEREND MR Joseph Town.se?d, the father of the population theory, by the FRAUDULENT appropnatIon of which Malthus made himself into a great man. (In genera� , Malthus is a shameless plagiarist, e.g., his theory of rent IS borrowed from the farmer Anderson.) Townsend [VII-49] says: .
IT
SEEMS TO BE A LA W OF NATURE THAT THE POOR SHOULD BE TO A CERTAIN DEGREE IMPROVIDENT, THAT THERE MAY BE ALWAYS SOME TO FULFIL THE MOST SERVILE, THE MOST SORDID, AND THE MOST IGNOBLE OFFICES IN THE COMMUN ITY. THE . STOCK OF HUMAN HAPPINESS IS THEREBY MUCH INCREASED. The more delicate are thereby relieved from DRUDGERY, and are at liberty to pursue higher CALLINGS", ete (A Dissertation on the poor Laws. EDITION OF 1817, p. 39). " LEGAL CONSTRAINT to la bour is ATTENDED WITH TOO MUCH TROUBLE, VIOLENCE, AND NOISE, CREATES ILL WILL, ete., WHEREAS HUNGER IS NOT ONLY A PEACEABLE, SILENT, UNREMITTED PRESSURE, BUT, AS THE MOST NATURAL MOTIVE TO INDUSTRY AND LABOUR, IT CALLS FORTH THE MOST POWERFUL EXERTIONS" (p. 1 5). "
.
(This,
provides the answer to the question: which LAB�UR is MORE PRODUCTIVE, that of slaves or that of free wor�er.s? A. Smith did not need to raise this question, since the capltahst mod� �f production presupposes free. labo�r. On t�e other hand, It IS likewise the developed relatIonshIp of capItal and labour that vindicates A. Smith in distinguishing between PRODUCTIVE and IN FACT,
222
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Lord Brougham ' s insipid witticisms against that distinction, and the objections to it, intended to be serious, by Say, Storch, McCulloch, and tutti quanti: rebound upon it. A. Smith went astray only by conceiving of the objectification of labour in somewhat too crude a fashion, as labour which fixes itself in a tangible object. But this is of little consequence in him, clumsiness of expression.) For Galiani, too, the existence of WORKMEN is due to a law of nature. In his book, published in 1 750, Galiani says: UNPRODUCTIVE LABOUR.
"God ordains that men who carry on trades of primary utility are born in abundance" (Della Moneta, Scrittori classici Italiani di Economia Politica, Parte Moderna, Vol. III, Milan, I S03, p. 7S).b
But he also already has the correct conception of value: "It is toil alone ... that gives value to the thing" ([ibid.,] p. 74).
True, there are also qualitatively different kinds of labour, not merely because there are different branches of production, but because labour may be more intensive or less intensive, etc. Of course, the way in which these differences are adjusted, and all labour is reduced to SIMPLE UNSKILLED LABOUR, cannot be discussed here yet. It is sufficient to state that this reduction is, in fact, completed by the positing of the products of all kinds of labour as values. As values, they are equivalent to one another in certain proportions; the higher sorts of labour are themselves estimated in terms of simple labour. This becomes clear immediately when it is considered that, e.g., Californian gold is the product of simple labour, and yet every kind of labour is paid with it. This means that the qualitative distinction is abolished, and the product of a higher kind of labour is, in effect, reduced to a certain quantity of simple labour. Hence, such calculations of the various qualities of labour are completely irrelevant and do not lessen the validity of the [general] principle. "Metals are used as money because they are valuable; they are not valuable because they are used as money" ([Galiani.] I.e.. [p.] 95). "It is the velocity of the circulation of money, and not the quantity of the metals. that causes the amount of money to be large or small" ([p.] 99). "Money is of two kinds: ideal and real. And it is used for two different purposes: to valuate things and to buy them. For valuation. ideal money is just as good as real money, and probably even better .... The other use of money is to buy the very things for the pricing of which it serves.... Prices and contracts are estimated in ideal money and realised in real" a
All the rest.- Ed. b Marx quotes this and the follow ing passages from Galiani's book Italian.- Ed. in
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
223
(pp. 1 .12 et sq.) . " A peculiar feature of metals is that in them alone all relations are r�duced to a smgle one nameIy. thetr ' quant;ty l'for they have not been endowed by nature wtth any . . difference of q�lity either in their internal composition or III theIT external form and structure" ([pp.] 1 26-27). •
•
This is a very important observation. Vah�e implies a common substance and that all distinctions, propo.rtIons, are .reduced to purely qu'antitative ones. This is the case with the preCIOUS metals, which therefore appear as the natural substance of value. a standard measuring all things by �eferenc� to the nee�s of "Mone . . . 'lIfe -is th:t which is generally called the price of thmgs ( 1 52). I�eal money itself . ,
as
' m used to stipulate contract is usually the money of account, that IS to say, the med1U .' · e and valuate everythmg. Th"IS IS due to the same . reason why th coms wh'ICh today are ideal are the oldest coins of every nation. and aII of them were once real, and precisely because they were real they were used for caIcuI at'IOn '' ( 1 53) .
(This is also the formal explanation of the ideal money of U rquh art , etc. The BAR of iron was originally real money to the . NIGGERS ; etc., and was then convert�d Into an 1' d eaI money ', but . the still tried to maintain its prev�ous value. Smce, �s they see al BAR, t � trade, iron varies in value agamst gold, etc., the Ide fro� . . . . mamt�.n 1tS . value ' expresses varying proportIons 0f actua which quantItIes 0f Iron. A complicated method of calculation, . does honour to these gentlemen's po�er of ab�trac�on. ) ( Castlereagh, in the debates set off by the Bulhon CommIttee m 1 8 10, put forward similar CONFUSED NOTIONS.b) Galiani elegantly states: "That infinity which (things) do not possess when progressing. they possess in circulation" ( 1 56).
About use value, Galiani says beautifully:
��
"Price is a relation.... The price of things is their proportion to our need. ... does not yet have a fixed measure. Perhaps it will be found. I , for my part. thmk is man himself" ([ 1 5?,] 1 62) · 't was both the greatest and the richest power. "Spain at h e time w en t I h . ' . ' calculated With reals and .WIth the very small maravedls" ( 1 72-73 ) . "In fact he" (man) "IS the soIe and true weaIth" ( I SS) . " Wealth . . is a. relation With o�her between two P•eTSons " (22 1 ) · "When the price of a. thing, or its proportion . I e S II h ' S t ' n obVIOUS s r i � �io �� t �e �7�hfs � 0 : � : c � ed �� � t �a: of all the others" ( 1 54).
��� � C: �� �: :�
�:� � : � � : � :
(The costs of PRESER�ING included in the calculatIon.)
.
. . capItaI , repalrmg I' t, must also be
See p. XXIV of the Preface.- Ed. b See this volume. p. 3 19.- Ed.
a
�:
224
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
"THE POSITIVE LIMITATION OF QUANTITY IN PAPER
MONEY WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE ONLY USEFUL PURPOSE THAT COST OF PRODUCTION DOES IN THE OTHER " ([G.]
Opdyke,
[A Treatise on Political Economy,
New York, 185 1 , p.] 300).
The merely quantitative distinction in the material of money: "MONEY IS RETURNED IN KIND ONLY" (in the case of LOANS); " WHICH FACT DISTINGUISHES THIS AGENT FROM ALL OTHER MACHINERY ... INDICATES THE NATURE OF ITS SERVICE ... CLEARLY PROVES THE SINGLENESS OF ITS OFFICE " ([ibid., p. ] 267). "WITH MONEY IN POSSESSION. WE HAVE BUT ONE EXCHANGE TO MAKE IN ORDER TO SECURE THE OBJECT OF DESIRE. WHILE WITH OTHER SURPLUS PRODUCTS WE HAVE TWO, THE FIRST OF WHICH (SECURING THE MONEY) IS INFINITELY MORE DIFFICULT THAN THE SECOND " (287-88). "The BANKER DIFFERS FROM THE OLD USURER ... THAT HE LENDS TO THE RICH AND SELDOM OR NEVER TO THE POOR. HENCE HE LENDS WITH LESS RISK, AND CAN AFFORD TO DO IT ON CHEAPER TERMS; AND FOR BOTH REASONS, HE A VOIDS THE POPULAR ODIUM WHICH ATTENDED THE USURER " (F. W . Newman, Lectures on Political Economy,
London, 185 1 , p. 44). [VII - �O] All hide and secretly bury their money deep in the ground, especially the gentlles, who. are almost the sole masters of trade and money, being held in thrall to the belIef that gold and silver they hide during their lifetime will serve them after their death (Fran�ois Bernier, Voyages contenant la description des etats du Grand Mogol etc., Vol. I, Paris, 1 830, p. 3 14).In . its na.tural state, matter is always destitute of value. Only by means of labour does It obtam exchange value, become an element of wealth (McCulloch, Discours sur l'origine, [ les progres, les objets particuliers, et l'importance] de l 'economie politique etc.,
translated by Prevost. Geneva and Paris, 1 825, p. 57). Commodities in exchange act as each other's measure (Storch, Cours d 'economie politique. Avec des notes, etc., par J. B. Say, Vol. I, Paris, 1 823, p. 8 1). "In the trade betwc:en Ru.ssia and China, silver is used to evaluate all commodities, yet this commerce IS carned on by trocsb" (p. 88). "Just as labour is not the source of the value of wealth, is it not its measure either" (I.c., p. 1 23). "Smith allowed himself to be persuaded that the same cause which makes material objects exist was also the source and measure of their value" (p. 1 24). "Interest is. the price which one pays for the use of a capital" (p. 336). Money �u�t have a direct value, but one based on a besoin factice.c Its material must not be Indispensable for man's existence, since the entire quantity of it which is used as money can never be individually employed; it must always circulate (Vol. II, pp. 1 1 3, 1 14). "Money takes the place of all things" (p. 1 33).
Vol. V., Considerations sur la nature du revenu nationa� Paris, 1 824: "Acts of reproductive consumption are not, strictly speaking, expenses, but merely advances,. since they .ar� p�id b�ck to t ��se who make them" (p. 54). "Is there not a mamfest contradICtion In thiS propOSItion that nations enrich themselves The passages from Bernier and, below, from the French translation of McCull?ch's book are quoted in the manuscript in French; those from Storch are partly In German translation and partly in the original French.- Ed. b Barter.- Ed. Factitious need.- Ed. _
c
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
225
by their abstinence or their privations, that is to say by voluntarily condemning themselves to poverty?" (p. 1 76). . . . "At the time when hides and furs served as money .In RUSSia, the mco �vemence attached to the circulation of so bulky and so �erishable a curren� gave nse to the idea of replacing them with small stamped pieces of �eather, w�lch th�s became tokens payable in hides and furs.... They preserved �hlS role until 1.?00 (n�ely, later, that of representing the fractio?al parts ,?f .the sIlve� kopecks), at least In the town of Kaluga and its environs, until Peter I (!n ,� 700) , decreed that they should be surrendered in exchange for small brass COInS ([Storch, Vol. IV,] p. 79).
A suggestion of the miracles worked by compound interest .is already to be found in Jos. Child, the great opponent of usury m t�e m fro d ate nsl tra ., etc rce me com le sur s aiti Tr ( y tur cen 7th 1 the English (published in English in 1 66 9), Amsterdam and Berhn, 1 754, pp. 1 15- 1 7). FOR MORE LABOUR THA� " IN POINT OF FACT A COMMODITY WILL ALWAYS EXCHANGE that which has produced it; AND IT IS THIS EXCESS THAT CONSTITUTES PROFITS (McCulloch, The Principles of Political Economy, London, 182 5, p. 22 1).
This remark shows how well Mr. McCulloch has understood Ricardo' s principle. He distinguishe.s between the real valu.e and IS the ), 1 ( r, me for the y]; dIt mo com a [of ue val ge the exchan DUCTION ; the latter, PRO R � N TIO RIA ROP APP ITS IN ED END EXP OUR LAB OF TY QUANTI IN QUANTITIES OF TA CER ' ng ast rch pu of r we po s] ity od mm co (2) , is [this LABOUR or other commodities (p. 2 1 1). HINES CONSTRUCTED MAC THE OF ANY AS OUR LAB OF E DUC PRO E TH CH MU AS IS MA N L INVESTIGATIONS HE ICA NOM ECO ALL IN T THA US TO S EAR APP IT AND ; NCY BY HIS AGE WAGES . 15) 1 p. .c., l ( W VIE OF NT POI E SAM THE LY CISE PRE IN D ERE SID CON OUGHT TO BE E LABOURER (p. TH OF RY UST IND E TH OF E DUC PRO E TH OF T PAR A OF L CONSIST REALY THE WAGES OF FOR E NAM R THE ANO Y ONL ARE L ITA CAP OF S FIT 295 ). THE PRO ACCUMULATED LABOUR (p. 291). ION OF "A PERIODICAL DESTRUCTION OF CAPITAL HAS BECOME A NECESSARY CONDIT . AND, CONSIDERED IN THAT THE EXISTENCE OF ANY MARKET RATE OF INTEREST AT ALL WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO LOOK POINT OF VIEW. THESE AWFUL VISITATIONS, TO WHICH WHICH WE ARE SO ANXIOUS FORWARD WITH SO MUC H DISQUIET AND APPREHENSION. AND AND NECESSARY CORRECTIVE OF TO AVERT MAY BE NOTHING MORE THAN THE NATURAL rix BY WHICH OUR SOCIAL AN OVER ROWN AND BLOATED OPULENCE, THE vis medicat E ITSELF FROM TIME TO TIM E IEV REL TO D BLE ENA IS ED, TUT STI CON T SEN PRE AT AS , TEM SYS EXISTENCE, AND TO REGAIN A ITS S ACE MEN ICH WH RA THO PLE NG RRI ECU R-R EV E AN OF of CurrencU1s, etc., ion ulat Reg the On " on, lart Ful hn (Jo TE STA E SOM OLE WH AND ND SOU
�
..
London, 184 4, p. 1 65) .
.
MONEy- GENERAL POWER OF PuRCHASING (Chalmers, [On Pohhcal Economy m 1 832 , w, sgo Gla , ed. 2nd iety, Soc of cts spe Pro ral Mo and te Sta ral Mo the with ion nex Con p. 1 64]).RE CAPITAL ... SERVICES AND COMMODITIES USED IN PRODUCTION. MONEY': THE MEASU
VERSAL EQUIVALENT; MORE OF VALUE, THE MED IUM OF EXCHANGE, AND THE UNI FOR ING PAY OF NS MEA Y ONL E TH ; L ITA CAP ING AIN OBT OF NS MEA E PRACTICALLY: TH CAPITAL PREVIOUSLY OBTAINED FOR CREDIT; VIRTUALLY A SECURITY FOR OBTAINING ITS _
See present edition, Vol. 28,
p. 520 .- Ed.
226
EQUIVALENT VALUE IN CAPITAL. COMMERCE IS THE EXCHANGE OF CAPITAL FOR CAPITAL THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF MONEY, AND THE CONTRACT BEING FOR THE MEDIUM, MONEY ALONE CAN SATISFY THE CONTRACT AND DISCHARGE THE DEBT. IN SELLING, ONE KIND OF CAPITAL IS DISPOSED OF FOR MONEY FOR OBTAINING ITS EQUIVALENT SPECIFIED VALUE IN ANY KIND OF CAPITAL. INTEREST-THE CONSIDERATION GIVEN FOR THE LOAN OF MONEY. IF THE MONEY BE BORROWED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROCURING CAPITAL, THEN THE CONSIDERATION GIVEN IS A REMUNERATION FOR THE USE OF CAPITAL (RAW MATERIALS, LABOUR, MERCHANDISE, ETC.) WHICH IT OBTAINS. IF BORROWED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCHARGING A DEBT, FOR PAYING FOR CAPITAL PREVIOUSLY OBTAINED AND USED (CONTRACTED TO BE PAID FOR IN MONEY), THEN THE CONSIDERATION GIVEN IS FOR THE USE OF MONEY ITSELF, AND IN THIS RESPECT I NTEREST AND DISCOUNT ARE SIMILAR. DISCOUNT SOLELY THE REMUNERATION FOR MONEY ITSELF, FOR CONVERTING CREDIT MONEY INTO REAL MONEY. A GOOD BILL GIVES THE SAME COMMAND OVER CAPITAL AS BANK NOTES, MINUS THE CHARGE FOR DISCOUNT; AND BILLS ARE DISCOUNTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING MONEY OF A MORE CONVENIENT DENOMINATION FOR WAGES AND SMALL CASH PAYMENTS, OR TO MEET LARGER ENGAGEMENTS FALLING DUE; AND ALSO FOR THE ADVANTAGE TO BE GAINED WHEN READY MONEY CAN BE HAD BY DISCOUNTING AT A LOWER RATE THAN 5%, THE USUAL ALLOWANCE MADE FOR CASH. THE MAIN OBJECT, HOWEVER, IN DISCOUNTING DEPENDS FUNDAMENTALLY UPON THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF LEGAL TENDER MONEy.... THE RATE OF INTEREST DEPENDS MAINLY ON THE DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF CAPITAL, AND THE RATE OF DISCOUNT ENTIRELY ON THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF MONEY ( The Economis� 1 3 March, 1858. Letter to the Editor),
[VII-5 1 ] Mr. K. Arnd, who is quite in his element when he 4 " argues about the dog tax", 5 has made the following interesting discovery: "In the natural course of goods production there is just one phenomenon which, in countries where all available land is under cultivation, seems in some measure to regulate the rate of interest; this is the proportion in which the timber in Europe�n �orests is augmented through their annual growth. This new growth occurs, qUIte mdependently of the exchange value of the timber, at the rate of 3 or 4 to 100" (Die naturgemiisse Volkswirthschaft, gegeniiber dem Monopoliengeiste und dem Commumsmus, Hanau, 1845, pp. 1 24-25).
This deserves to be called the forest-grown rate of interest. "THE REMAINING VALUE OR OVERPLUS WILL IN EACH TRADE BE IN PROPORTION TO THE VALUE OF THE CAPITAL EMPLOYED " (Ricardo, [ On the Principles of Political
Economy etc.,
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
p. 84D.
Speaking of interes� two things must be considered: Firstly, the division of profit into interest and profit. (Profit as the unity of the two is called GROSS PROFIT by the English.) The distinction becomes a tangible, palpable one as soon as a class of MON � ED C� PITALISTS confronts a class of INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISTS. Secondly, capltal Itself becomes a commodity, or the commodity (money) is sold a� capital. For instance, capital is said to adjust its price accordIng to supply and demand like any other commodity. So it is this that determines the rate of interest. Therefore, here capital as such enters into circulation.
227
and INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISTS can only constitute 2 distinct classes, because it is possible for profit to be split up into 2 distinct branches of revenue. The 2 sorts of CAPITALISTS merely express that FACT; but there must be this division, �h�s splitting-up of profit into 2 distinct forms of revenue, for 2 dIstInct classes of capitalists to arise. . The form of interest is older than that of profit. The rate of interest paid by COMMON AGRICULTURISTS in India is in no way an indication of the level of profit. It shows, rather, that the usurer appropriat�s both prof�t and a part of wages i�sel� in �he form of interest. It IS a proceedIng worthy of Mr. .
THERE IS A NATURAL RELATION BETWEEN WAGES AND PROFIT
NECESSARY LABOUR
AND SURPLUS LABOUR; BUT IS THERE ANY BETWEEN PROFIT AND INTEREST, SAVE THAT WHICH
is
DETERMINED BY THE COMPETITION BETWEEN THESE TWO CLASSES ARRANGED
UNDER THESE DIFFERENT FORMS OF REVENUES ? B UT IN ORDER THAT THIS COMPETITION EXIST
AND THE TWO CLASSES, THE DIVISION OF THE SURPLUS VALUE INTO PROFITS AND
: Capital consider:ed in gene:al is not . a mere abstraction. If I consider the total capital of a nation, e.g., In distinction from the totality of its wage labour (or al�o la�ded property), or if I regard capital as the general economIC baSIS of
INTE EST IS ALREADY PRESUPPOSED.
a H. Ch. Carey, The Credit System in France, Great Britain, and the United States,
London, Philadelphia, 1838, pp. 2 and g.- Ed.
22 8
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
one class i� distinction fn? m another c�ass, I am considering it gene:a� . It IS the same a� If, e. g. , I consIdered man physiologicallyin , as dI.stmct fron;t the ammal. The real distinction between pr of and mterest eXIsts as that between a MONEYED CLASS OF CAPITALISTS it an d an INDUST.RIAL CLASS OF CAPITALISTS. But the possibility of 2 such clas c<:>nfron�mg each other, their existence as 2 classes, presupposeses s a dIremp�IOn of the surplus value posited by capital. (PolItICal economy IS. concerned with the specific social form wealth or rather of the production of wealth. The substa s of nc e wealth, w�ethe� subjective, like labour, or objective, like ob of je ct s for the satIsf�ctIon of natural or historically evolved require appears at fIr�t �s common to all epochs of production. Hments, en . thIS substance m�tIally appears as a mere presupposition, whi ce, ch lie s c�mpletely outsIde the sphere of political economy, and wIth�n .that sphere only when it is modified by, or appe falls ar . modIfymg, the relatIo?s of form. All that is usually said ab s as ou t . it in gener�l terms, IS confmed to abstractions . These were of hi value m th� early essays of political economy, in which th storical e fo rms were laborIously extracted from the substance and fix ed w ith great ef fort: as the proper object of analysis. Later they leaden .platIt1!des, the more distasteful the greater the �come sc ie nt if . ic re te ns IO n wIth whICh they are presented. This applies to all th p e Idle chatter the German economists indulge in under th e category o f "good s" .) T�e importa�t thing is th�t interest and profit both express relatIons of cap�taL As a partIcula for , interest-bea ri : ng � do.es ?ot co? front labour but profIt-bearIng capital. The capital re la tio n hI m WhIC� , on the one hand, the worker still appears � P as I �depe.nd�nt, I.e . ��t as a wage worker, while, on the ot hIs obJectIv� condItIons :'llready possess an independen her ha nd , t ex is tence . alongSIde hIm, c�nstItutmg the property of a partic usurers, necessarIly develops in all the modes ofular class of pr more or �ess based upon exchange with the deve oduction mer�hants wealth or monetary wealth in opposi lopment of tio . partIcular and restrIcted forms of AGRICULTURAL or artis n to the an wealth. The development of merchants' wealth itself can be re development of e?,ch�nge value and hence of circul garded as a at . io n and of mon�y r�latIOnshIps m those spheres. On the one relatIo? shIp �f course shows that the conditions of labo ha nd , this ur to an I�creasmg degree are derived from circulation an which upon I.t- be�ome independent of and detached d depend fr economIC eXIstence of the worker. On the other om the economic existence IS. not as yet subsumed in the ha nd , his process of
229
capital. Therefore the mode of production has not, as yet, essentially changed. If this relationship recurs within the bourgeois economy, it does so in backward branches of industry or in such as still [VII-52] resist extinction in the face of the modern mode of production. The most loathsome exploitation of labour still takes place within them, without the relationship of capital and labour in them constituting to any extent the basis for the development of new productive forces or the germ of new historical forms. In the mode of production itself, capital still appears here as mate�ially subsumed in the individual worker or the worker' s famIly whether in handicraft industry or in small-scale agriculture. There is exploitation by capital, without the mode of production of capital. The rate of interest is very high because it includes profit and even part of the wages. This form of usury, in which capital does not seize hold of production, and therefore is capital only in form, presupposes the dominance of pre-bourgeois forms of production. But it is given a new lease of life, in subordinate spheres, within the bourgeois economy itself. The second historical form of interest is the lending of capital to , consuming wealth. It is historically important here as itself a moment of the origin of capital, since the revenue (AND OFTEN THE LAND TOO) OF THE LANDED PROPRIETORS ACCUMULATES AND BECOMES CAPITALISED IN
It is one of the processes by which circulating capital or also capital in the form of money concen trates in the hands of a class independent of the landed proprIetors. The form adopted by realised capital, as well as by its realised surplus value, is money. Hence profit (and not only interest) is expressed in money; because it is in money that value is realised and measured. The necessity of paying in money not merely of money for the purchase of commodities, etc. arises wherever relations of exchange and money circulation obtain. It is not at all necessary that the exchange should be simultaneous. With money, it becomes possible for one party to yield up its commodity [at once], while the other makes its payment later. The need for money to that end (later developed in LOANS and DISCOUNTS) is historically one of the main sources of interest. We are not as yet concerned with this aspect; we must leave it until we come to discuss credit relations. The distinction between BUYING ( M C) and SELLING ( C M):
THE POCKETS OF THE USURER.
•
"If I sell, I have ( 1 ) charged the profit on the commodity and obtained that profit; (2) received AN ARTICLE UNIVERSALLY REPRESENTATIVE OR CONVERTIBLE,
230
pital Ca on d an ey on M on rs te ap Ch e th to Addenda
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
MONEY,
for which,
MONEY BEING ALWAYS SALEABLE
I can at all fm
�
rge scale, la a on pt ce ex on d ie rr ca be ot nn ca ch hi "There are some labours w ts. Some af icr nd ha r ve ne e ar e es th , ce en H c. et g, in e.g. porcelain-making, glass-mak d 14 th an h 3t 1 e th in e al sc e rg la a on on d ie rr ca y labours, like weaving, were alread centuries" (Poppe [p o 32 ]). was t an ch er m e th d an s, ft ra ic nd ha e th to ed ng lo "I n older times, all factories be strictly t os m as w m ste sy s hi T s. ft ra ic nd ha e th merely carrier and deliverer for the es ac pl y an m in , er ev ow H . re tu ac uf an adhered to in cloth and linen m ere w ey th , ly al ur at (n " rs te as m as up es lv se merchants gradually began to set them the to n tio la re d an s on iti ad tr , es ic ud ej free from the old masters' guild pr pe, op (P " es ag w ily da r fo t en m oy pl em to in journeymen) "and took the journeymen . 1) -7 70 . pp 7, 80 1 n, ge tin ot G I, . ol V e, gi olo hn Geschichte der Tec
d
INTY OF HIS SELLING AT A REMUNERATIVE . PRICE. But all who buy do not sell agam, people also buy for THEIR OWN USE OR CONSUMPTION " t ' (Th[ ] , bet, A n 1nquiry into the Causes and Modes of the Wealth of Ind;vi;u ls, Lo� �, 8�l , pp. 1 1 7 et sq.). The Economis� 10 April [ 1 858]'� "A PARLIAMENTARY RETURN MOVED FOR BY MR. JAMES WILSON SHOWS THAT THE INT COINED IN 1 857 GOLD TO THE VALUE OF [4,859,000, OF WHICH [364, 000 WAS IN HALF-SOVEREIGNS THE SILVER COINAGE OF THE YEAR AMOUNTED TO [373 000 THE COST OF THE METAL USED BEING [363,000. THE TOTAL AMOUNT COI�ED ' I ENDING THE 3 1 ST OF E E DECEMBER, 1857, WAS [55,239,000 IN GOLD A IN SILVER. THE COPPER [ " 3
� �
�
. :� � � :���
. •
ry st u d in d n la g n E in y h w s n o of the main reas d te ra o rp co n -i n o n in ed p o el ev d d established an
This was one proper became towns. as ce n ra ea p ap s it es ak m it as , ey n Commercial capital or mo h ic h w e lu va f o . i.e , al it p ca f o merchants' wealth, is the first form n (exchange) and is main o ti la u rc ci om fr ly ve si u cl ex es at in g ori f o m ai le so e th ce en h d an , it in d se tained, reproduced and increa ts en m ve o m th o B e. lu va e g an ch ex is this movement and activity y, u b to er rd o in g n lli se d an ll, [take place], buying in order to se e th d an ey n o M t. an in m o d is M C but the [V II -5 3] form M C e h T . n io at er p o e th f o m ai ve si u cl ex in crease of money is the e th r fo , d ee n n w o is h r fo y it d o merchant neither buys the comm it in order to, e. g ., discharge ll se e h es o d r o n e, lu va se u s it f o ke sa r fo s ie it d o m m co er th o e ir u q contracts stipulated in money, or to acse of value - increase in its ea cr in is m ai t ec ir d is H s. d ee his n ey n o m l al f o t rs fi is h lt ea w le ti n ca er immediate form as money. M f o t en m ve o m g n ti ia ed m e th as means of exchange, money as for money, and money for y it d o m m co es g an ch ex it ; n tio la circu an as e er h rs ea p ap ey n o m y, rl ila im commodity, and vice versa. S c li al et m s it in g n ti is ex n o as re end in itself, but without for that n of value into the two forms io rs ve n co g n vi li e th e, er h , is It . form e th to e lu va f o ce n re fe if d of commodity and money: the in y sl u eo an lt u m si d an , es m su as it particular form of use value which rms, which, however, appear fo e es th l al to in s si o h rp o am et m s it merely as disguises. f o ts en m ve o m e th es is ar m m su s If the activity of trade thu e th n o , is , re o ef er th , h lt ea w circulation, and money as mercantilece of capital, and appears so n te is ex f o rm fo t rs fi e th , d an one h y tl ec ir d as , d an h er th o e th n o , rs ea p ap rm fo is th lly ca ri to is h y u b to is e ad tr f o w la e h T e. contradictory to the concept of valu ange of equivalents, with which ch ex ot n ce en H r. ea d ll se d an p ea ch e. bl si os p im be , ct fa in , ld ou w s es trade as a particular branch of busin e th in rs ea p ap it as h lt ea w le ti n ca Nevertheless, money as mer
COINAGE LAST YEAR AMOUNTED IN VALUE TO [6,720-THE VALUE OF THE COPPER BEING OF THIS WAS IN PENCE, IN HALF-PENCE, AND IN FARTHINGS " OF THE COPPER COINAGE OF THE LAST TEN YEARS WAS T�E T�TAL VALUE TH�
3 136
[3 492'
2,464
COPPER OF WHICH IT WAS COMPOSED BEING PURCHASED FOR
1 , 1 20
[73,503. "
[14 1 ,477 '
. . "According to Thomas Culpeper ( 1 64 1 ), J0Slah ChIld ( 1 670), Paterson ( 1694) ' Locke ( 1700), weaIth d epend s upon . the red';IcflOn, even I' f a forced one, of the d r a interest rate of old and silv I n enturies" r l (Ganilh [Des syste�es d'iconomi t V . p ]
� ���\� � :rjJOt���: � � ;��!� ���
When Hume arg�ed, in opposition to Locke, that the rate of . . . a ' Interest was determmed the rate of profI t he by was WItnessmg .t I ' . . capl a �t � considerably hIgher stage of development·' it was even more h Ig y dev�loped when Bentham, at the end of the 18th century, wrote hIS apologia for usury.b . ' of Interest by (From Henry VIII to Queen Anne, reductIon law.) .
( 1 ) A PRODUCING CLASS,46
"In ev�ry country: and (2) A MONIED CLASS, who lIve upon the Interest of their capital" (J· St M I' II , [ Essays on] Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy, London, 1 844, p. l l O).
"IT IS BY FREQUENT FLUCTUATION IN A MONTH, AND BY PAWNING ONE ARTICLE TO RELIEVE ANOTHER, WHERE A SMALL SUM IS OBTAINED, THAT THE PREMIUM FOR MONEY BECOMES SO EXCESSIVE. LICENSED PAW ERS IN LONDON AND ABOUT IN K THE COUNTRy.TH E CAPITAL EMPLOYED IS ES �E AT ABOUT MILLION. It is turned
���� f 1 round at least thrice in the course of a �ear a�d Yle ds e�c� time 33 1/2% on an average; 240
1 ,4 5 0
so that the INFERIOR ORDERS of EngIan year y pay 1 mIllIon for A TEMPORARY LOAN of one million , EXCLUSIVE OF WHAT THEY LOSE BY GOODS BEING FORFEITED" (J D T k A H' t : 0 e Past and Present State of the Labouring Population etc., Voi . I : L��d :
� ; { �� 1 4
1846
231
��
� D.
Hume, Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, Vol . I .- Ed. J. Bentham, Defence of Usury, London, 1 787.- Ed.
(
232
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Merchants' wealth conceived of as continuously in exchange, and exchanging for the sake of exchange value, is living money. ive
most different social forr� s and at t�e most different stages of deve!ol?ment of the SOCIal productIve forces is merely the medIatIng movement between extremes · which it does not domi nate, an? between presuppositions which it does not create. A. Smith, [ Recherches sur La nature et Les causes de La richesse des nations,] ed. Garnier, Vol. II, Book III:
IN FACT
ns pe ex d an s le tic ar ed fin re g in rt po im "The in habitants of trading cities, by ors, et ri op pr ed nd la g bi e th of ty ni va e th to luxuries from richer countries, catered r ei th of e uc od pr w ra e th of s ie tit an qu t ea gr who bought them eagerly, paying with e th in ed ist ns co y, gl in rd co ac e, tim e th at pe lands. The trade of a great part of Euro of ts uc od pr d re tu ac uf an m e th r fo s ie tr coun exchange of the raw products of some e became so st ta is th n he "W . 5) 45 ,] 54 [4 . (p " es on the industrially more advanced e expense th ve sa to , ts an ch er m e th d, an m de le ab general as to occasion a consider y. This the tr un co n ow r ei th in s re tu ac uf an m r ila of carriage , sought to establish sim tures, ac uf an m s od go ry xu Lu ). e. (I. " le sa t an st rise of the first manufactures for di d up ke or (w ts an ch er m by ed ish bl ta es re we sprung from FOREIGN COMMERCE, foreign materials) (p. 456 [4 57 ]) . lly, of ra tu na se ri "a ch hi w s, re tu ac uf an m of Adam Smith speaks of a second type y he T ". ts af cr tic es m do e ud cr e th of t en m their own accord , by the gradual refine 59 ). work u p HOMEGROWN MATERIALS (p . 4
carried on between the . "�he great commerce of every civilised society is that mhabltants of the town and those of the country ... consists in the exchange of raw products for manufactured products, either immediately, or by the intervention of money" (p. 403).a
Trade always draws together; originally, production on a small scale.
"The town is a conti� ual fair or market, to which the inhabitants of the country resort to exc?ange th.elr raw products for manufactured products. It is this co� merce whICh �upphes the inhabitants of the town both with the materials of the.lr work and with t?e m�ans of their subsistence. The quantity of finished goods which they s�ll to the Illhabltants of the country necessarily determines the quantity of the matenals and provisions which they buy" (p. 408 [409]).
l�ng as "means of subsistence and of enjoyment" are the maIn aIm, use value is dominant. is implicit in the concept of value that it is maintained and It .Increased only by means of exchange. But existing value is first of all money.
�
��;
(The cities of Ita!y were the first in Europe to rise thanks to trade; at the time of the Crusades-VenI�e, Genoa and Pisa- partly owing to the transportation of e o�le, and always owmg to th.e transportation of provisions which had to be s�p phe� to them. These repubhcs were, one might say, the commissaries of those armies) (I .e.). a ,�arx quotes .Smith in French. F;om the �ords "Although the inhabitants of town , he quotes III German translatIon, occaSIOnally using French phrases.- Ed. a
f o s d o G e th e k li , d te ca lo e er w tiquity The trading peoples onfdan s w Je e th 47 e k li r o , d rl o w e Epicurus, in the intermusociiaetoy.f thMost of the independent trading in the pores of Polishattained a high level of development were peoples or cities that e th f o y it ar b ar b e th n o p u ed bas engaged in the ey n o m of le ro e th d ye la p ey th m o producing peoples, between wh (the mediator). ed at in m o d e ad tr y, et ci so is eo At the initial stagescietofy, bthouergother way round. industry ; in modern sohave repercussions, to a greater or lesser Naturally, trade will unities between which it is carried o n . It degree, upon the comctm production to exchange value, and force will increasingly subje more and more into the background, by immediate use value epend more upon the sale of the product making subsistence d te use. It dissolves the old relationships and than upon its immedianey circulation . At first, it embraces only the thereby increases mo ; but gradually it seizes hold of pro�uction surplus of productiondissolving effect greatly depends upon the itself. ' However, the cing communities between which trade is nature of the produ has hardly shaken the ancient Indian carried on . E .g ., itatic relationships in general. Fraud in the community and Asi -54] basis of trade as it appears indepenexchange is the [V II dently. cu d ro p f o l o tr n co es iz se e ad tr en h only w But capital emerges ch r ce u d ro p e th r o r ce u d ro p a es m o tion itself, and the mererchanantt.becOpposed to this are the medieval becomes merely a mem, etc. But the rise of capital in its adequate guilds, the caste syst RATHER
�s
"Th�t industry, :vhich . aims at something outside the circle of absolute necessar.les, was. estabhshed m towns long before it could be commonly practised bY , the cultivators III the countryside" (p. 452). "Although the inh.abitants of a town ultimately draw their subsistence and all the m�ans and matenals for their industry from the countryside, those of a city near either the sea coast or a navigable river may draw them also from the most re� ote corn.ers of the world, either in exchange for the manufactured products of their <.)W n mdustry, <:>r by performing the office of carriers between distant countries and �xchan�mg the products of one for those of another. Thus a city can come. very nc� , while not only the country in its immediate neighbourhood but t e entIre a;ea III which it trades is poor. Each of those countries. taken sin I �an afford It only a very small part of its subsistence and of what it needs uSI?ess; but all of them, taken together, can afford it a great quantity of subSistences and a great diversity of employment" (p. [452,] 453).
233
CARRYING TRADE,
1
•I
234
al it ap C on d an ey n o M n o rs te ap Addenda to the Ch
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
form presupposes capital as commercial capital, so that produc tion, more or less mediated by money, is no longer carried on for use, but for trade on a large scale. Mercantile wealth as an independent economic form, and as the basis of trading cities and trading peoples, exists and has existed among peoples who are at the most different levels of economic development. And within the trading city itself (e.g. the ancient Asian, the Greek, and the Italian, etc., city of the Middle Ages), production may continue to exist in the form of guild production, etc. Steuart.
" TRADE IS AN OPERATION BY WHICH THE WEALTH, OR WORK, EITHER OF
INDIVIDUALS, OR OF SOCIETIES, MAY BE EXCHANGED, B Y A SET OF MEN CALLED MER. CHANTS, FOR AN EQUIVALENT, PROPER FOR SUPPLYING EVERY WANT, WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTION TO INDUSTRY, OR ANY CHECK TO CONSUMPTION. INDUSTR Y IS THE APPLICATION TO INGENIOUS LABOUR IN A FREE MAN, IN ORDER TO PROCURE, BY THE MEANS OF TRADE, AN EQUIVALENT FIT FOR SUPPLYING EVERY WANT " ([An Inquiry into the
Principles of Political Oeconomy,] Vol. I, [Dublin, 1 770,] p. 166).
"WHI LE WANTS CONTINUE SIMPLE AND FEW, A WORKMAN FINDS TIME ENOUGH TO DISTRIBUTE ALL HIS WORK; WHEN WANTS BECOME MORE MULTIPLIED, MEN MUST WORK HARDER; TIME BECOMES PRECIOUS ; HENCE TRADE IS INTRODUCED .... The MERCHANT as mediator between WORKMEN AND CONSUMERS " (p. 1 7 1). THE COLLECTION (of the products) INTO A FEW HANDS is the INTRODUCTION OF TRADE (I.e.). The CONSUMER does not buy in order to sell again. The merchant buys
and sells merely with A VIEW TO A GAIN (p. 174) (i.e. for value). "The most simple of all TRADE is that which is carried on by BARTERING the most necessary means of subsistence" (between the SURPLUS FOOD in the hands of the farmers, and the FREE HANDS) [po 1 75]. Progress is due mainly to the INTRODUCTION OF MONEY (p. 1 76). As long as reciprocal wants are SUPPLIED BY BARTER, there is not the smallest occasion for money. This is the simplest combination. When wants are multiplied, BARTERING BECOMES more difficult; UPON THIS, MONE Y IS INTRODUCED. This is the COMMON PRICE of all things. A PROPER EQUIVALENT in the hands of those who WANT . This OPERATION OF BUYING and SELLING is somewhat more complex than the former [p o 1 77 ].
Hence
(1)
BARTER ;
(2)
SALE;
(3)
COMMERCE. . .
The merchant must come into play as a mediator. What we previously called WANTS, is now represented by the CONSUMER; industry, by the MANUFACTURER; money, by the merchant. The merchant represents the money, BY SUBSTITUTING CREDIT IN ITS PLACE; and as money was invented to facilitate BARTER, so the MERCHANT with his CREDIT is A NEW REFINEMENT UPON THE USE OF MONEY This . OPERATION of BUYIN G and SELLING is now TRADE; IT RELIEVES both parties of the whole TROUBLE OF TRANSPORTATION, and ADJUSTING WANTS TO WANTS, OR WANTS TO MONEY; the MERCHANT REPRESENTS BY TURNS THE CONSUMER, THE MANU FACTURER, and the money. To the CONSUMER he represents the whole body of MANU FACTURERS; to the latter, the whole body of CONSUMERS; and to both classes HIS CREDIT SUPPLIES THE USE OF MONEY (pp. 1 77, 1 78) .
Merchants are PROFIT (p. 20 I ) .
SUPPOSED
to
BUY
and
SELL,
not from necessity, but
WITH A VIEW TO
235
. . produces for the use of others, not for his own; these . em th s ge an "Only the industnallst ch ex e h h ic h w t a t en e mom th at ly n o im h 0 t I u f se u e b I to n o e ar ey h T s n Before th . ea m � y b r u o b la of e uantity h T a w of ease mc dIrect the utilIty � � i � fact, constituted a in And, then. e quenc cons l tt e 0 as ed m ta b o . e . � e er er w w s l g al in th at r u o b la useful o n if en ev ' l� hed Im d e b a w o n n ld u o � w ed ir � u those to ry sa es of the thing req ec n ss le o n e b u o . en w Im . d an ' m ra G t I ' m ta b 0 to d0ubt t u o h It w IS : necessary at h T s. n ve ea h e th n from lle fa d a h ey th If en ev , m e when th t g en m . o m e possessin th m o fr t u B . ty li ti u n t and m y Jo n e h lt ea w f o n io at uld m co ti ey th h ic h the true es w es g an ch ex e th t upo n e en ep d ce en st si b su r ei of th e e d o m er th o men .. . mad an to e er h ad to force e er w ey th , ce er m m co n o r f 1'0m the ' t u b y, It I carry out, o ti u m o fr t o n s em hich st w e lu va a to e, lu va e g an ch to t ex en Ci fI f su r u bo la estimation, to of ty ti an qu e th nd a t y . e Ci sO re ti en e . th oj d ee n e th n ee re w tu u f . bet e ' m so . at relationshIp It y sf tI sa ld u co which r u o b la f 0 y It n a u e th so � al r o re q su ea m to t h g u satisfy this need, so e av h Ie eo ich h w s e u al v f o n Io at m ti es e th In . ). .. alone, r u bo la is It time (I.c . , p . 2 6 6 . e id as et lly h w IS y 0f utIlIt t p ce n co e th , y e n o m f 0 cy that is en , er t h o an by the ag e n . o r fo ed g an ch ex s th ing o tw e th m ta b o to ry sa es ec n the effort 7 ). taken into consideration (p. 2 6 a
!J
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s y sa t r a b il G W. . J , st e r On inte Banking, London, 1 8 34): .
of s le p ci n ri P d ' n a ry tO ls H e ( Th
. g a profit by i� should gIve
in ak m of ew vi a th I W ey n o m s w o NATURAL F O . LE "That a man who borr IP C IN PR T EN ID EV A SELF IS r e . d n le e th to 1 t f ro p ' IS · h f 0 n io rt o m the M lddle t u some p B . IC FF A R T eans of m b It f o p a makes Y � usually under as ns, JUST ICE. A man conditio such under And I ura . lt cu n ag ly re u p as w n o ti la u p PROFIT. o p e tl lit ce Ages the en h d an , IC Ie TRAFF l· t It t u b e . b n ca e er th , T N E s, IN AN e I ' d eS B . . d feudal GOVERNM e ih st ju e er w es g A iddle M e t h m ry su u n o s w la e th T HE B E , EP C EX EY N O Therefore M W O RR BO O M WANTS TO LD SE N O RS PE A RY T N U O AGRICULTURAL C . 1 63 ) b" ( Y ER IS M Y B SS RE T IS RD 5 to e n n A , 6 to REDUCED TO POVERTY O . II s le ar h C to 8 ' . � es m Ja , % 0 1 to st re te m ed it , m ly al g le t o n if Henry V II I li , ct fa in re e enders w l e ' th es m 1 t ] 55 II V [ se o , th tS IS r o p o n o m er th ( 164, 165 ). In o e . lik , em 0 Place th y ar ss ec n as w It <: ce en h f o te ra e th s te la u g monopolists, and re t fi ro p f rate o e h , es tI r ou In ). � 5 6 1 . (p T e th If t. fi ro p f o UNDER RESTRAIN te ra e th d . guIate re st re te m f o e t ra e h t , es m tI to d a h t an ch er m e interest; in those th . t, an ch er the m to ' st re e t m f 0 te ra h Ig h a ed g ar money·lender ch . ith w , n io at sl an . tr an m er G in x ar db M te o u q e ar l d n o m is S m o fr ts rp ce The ex - E�. e. er th d an e er h se ra h p or rd o . French w d. E ". e n u rt fo is m y "b as h t b Gilbar a
.
:
a
23 6
23 7
l ta pi Ca on d an ey on M on rs te ap h C e th to da Adden
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy ·
E CURRENT MONEY TH T LE ND "A , LL WI IT T HA W BE LET THE "STANDARD OF VALUE " TERMINED UPON. DE BE Y MA AT TH RD DA AN ST AT TH REPRESENT ANY FIXED PORTION OF EACH OTHER. TO ON TI LA RE IN E LU VA T EN AN RM AND PE THE TWO CAN ONLY HAVE A FIXED , 5 1 2 0. N [ lst om on Ec e Th ( " ER LD HO E TH WILL OF BY BE IN G CONVERTIBLE AT THE
set a higher rate of profit on his GOODS. Hence, a large sum of money was taken from the pockets of the buyers to be put into the pockets of the MONEY-LENDERS. This ADDITIONAL PRICE set upon the GOODS made the PUBLIC less able and inclined to buy them (I.e., p. 165) .
.
9 October 1847 ,
Interest "If
A FIXED SUM OF PRECIOUS METAL falls [in value], thi s A SMALLER QUANTITY OF MONEY SHOULD BE TAKEN FOR ITS USE, for
is no reason why if the PRINCIPAL is of less value for the BORROWER, the interest is to the same extent less difficult for him to pay. In California, 3% per MONTH, 36% per annum, because of the UNSETTLED STATE. In Hindustan, with the Indian prince s borrowing for UNPRODUC TIVE EXPENSES, the lenders, to counterbalance on the average the los ses of cap ital [charge] very high interest, 30% , HA VING NO RELA TlON TO PROFIT WHICH MIGHT BE, GAINED IN INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS" ( The Economist, [No . 491 ,] 22 January 185 3 [po 89]). (The lender "CHARGES here INTEREST SO HIGH AS TO BE SUFFICIENT TO
�: k!: ����
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DOUBLE STANDARD.
i. e., in Opdyke's usage, limitation "by positive law".- Ed.
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;
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90]).
a
1 15 81).
va e m sa e th d an ht g el w e m sa e th , s es en fin e m another of exactIy the sa CLE, e. g. Sl'1ver TI AR R HE OT Y AN d an d I f go T THIS CANNOT BE SAID 0 s . 1]) 77 o [p 44 18 ] ay M 1 1 , 37 o. [N � ( . g. mal value,. the . . . pound sterlmg IS somewhat less than 1/3 of its on The EnglIsh . e th 6; 1/3 to d un po its D SE BA DE d ha , 48 on ' m U German flon' n= I I6 '' SC?t1and. '. pnor to the e Spanish maravedi= le.ss than I I ,000 . the ' llI.C 1 eta French livre = 1/74 [of Its ongmal vaIue] ' th . M of m ste sy the on s ion at rv bse O [ or (M m Portuguese re has. suff�red still ). 13 p. , i n do , try un co IS th In ted op ad Currency ' TERM IN IN G THE DE E NC TE IS EX IN ES US CA Previous to the law of 18.19 ,49 �he bank notes were ( 1 ) THE MORE OR LESS of BULLION PRICE, other than the Clr�ul :7 DEBASED below are coi ns me tall ic g rcu lati n t PERFECT CONDITION OF TH E COIN : I G A DEMAND FOR IN US CA GE AN CH EX OF RN st te their STANDARD WEIG':'T, the sl�gh of nt ou am e th by st lea at N IO LL BU D NE OI U of EXPORTATION must raise the pnce MELTING and e th d ' ite ib oh pr h h S, W LA L NA the degradation of the COI N ; (2 ) PE e iv ns te in an n ve Gi N IO LL BU :� C F W AF TR e ed th EXPORTING of CO IN and permitt THE BULLlON OF N IO ; A RI VA e th ° r E UD � TI demand for .EXPORT, this afforded LA times when paper was fully convertible. In even at PRICE in relation to th at of COIN M IN T PRICE , e th e ov ab se ro e ic pr n II' 17 83 , 1792 , 1795 , 1 796 ... 18 16 , the buXIEITOy TO PREPARE FOR THE RESUMPTION OF because the BANK DIRECTORS, IN THEIR. AN bl above the MINT PRICE (FuIIarton, [On c nsld CASH PAYMENT, accepted �ol a ). 9] 7. pp , 45 18 n d L ." e n s, CIe en the Regulation of Curr . g a sm . ten s 0f gold without there bem gle ounce 0f ' The STANDARD can be m � . ]) 44 18 er ob ct O 5 5 8 o. [N lSt m ' gold in circulation ( The Econ? o, to , nk ba he T . 25 £ to up l on ER ND TE legal Y sIlver w:as (177 4) . Under George III . d to pay 0nly m gold (Mornson [I'bid ., p . 12)). Through Lord . e lIg ob lly ga le w was no .mm, ng 0f the 19th century) Sl'Iver and copper were turned mto Liverpool (beg . .ms (I. e. [p p. 14-1 5) ). purely . representative co . .
·
•
REPLACE THE PRI NCIPAL IN A SHORT TIM E, OR AT LEA ST AS ON THE AVERAGE OF ALL HIS LEN DIN G TRANSACTIONS, MIG HT SERVE TO COUNTERBALA NCE HIS LOSSES I N PARTICULAR INSTANCES, BY THE APPARENTLY EXORBITANT GAINS ACQ UIRED I N OTHERS" (I.e .).) The RATE of INTEREST DEPENDS: ( 1 ) on the RATE OF PROFIT; (2) on the proportion in which the ENTIRE PROFIT is divided between the LENDER and BORROWER (I.e.). ABUNDANCE OR SCARCITY OF TH E PRECIOUS META LS, THE HIG H OR LOW SCALE OF GENERAL PRICES PREVAILING, DETERMINES ONLY WH ETHER A GREATER OR LESS AM OU NT OF MONEY WILL BE REQUIRED I N EFFECTING THE EXC HANGES BETWEEN BORROWERS AN D LENDERS, AS WELL AS EV ERY OTHER SPECIES OF EX CH AN GE .... The only difference is THAT A GREATER SUM OF MONEY WOULD BE NEE DED TO REPRESENT AN D TRANSFER CAPITAL LENT ... THE RELATION BETWEEN THE SUM PAID FOR THE USE OF CAPITAL AN D TH E CAPITAL EXPRESSES THE RATE OF INTEREST AS MEASURED IN MONEY (I.e . [pp . 89-
Formerly in the countries where gold and silver were the LEGAL STANDARD, the circulating currency consisted almost entirely of silver, because from 1800 to 185 0 THE TENDENCY WAS FOR GOLD TO BECOME DEARER TH AN SILVER. GOLD had somewhat risen in relation to silver, and in France bore a PREMIUM as compared to its rat silver fixed in 180 2. So in the UNITED STATES ; in India. (In the latter, there is io to a silver standard, as in Holland, ete.) The circulation of the UN ITED STATES wasnow the first to be affected. Large imports of gold from California, a premium on silver Europe, EXTENSIVE SHIPMENT OF SILVER COINS AND REPLACEMENT BY GOLD. Thin e UN ITED STATES GOVERNMENT mintea gold coins of as LOW a value as 1 DOLLAR. Substitution of silver for gold in France ( The Economist, [No . 429,] 1 5 Novem ber 185 1 [po 1 257 ]).
p.
M IS THAT NO IU EM PR A D AN MM CO N CA S IN CO ASS 0F THE ONLY WAY IN W HI CH ANY CL AS A LEGAL EM TH KE TA TO D GE LI OB IS NE HILE EVERYO ON E IS OBLIGED TO PAY THEM , W P 59 ]). 1 5 18 ua r Jan 18 38 6, " No . Y mis t [ TENDE R ( The Econo THAN ONE (MO RE RD STA ND A e on an h ConsequentIy, no country can have more t ' STANDARD must be UN IFORM and UE) ; for thIS VA OF RE MEA SU TH E OF RD STANDA . Ie has a um�form unchan ging value in relation to others; IT UN CH AN GI NG . N 0 artlc .ec'e 0f goId is always of the same value as pi ne . ONLY HAS SUCH WITH ITSELF. O lue in the
"UN DER THE RULE OF INVARIABLE EQUIVALENTS, COMMERCE, ete., WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE" (G. Opdyke, A Treatise on Political Economy, New York, 185 1 , p. 67). "THE POSITIVE LIMITATION a OF QUANTITY IN THIS INSTRUM ENT" (i.e . paper money) "WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE ONLY USEFUL PURPOSE THAT COST OF PRODUCTION DOES IN THE OTHER" (METAL MONEY) (I.e ., p. 300 ).
g m tt h sp f o s n ea m e th is ey on M . The dissolving effect of money up property. . NEY : MO OF RD DA AN ST e th g m ern nc co h is bb ru S Urquhart'
• ,
BSTANCE BE SU Y AN N CA W HO ; LF SE IT BY ED UR "THE VALUE OF GOLD IS TO BE MEAS LD IS TO BE GO OF TH OR W HE T . .., GS IN TH R IN OTHE THE MEASURE OF ITS OWN WORTH AT WEIGHTTH OF ON TI NA MI NO DE E LS FA A UNDER ESTABLISHED BY ITS OWN WEIGHT, UNDS. THIS PO OF S ON TI AC FR D AN S ND OU P SO MA NY AND AN OUNCE IS TO BE WORTH on [L s ord W ar ili am (F " I . RD DA AN ST A G IN TABLISH IS _ FALS IF YI NG A MEASURE. NOT ES
don, 1 856,
pp .
104-05]).
238
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
S CONTRIBUTED HA O H W NE O E M SO M O FR E LU VA THE SAID H E HAS ACQUIRED A RIGHT TO . TRANSFERABLE. LE AB RT PO AN TH SS LE R O RE O M THING TO IT.. .. MONEY SHOULD BE NO STORE (63-64). IN H LT EA W F O E NC TE IS EX E TH ENCES OF DIVISIBLE AN D IN IM ITABLE EVID BE LODGED IN A IT T LE E, UC OD PR ON UP T PU LY AN ESTIMATED VALUE BEING PREVIOUS IT IS REQUIRED. MERELY STIPULATING. BY WHENEVER BANK. AN D DRAWN OUT AGAIN E PROPOSED TH IN TY ER OP PR F O ND KI Y AN HO LODGES COMMON CONSENT. THAT HE W CONTAIN. AY M IT ER EV AT H W OF E LU VA L UA OF IT AN EQ NATIONAL B AN K. MAY TAKE OUT IN ... . T H E T PU E H AT TH G IN H T E M SA LF SE AW OUT THE DR O T ED IG BL O G IN BE F O D EA ST IN RIPTION SC DE Y ER EV F O GE AR CH KE TA D D RECEIVE AN UL O SH ER NK BA L NA O TI NA D SE PO ). 68 PRO p. D EA S ST IT IN LE AB LU VA F DESCRIPTION O Y AN CK BA VE GI D AN . LE AB LU OF VA IT REPRESENTS. IT H IC H W AT TH H IT W E LU VA L UA EQ "I F MONEY, " says Gray, "B E O F SIDERATUMS IN DE F IE CH E TH F O NE O IS IT L. VE AT AL CEASES TO BE A REPRESENTA TI E OR OTHER TO IM T NE O AT ED LL PE M CO BE D IT SHOUL MONEY. THAT THE HOLDER O F IF MONEY BE UT . B IT ED IV CE RE E H CE EN H W M E PLACE FRO PRESENT IT FOR PAYMENT AT TH NECESSITY CH SU NO . IT R FO N VE GI IS H IC H AS THAT W O F THE SAME INTRINSIC VALUE " (p. [ 1 15 -] EXISTS " (7 4) . GE AR CH L NA O TI NA F O EM IT AN "DEPRECIATION OF STOCK SHOULD FORM BE CONDUCTED O N A NATIONAL CAPITAL" COUNTRY TO Y ER EV F O SS NE SI BU E H "T ). 1 16 " (2 98 ). Y RT PE O PR L NA O TI NA O T IN ED (1 7 1) . "All land TO BE TRANSFORM
[VII-56] A. Smith calls LABOUR THE REAL and MONEY THE NOMINAL MEASURE OF VALUE; describes the former as the original measure! The vaLue of money. John Stuart MiLL "Given the quantity of goods sold , and . the nu�ber of sales and resales of these goods, the value of money dePend s upon l.tS quantlty, together with the. number of ti. me. s each piece of money changes hands In the proce�s. ." "The quantity of money In clrculation=the money value of all the �0
Zu
(I.e. ,
�
'
�
�
�
J
Gray (Joh n ): 1848):
. . Money has no other equivalent than itself or what IS a commodity. Hence it ' � of the 15th century, even the degrades everything. In France at the beginmn consecrated Church vessels (chalice ) t were In pawn to the Jews (Augier [Du credit public, Paris, 1842, pp. 95,
e., l�i]�b
(Edinburgh,
PROFITABLY EXCHANGED FOR A COMMODITY. ONE OF THE LEAST CAPABLE OF MULTIPLICA TION BY THE EXERCISE OF HUMAN INDUSTRY. OF ANY UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH "
(p. 29). What is required for a good system is ( 1 ) a system of banking, by the OPERATIONS of which the NATURAL RELATIONSHIP OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND WOULD BE RESTORED; (2) a true measure of value, in place of the existing fiction (108).
C
(In this book, the idea of the exchange bank is developed in even greater detail, with the present mode of production being retained.)
���;!7k���:�:�:: Jsht. SociaL System: a treatise on the principLe of l
. . It IS
"THERE MUST BE A MINIMUM PRICE OF LABOUR PAYABLE IN STANDARD MONEY " (p. 160). �.g., let us call THE LOWEST RATE OF WAGES PER WEEK, of 60-72 hours, THAT MAY BY LAW BE GIVEN by the name of 20s. or £1 standard (161). "SHALL WE RETAIN OUR FICTITIOUS STANDARD OF VALUE. GOLD. AND THUS KEEP THE PRODUCTIVE RE SOURCES OF THE COUNTRY IN BONDAGE. OR SHALL WE RESORT TO THE NATURAL STANDARD OF VALUE. LABOUR, AND THEREBY SET OUR PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES FREE? " (p. 169). THE AMOUNT OF THIS MINIMUM WAGE BEING ONCE FIXED.... IT SHOULD REMAIN THE SAME FOR EVER (174). "Only let gold and silver TAKE THEIR PROPER PLACE IN THE MARKET BESIDE BUTTER AND EGGS AND CLOTH AND CALICO, and then the value of the
"To SELL FOR MONEY should AT ALL TIMES be rnade as easy AS TO BUY WITH MONEY; PRODUCTION WOULD THEN BEC OME THE UNIFORM AND NEVER FAILING CAUSE OF DEMAND " (p. 16). IT IS THE QUANTITY THAT CAN BE SOLD T THE QUANTITY THAT CAN BE MADE. THAT IS THE PRESENT LIMIT T O ( ). MONEY SHOULD BE MERELY A RECEIPT.' AN EVIDENCE THAT THE HOLDER OF IT HAS EITHER CONTRIBUTED A CERTAIN VALUE To THE NATIONAL STOCK OF WEALTH. OR THAT
p��:u����r;:' ��
A. Smith, An Inquiry into the N t d Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. I, Lo�don, 1835, pp. 100, 101 and 1 �5��� . . Marx quotes partly in. French Y in German translation. The passage . G and partl from Storch that foliows IS m erman translation, with a few occasional French words.-Ed. Factitious need.- Ed. a
ey on M of se U d an re u at N e th Lectures on
"MAN COLLECTIVELY SHOULD KNOW NO LIMIT TO HIS PHYSICAL MEANS OF ENJOY MENT. SAVE THOSE OF THE EXHAUSTION EITHER OF HIS INDUSTRY OR [of] HIS PRODUCTIVE POWERS; WHILST WE. BY THE ADOPTION OF A MONETARY SYSTEM. FALSE IN PRINCIPLE. AND DESTRUCTIVE IN PRACTICE. HAVE CONSENTED TO RESTRICT THE AMOUNT OF OUR PHYSICAL MEANS OF ENJOYMENT TO THAT PRECISE QUANTITY WHICH CAN BE
Money is not an object of direct consumption : . of consumptlon. It always Currency never becomes an ob'ect remains a J . ' It commodity for sale [ marchandise] ' never becomes one for con ptlon s enree]. [d �� . . d'IrectIy possesses intrinsic value onl for societY' f?r. every mdlvldual, it possesses exchange value. Therefore, the ma?erial o f wh1Ch. It. IS composed must have value. but one based on a besoin factice it m�.y n
239
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
�
precious metals will interest us no more than that of diamonds", ete. ( 182 [183]). No OBJECTION to make TO GOLD AND SILVER USED AS INSTRUMENTS OF EXCHANGE, BUT ONLY AS MEASURES OF VALUE... In a short time one would see how many ounces of gold or silver were obtainable in London, Edinburgh or Dublin in exchange for a HUNDRED POUND STANDARD NOTE (p. 188).
C
\ ' , . •
240
al it ap C n o d an ey n o M n o rs te ap h C Addenda to the
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Interest.
As THE CLASS OF RENTIERS INCREASES ' so ALSO DOES THAT OF LENDERS OF CAPITAL FOR THEY ARE ONE AND THE SAME F .;r t'h'IS reason alone, interest must have had � ' tendency to fall in old countries ( amsay, [An Essay on the Distribution of Wealth, Edi:?burgh, 1 836] p. 202). IT IS PROBABLE THAT IN ALL AGES THE PRECIOUS METALS [have] COST. MORE IN THEIR PRODUCTION THAN THEIR VALUE EVER REPAID " (W. Jacob , A n H' toncaI Inquiry . In . t the Metals, Vol. II, London, 1831 , J the � . dmtwn and Consumption of p. 1 0 1 ). 0
nO no
IS
mow
Value of money.
Th� value of all things, divided bY the number of transacti. ons m. which they have figured in their passage from the p�odu��r. to the consumer, is equal to the value of the ecus employed in their fU �c �e. I�ded by the .number of times that these thaler have passed from hand o an �n t e same penod. of time (Sismondi, Nouveaux principes d'iconomie politin UJ, etc. [2n ed ., Vol. II, Pans, 1 827, p. 1 20]). ..,-
The false theory of price is devel d �Ost f��all r by jam:es Mill (q!l�ted according to the transfItfon y J . . ansot, Pans, 1 823. Etemens d'econ. pol.).50 �he most important passages from Mill are as follows: " By value of money, is here to be underst?<>d the proportion which it exchanges for other commodities 0 the ,,'r';ll�ty of it whi�h exchanges for a certain quantity of other things" (� �28) � ls e total quanhty of money in any m
country, which determines that po�on. if e suppose that all the goods of the country are on one side all the 1!ll0n�Y on the other, and that they are exchanged at once against one an�ther I't S eVIdent that the value 0f money .would . depend wh0II� upon the quantity of it" ( I.e.). "It will �p!:a: r that the case IS precisely the same m the actual state of the facts. The whol �e goods of a country are not exch.anged at once against the whole of the m.�;ey, th� goods are exchanged in portions, often in very small portions d a d e �ent ?m�s, during the course of the whole year. The same piece of �:ey :h{ch IS paid one exchange to-day may be paid in another exchan!; to-morro.w. Some of the pieces will be employed in a [VII-58] great many excha es,.Jome . �n;�ry few, a?d . some, which happen to be hoarded, in none at all. There a test; vanetles, be a certain average number of exchanges, the same w�i�h 7f all t e pieces had performed an equal number, would have been performed b each ' that �v7age w,e may suppose to be any number we please; say, for exampl! ten. If eac 0 the pieces of the money in the country perfonn ten �urch::����h:� :I�:tactly the same thing as if all the pieces were mul�plied by ten, d p y o�e purchase each. The value of all . the goods m the country is equal t te� t1me� t : value of. a11 the money, etc." (pp. 1 29, 130). "If the quantity of mo:ey, rstea 0 perfonnmg ten exchanges in the year, were ten times as great and per °rmed only one exchange in the year' it is evident " that whatever addl't1'on' were rnade to the wh. 0Ie quan?!y, ' would produce a proportIOnal diminution of value, in each of the mmo� quantities taken separately. As the quantity of goods, against which the mo�ey IS all exchanged at once, is supposed to be the same, the value of all the ';l0ney �s ?o more, after the quantity is augmented, than before it was augmc:te . If It supposed to be augmented one-tenth, the value of eve t, at �f an ounce for example, must be diminished one-tenth" (pp. 1 36 r:r). ,,�n w .atever de�r�e, therefore, the quantity of money is increased or dimini�hed, 0ther thmgs remainIng the same, in that same '
m
IS
24 1
r o d e h is in im d y ll ca ro p ci re is t, ar p y er ev f o d n a , le o h w e th f o e lu va proportion, the is evident, is a proposition universally true. Whenever the value of increased. This, itrisen or fallen (the quantity of goods against which it is exchangeda to g in w o be st u money has either m e g an ch e th , e) m sa e th g in n ai m re n o ti la u rc ci f o g y in it th id o p n ra to e g in w o and th be n ca d an ty ti an ; u q e th in se ea cr in r o n o ti u in im corresponding d ty of goods diminish, while the quantity of money remains the else. If the quantie thing as if the quantity of money had been increased," and vice same, it is the samanges are produced by any alteration in the rapidity of circulation. versa. "Similar ch number of these purchases has the same effect as an increase in An increase in theoney a diminution the reverse " (pp. 1 3 1 , 1 32 ). "I f there is any the quantity of mnual ;produce which is not exchanged at all, as what is consumed portion of the an or what is not exchanged for money ; that is not taken into by the producer ; what is not exchanged for money is in the same state with respect account a because if it did not exist" (pp. 1 32 , 1 3 3). "Whenever the coining of to the money, as its quantity is regulated by the value of the metal ... . Gold and money .. . is free, ity commodities, products. .. . It is cost of production .. . which silver are in reallue of these, as of other ordinary productions" (pp. 1 36 , 1 37). determines the va
s. u io v b o is t n e m u g r a f The insipidity of atht isthlienequoantity of commodities and also the ( 1 ) To assume th ty ti n a u q r te a e r g a t e y d n a , e m sa e th in a m e r n o ti la u c ir c f o velocity of ty ti n a u q e m sa e th r fo d e g n a h c x e is r e lv si r o f o of gold ty ti n a u q e th . e i. , r e lv si d n a ld o g f o e lu a v e th e il h (w commodities e m u ss a to is ), d e g n a h c t o n s a h , m e th in d e in ta n o c r e r a s labou ie it d o m m o c f Q s e ic r p e th t a th . iz v , e v o r p to d e h is w e e th what on t o n d n a m iu d e m g n ti la u c ir c e th f o ty ti n a u q e th y b determined other way round. that the commodities not thrown into circulation (2) Mill admits ney. I t is equally dear that the money not do not exist for umlaotion does not exist for the commodities. I t thrown into circ is n o fixed relation between the value of money follows that there e quantity of it which enters into circulation. To in general and thntity of it actually in circulation, divided by the say that the qua novers, is equal to the value of money, is merely number of its turundabout way of saying that the value of the a tautological roessed in money is its price; because the money in commodity expr esses the value of the commodities which it circulation expr the value of these commodities is determined by circulates hence oney in circulation. the quantity of msion in Mill's views is dearly seen from his h (3 ) The confu it w s se a e r c in r o s e h is in im d y e n o m f o e lu a v e th t a a r e statement th th e h W . " n o ti la u c ir c f o y it id p a r e th in n "any alteratio circulates once or 1 0 times in a day, in each pound sterling presses an equivalent for the commodity, is exchange it exthe same value embodied in the commodity. I n exchanged for t.- Ed. EXACTLY
a
p ri sc u an m e th in ch n re F in d te The rest of the sentence is quo
I
,
242
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
each exchange its own value remains the same, and hence does not change whether its circulation is slow or rapid. The quantity of money in circulation does change but neither the value of the commodity nor that of money. "To say that a piece of cloth is worth £5, means that it possesses the value of
GRAINS OF STANDARD GOLD. THE REASON ASSIGNED ABOVE MAY BE PARA PHRASED THUS: 'PRICES MUST FALL BECAUSE COMMODITIES ARE ESTIMATED AS BEING WORTH SO MANY OUNCES OF GOLD; AND THE AMOUNT OF COLD IN THIS COUNTRY IS DIMINISHED'" Q. G. H ubbard, The Currency and the Country, London, 1843, p. 44). 6 16,370
(4) In his exposition of the theory, Mill initially assumes that the total quantity of money in a country is exchanged at once for the total quantity of commodities in that country. He then says that this is really the case, and that it is so above all because in practice precisely the opposite takes place: only portions of money are exchanged for portions of commodities, and only very few payments are ARRANGED BY PAYMENT ON THE SPOT-TIME BARGAINS. It follows that the total number of transactions or purchases made on any one day is quite independent of the [quantity of] money in circulation on this day, and that the quantity of money in circulation on a certain day is not the cause but the effect of a quantity of transactions executed earlier and quite independent of the money supply at the moment in question. (5) Finally, Mill himself admits that with free money circulation, and we are concerned with it alone, the value of money is determined by its production costs, i.e., on his own showing, by the labour time contained in it. [VII -59]
Money matters. In Ricardo's pamphlet, Proposals for an Economical and Secure Currency; with observations on the profits of the Bank of England, London, 1816, there is a passage in which he
topples his whole theory. It says:
"The amount of notes in circulation depends ... upon the amount required for the circulation of the country, which is regulated by the value of the STANDARD, the amount of payments, and the [degree of] economy practised in effecting them" (l.e., pp. 1 7 , 18). Under Louis XIV, XV and XVI in France, duties in kind were still levied on the rural population for government taxes (Augier [ Du credit public, pp. 1 28-29]).Prices and the quantity of the circulating medium. _
Marx quotes partly in French and partly in German translation.- Ed.
l ita ap C on d an ey on M on s er pt ha C e th to Addenda
243
AL ON TI DI AD r fo . D AN . M DE a te ea cr to nt ie fic A mer.e RISE m pncesca' senIf?t thsufere IS. a simultaneous rise in production and s only th� . CURRENCY ThiE.g. e or ef er th an C e. in cl de ly pp su its t bu the pnce of corn m;rC��iENCY But if prices rise because of consumption. nt 0 " �e amofoune N, be handled with the saem O TI UC OD PR OF E AL SC d se ea cr ;� an ts ke rising demand, [the op� pnn�ces ]. w mar the in se ri a by d e ni pa se in short, if a ri IS REQUIRES Ta��O:TERVENTION OF MONEY TO BE MULT1PUED IN then th d 2n s, cie en urr C of n tio la gu Re e th n O [ on t NUMBER AND ENLA]).RGED IN MAGNITUDE (F IIar ed., pp. 102-04 w llo fo t us m E AD TR OF T AN RV SE HE T E AD MONE�, not NEY hTRr co�modities (Davenant [Discourses on the TRADE GOVER�S the ) ort�e 0�: d, Par II London , 1698, p. 16]). the VARIATIONS (m pnthces t lan , g 1 d e T e on d an s, ue en ev R k lic ub P t ea gr e th by d se ha rc pu e er w at th s Under the feudal monf;arllechn s,�othsue�f�w artictle t that no piece of gold or of silver mass of the people hady or w a ... ce en ist bs �� su ily � da : s hi r fo ed ed ne �R B : was small e�ough �o paRome, thet tC�RRENT MONEY was wholly composed of t�e Hence, as m anCIenPPt ER, TI!" IRON Qacob [ An Historical Inquiry into the Productwn INFERIOR METALnS, ofCOthe Precwus MetaIs, VoI . I , pp. 30 1-02]). and Consumptio . . 2 sIlver III IS
lS
l
TRANSACTIONS,
GENERAL SUM OF
U
0
ra
d an ld o g e th f o / , ry tu n ce is th in at th es 3 m Jacob .assu ' t o n S, NT ME . NA OR d an LS SI EN UT s ct je b the .fC?rm.;f other o 12-1 3]. (Elsewhere he reckons Europe 2 . p , II 1 . o , id b [I p IN CO f o at th in 0 40 £ at a ic er m A d an e p ro u E the precious metal thus used million .) . . m iu ed m g n ti la u rc ci e th . of ty ti an qu Prices and the . u le U sq te n o M , e m u H , 1) 1 17 er b o Locke, The Spectator on(1 9thOecte propo . .o Their theory . is based od�lu. es are p��p�:�ional to the quantity (1 ) The prices of comym; of money in the counRRtrENT M . country are the representa(2) The COIN and CU d co:'�;�it�es of it so that in proportion tives of all. the labour an ss le r o er at re g a n o i t ta n se re ' p re h t f SS LE OR RE O M re e th as ,. IS III
III
0
IS
IS
IT OF Y IT NT UA Q E M SA E TH TO ES GO ED QU �)I�:�: :�E :���;�;::'S:NT IN SE RI EY TH Y, NE MO SE EA CR IN R; PE EA CH ME HEY BECO ( E C THEIR VALUE (Steuart): Marks
, y e n o m er lv si r o er p p co ll (sma
MONEY OF INTRINSIC WORTH
( I .e .) .
. ey on m f ct fe ef g in lv so is d he T �
COUNTERS
)
in contrast to
to in p u lit sp be n ca l) ta pi ca r he ot , � whICh property. (house through exchange (Bray [Labour's by ns ea m a is ey on M .mnumerable fragments and devoured plecemea ]) . 41 0 14 . pp , 39 18 s, ed Le y, ed m Re s ' ur bo La d Wrongs an _
See this volume, p.
1 64.- Ed.
, I I' I
'
"
244
l a it p a C n o d n a y e n o M n o Addenda to the Chapters
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
(Many objects cannot be exchanged, arIenated , without the aid of money.) "When immovable and ca�e to be In commerce amongst men, as well as things which were movable �d rna e f?r chang�, money came into use as the rule and measure (S UARE) wh::;e these thIngs received estimation and value" ([E. Misselden,] Free Trade (Or' Jeanes to Make Trade Florish], London, IMMUTABLE THINGS
.
Q
1622 [po 21]).
Coin. The
ar silver and copper marks e REPRESENTATIVES . . ( Th zn a recent reply by the Lord OF THE us
PARTS OF THE POUND STERLING
TREASURY.)
Exchange Value. F. Vidal RESPECTS
Ricardo):
says (as does
OF FRACTIONAL
Lauderdale) (AND IN CERTAIN
. co or use for value is value social 'Real : value exchange nsu on pt merely ; � � . Indicates the relative wealth of each m be��f ��lety In relation to the others" (De la repartition des richesses etc., Paris, 1��6, 7
On the other hand exch n e aIue expres�es the social form of value, while use valu� is no� a� a� an economlC f<.>rm of value but merely the being of the product, etc., for man In general. IIFrom the fact that the rofit may be less than the surplus value, and hence that capitl. [may] exc.hange at a profit without being valorised in the �t��t sense, It follows that not only individual capitalists but a ·lons to0 may continuously exchange with one .another' �nd con tInU. OU. SIy repeat the exch ange on an ever-growIng scale' with;�t �aIn��f e?u�lly thereby. One nation may continuously appro iat P 0 t e surplus labour of the other and. give nothing I·n exchange for it ' e.xc�pt that here the measure IS not as in the exchange between capltahst and worker. II as money. (Value-for-itself, equivalent, etc ) The import�nc: o f. t h� role �till played by money in this deter�ination eve . I? ItS ImmedIate form becomes . of crises, defICIent harvests evident at times etc., In short, every . ' . " one natIon must settle its �.cc�unt WIth another on the sudden. tIme Money in its immediate� metal lC orm then appears as the only absolute means of payme t, i-;:; as the o?ly counter-value, acceptable equivalent. Therefore' the ov�ment It the� performs is directly ' Commodities as contradictory to that of aII ot er commodIties. Money in its third determination
a
Marx quotes in French.- Ed.
245
e r e h w . y tr n u o c e th m o r f d te r o p s n a tr e r a ., tc e t, means of paymestn to the country where they are dearest. I t is the they are cheapend with money. At all times when it presents its other way rou i. e . when money, in contrast to all other specific nature, required as value-for-itself, absolute equivalent, commodities, is rm of wealth , in the definite form of gold and the universal foh times are always more or less times of crisis, silver and suceneral crisis or of a grain crisis at all such times whether of a g are transmitted from the country where they are gold and silver here the relative fall in the prices of all com dearest - i.e . w en the greatest to the country where they are modities has be commodity prices are relatively higher. cheapest, where ONE D N A S, E G N A H C X E E H T F
ONOMY O C E E H T IN Y L A M O N A T (OF GOLD " I T IS A SINGULAR SI N A R T F O SE R U O C E H THAT ... T , K R A M E R F O G IN V R SE E EDIUM ) IS M G IN T A L U C IR PARTICULARLY D C A S A OYING GOLD L P M E Y L L A U Q E E S N IO T A DEAREST TO T H IS L A T E BETWEEN TWO N M E H T T HE MOMEN T R FO E R E H W Y R T N U O C AL TO ITS T E M E H T F O E ALWAYS FROM THE IC R P T E K F T H E MAR O E IS R A , ST PE A E H C IS FOREIGN E H T IN M IU M E R P COUNTRY WHERE IT E H T A FALL OF D N A , T E K R A M E M O H E H WHICH D L O G F O X V L FF E N H IG HEST L IM IT IN T A O T Y T TENDENC A H T F O S T L SU E R IN A of T R E on ti la u eg R e th On MARKET, B E IN G THE C " S E G N A H C X E E H T F O N FOLLOWS A DEPRESSIO
2nd e d ., [pp. 1 19-20]).
(}, Fullarton,
s ie it n u m m o c e r e h w s in g e b e g n a h c x e l, a r e n e g in , s a t [V I I-60] Jus nd money as the measure produced by exchange come to an end, oaf exchange, and u niversal equivalent, acquires its itself, as means ance not in internal trade, but in that between specific signific unities, peoples, etc., in the same way, it was different comm ational means of payment- for the liquidation of in , y r tu n e E�OX�V a as intern c th 6 1 e h t . in e m a c e b y e n o m t a th ts b e d international the infancy of bourgeois society, the exclusive the period of tes and of the nascent political economy. The interest of sta which money (gold and silver) in this third form important role ternational trade, only became fully clear and was still plays in ine more by economists as a result of the series of recognised oncs in 1 82 5 , 1 839, 1 847 and 1 85 7 . The economists monetary' crise s by arguing that on such occasions money is not help themselve ans of circulation, but as capitaL This is correct. But required as me forgotten that capital is required in the particular it must not be d silver, and not in that of any other commodity. form of gold arn play the role of absolute international means of Gold and silve se they are money as value-for-itself, independent p a y m e n t becau equivalent.
Currencies etc.,
,
"
"
,
,
,
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Above all.- Ed.
,
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246
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
THIS, IN FACT, IS NOT A QUESTION OF BUT OF (It is, rather, A QUESTION OF MONEY, NOT OF CURRENCY, NOR OF CAPITAL, "
CAPITAL.
CURRENCY,
BECAUSE NOT
CAPITAL
"
WHICH IS INDIFFERENT TO THE SPECIAL FORM IN WHICH IT EXISTS,
BUT VALUE IN THE SPECIFIC FORM OF MONEY IS REQUESTED.
)
(i.e.
For
Further,
(We are not concerned here with the CASE OF TRANSMISSION OF CAPITAL IN ORDER TO PLACE IT OUT TO GREATER ADVANTAGE AT INTEREST; likewise that resulting from the import of A SURPLUS QUANTITY OF FOREIGN GOODS, which Mr. Fullarton cites, although this CASE is, of course, relevant if that SURPLUS IMPORTATION coincides with crises.) (Fullarton, l.e., pp. 130, 132.) //but in the ease
"GOLD IS PREFERRED FOR THIS TRANSMISSION OF CAPITAL " OF VIOLENT DRAINS OF BULLION PREFERMENT// "ONLY IN THOSE CASES WHERE IT IS LIKELY TO EFFECT THE PAYMENT MORE CONVENIENTLY, PROMPTLY, OR PROFITABLY, THAN ANY OTHER DESCRIPTION OF STOCK OR CAPITAL. "
there is no question at all of
(Mr. Fullarton incorrectly treats the TRANSMISSION of GOLD or of other forms of CAPITAL as a matter of choice, whereas what is at Issue are CASES WHEN MUST BE TRANSMITTED IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE, Just as in internal trade BILLS MUST THEN BE ACQUITTED IN THE LEGAL MONEY, AND •
•
GOLD
NOT IN ANY SUBSTITUTE.
247
standard of values, which can, at the same. time, be converted into means of circulation ad libitum The Enghsh have the good .word currency for money as means of circulati�n � "coin :' is not a sUItable word to use for that purpose, since It Itself IS the , m�ans of circulation in a particular form) and money for m�:mey �n ItS thIrd determination. But since they have not properly mvestIgated that determination, they declare this MONEY to .b� � although the? they are again in fact compelle� to . dIstmgUIsh money as thIs definite form of capital from capItal m general. •
" ".ALL THOSE VARIOUS CAUSES WHICH, IN THE EXISTING CONDITION OF MONETARY AFFAIRS, ARE CAPABLE ... OF DIRECTING THE STREAM OF BULLION FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER " GIVING RISE TO A DRAIN OF B ULLION) "RESOLVE THEMSELVES UNDER A SINGLE HEAD, NAMELY THE STATE OF THE BALANCE OF FOREIGN PAYMENTS, AND THE CONTINUALLY RECURRING NECESSITY OF TRANSFERRING CAPITAL" (BUT notabene! CAPI TAL IN THE FORM OF MONEY) " FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER TO DISCHARGE IT. " FAILURE OF CROPS. "WHETHER THAT CAPITAL IS TRANSMITTED IN MERCHAN DISE OR IN SPECIE, IS A POINT WHICH IN NO WAY AFFECTS THE NATURE OF THE TRANSACTION " (AFFECTS IT VERY MATERIALLY!). WAR EXPENDITURE.
example,
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
)
"GOLD AND SILVER ... CAN ALWAYS BE CONVEYED TO THE SPOT WHERE IT IS WANTED WITH PRECISION AND CELERITY, AND MAY BE COUNTED UPON TO REALISE ON ITS ARRIVAL NEARLY THE EXACT SUM REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED, RATHER THAN INCUR THE HAZARD OF SENDING IT IN TEA, COFFEE, SUGAR, OR INDIGO. GoLD AND SIL VER POSSESS AN INFINITE ADVANTAGE OVER ALL OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF MERCHANDISE FOR SUCH OCCASIONS,
FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF THEIR BEING UNIVERSALLY IN USE AS MONEY. IT IS NOT IN TEA, COFFEE, SUGAR, OR INDIGO, THAT DEBTS, WHETHER FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC, ARE USUALLY CONTRACTED TO BE PAID, BUT IN COIN ; AND A REMITTANCE, THEREFORE, EITHER IN THE IDENTICAL COIN DESIGNATED, OR IN BULLION WHICH CAN BE PROMPTLY TURNED INTO THAT COIN THROUGH THE MINT OR MARKET OF THE COUNTRY TO WHICH IT IS SENT, MUST ALWAYS AFFORD TO THE REMITTER THE MOST CERTAIN, IMMEDIATE, AND ACCURATE MEANS OF EFFECTING THIS OBJECT, WITHOUT RISK OF DISAPPOINTMENT FROM THE FAILURE OF DEMAND OR FLUCTUATION OF PRICE " 132, 133).
([ibid.,] pp.
He therefore refers precisely to the suitability of gold and silver for being MONEY, the universal commodity of contracts, the
CAP TAL,
APPEARS TO HAVE ENTERTAINED VERY PECULIAR AND EXTREME OPINIONS, AS TO THE LIMITED EXTENT OF THE OFFICES PERFORMED BY GOLD AND SILVER IN THE AD USTMENT OF FOREIGN BALANCES. MR. RICARDO HAD PASSED HIS LIFE AMID THE CO TROVERSIES WHICH GREW OUT OF THE RESTRICTION CT, 9 AND HAD ACCUSTOMED HIMSELF SO LONG TO CONSIDER ALL THE GREAT FLUCTUATIONS OF EXCHANGE AND OF THE PRICE OF GOLD AS THE RESULT OF THE EXCESSIVE ISSUES OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND, THAT AT ONE TIME HE SEEMED SCARCELY WILLING TO ALLOW, THAT SUCH A THING COULD EXIST AS AN ADVERSE BALANCE OF COMMERCIAL PAYMENTS ... AND SO SLIGHT AN ACCOUNT DID HE SET ON THE FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY GOLD IN SUCH ADJUSTMENTS, AS TO HAVE EVEN ANTICIPATED, THAT DRAINS FOR EXPORTATION WOULD CEASE ALTOGETHER SO SOON AS CASH PAYMENTS SHOULD BE RESUMED, AND THE CURRENCY RESTORED TO THE METALLIC LEVEL " (SEE Mr. Ricardo's Evidence before the Lords' Committee of 1819 on the Bank of " RICARDO
�
A 4
p. 1 86). ' EngIand , OUR "[ ] But after 1800 when paper completely superseded goId In MERC ��NTS DID NOT R�ALLY WANT IT; FOR, OWING TO THE UNSETTLED STATE OF England,
CONTINENTAL EUROPE, AND THE INCREASED CONSUMPTION THERE OF IMPORTED MAN UFACTURES' IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE INTERRUPTIONS GIVEN TO INDUSTRY AND TO ALL DOMESTIC I MPROVEMENT BY THE INCESSANT MOVEMENT OF INVADING ARMIES, TOGETHER WITH THE COMPLETE MONOPOLY OF THE COLONIAL TRADE WHICH ENGLAND HAD OBTAINED THROUGH HER NAVAL SUPERIORITY, THE EXPORT OF COMMODITIES FROM GREAT BRITAIN TO THE CONTINENT CONTINUED GREATLY TO EXCEED HER IMPORTS FROM THENCE, SO LONG AS THE INTERCOURSE REMAINED OPEN; A , AFTER THAT INTERCOURSE WAS INTERRUPTED BY THE BERLIN AND MILAN DECREES, THE TRANSAC TIONS OF TRADE BECAME MUCH TOO INSIGNIFICANT TO AFFECT EXCHANGES IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. IT WAS THE FOREIGN MILITARY EXPENDITURE AND THE SUBSIDIES, AND NOT THE NECESSITIES OF COMMERCE, THAT CONTRIBUTED IN SO EXTRAORDINARY A MANNER TO DERANGE THE EXCHANGES AND ENHANCE THE PRICE OF BULLION IN THE LATTER YEARS OF THE WAR. THE DISTINGUISHED ECONOMISTS OF THAT PERIOD, FORE HAD FEW OR NO REAL OPPORTUNITIES OF PRACTICALLY ESTIMATINC, THE OF HICH FOREIGN COMMERCIAL BALANCES ARE SUSCEPTIBLE. " OVERISSUE INTERNATIONAL TRANSMISSION BULLION R ' RICARDO LIVED TO WITNESS THE DRAINS OF 1825 AND 1 839, HE e 133-36). D NO DOUBT HAVE SEEN REASON TO ALTER HIS VIEWS " (I.e.,
��
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�
"H
[ VII-61 ] the Country,
PRICE
p.
IS THE
33]).
(They belIeved of would pp.
the
MONEY VALUE OF
COMMODITIES
(H ubbard [ The Currency and
MONEY HAS THE QUALITY OF BEING ALWAYS EXCHANGEABLE FOR WHAT IT MEASURES, AND THE QUANTITY REQUIRED FOR THE PURPOSES OF EXCHANGE MUST VARY, OF COURSE,
I
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248
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
ACCORDING TO THE QUANTITY OF PROPERTY TO BE EXCHANGED (J. W. Metallic, Paper, and Credit Currency etc.,
London, 1842, p. 100).
I : � : � CO E H T T A H T S U IO BV O G IN "IT BE �
THE VERY NATURE OF THINGS, MUST BE F O N O TI AC E ER M E TH BY N IO AT EPRECI G IN LL FA , IT N U BY IT N U WHICH T FOR EVER. EN M CE DU IN E H T OF G IN TH NO Y SA O SION (T A BR A E BL A ID O V A N U D N A RY A IN LUGGERS' RD 'P O F O N O GI LE LE O H W E H T TO UT O S GE HOLD A IN CO E H T F O N IO T RA O ST RE LE DAY, Y NG ER SI A EV R FO EN EV E IM T Y AN AT Y IT IL POSSIB IM L CA SI Y PH A :' ( The Currency Theory IS IT ), S' ER T EA W 'S AND N IO AT M CIRCUL G RM TE E Un:ERLY TO X ). 70 69 gl pp . 184 ] Urgh 5 [ b i revuwed etc.. By a B N O TI RA PE O E H T N O UP G IN T EN M M CO 844 1 . ULATION RC CI IN LD GO T GH LI E H T S OF THE THEN �CENT/ROCLA I y ( . T e .I h s me , I . STANDARD
Bosanquet,
"I AM READY TO ADMIT THAT GOLD IS A COMMODITY IN SUCH GENERAL DEMAND THAT IT MAY ALWAYS COMMAND A MARKET, THAT IT CAN ALWAYS BUY ALL OTHER COM MODITIES; WHEREAS, OTHER COMMODITIES CANNOT ALWAYS BUY GOLD. THE MARKETS OF THE WORLD ARE OPEN TO IT AS MERCHANDISE AT LESS SACRIFICE UPON AN EMERGENCY, THAN WOULD AI lEND AN EXPORT OF ANY OTHER ARTICLE, WHICH MIGHT IN QUANTITY OR KIND BE BEYOND THE USUAL DEMAND IN THE COUNTRY TO WHICH IT IS SENT" (Th.
Tooke,
An Enquiry into the Currency Principle etc.,
,
"THERE MUST BE A VERY CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF THE PRECIOUS METALS APPLICA BLE AND APPLIED AS THE MOST CONVENIENT MODE OF ADJUSTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BALANCES, BEING A COMMODITY MORE GENERALLY IN DEMAND, AND LESS LIABLE TO FLUCTUATIONS IN MARKET VALUE THAN ANY OTHER" (p. 13).
•
MINT PRICE,
"COIN DEBASED BY WEAR TO THE EXTENT OF 3 OR 4% BELOW ITS STANDARD WEIGHT; PENAL LAWS WHICH PROHIBITED THE MELTING AND EXPORTATION OF THE COIN, WHILE THE TRAFFIC IN THE METAL OF WHICH THAT COIN WAS COMPOSED REMAINED PERFECTLY FREE. However, these causes themselves only had an effect in the event of an
pp. 68-69).
T N IE . IC EF D S IN RA G 4 77 0 ' n a th e g sove rel gold a if law, ngli sh " ; : � mon � � ey "By h silve r for law � suc No R . . U as ss pa er n lo no ld ou sh � on the system 1 Metallic Currency adopted in thts country, weight, It (W. H . Morrison, Observatwns London, 1837, p. 54). PON ITS
unfavourable rate of exchange. But from 1816 to 1821 [the market price of gold bullion] always fell to the BANK PRICE OF BULLION when the EXCHANGE was favourable to England; BUT it ROSE NO HIGHER, when the EXCHANGE was unfavourable, than TO SUCH A RATE AS WOULD INDEMNIFY THE MELTERS OF THE COIN FOR ITS DEGRADATION BY WEAR AND FOR THE PENAL CONSEQUENCES OF MELTING IT" (see Fullarton's book, pp. [7,] 8, 9). "FROM 1819 TO THE PRESENT TIME, AMID ALL THE VICISSITUDES WHICH THE MONEY HAS UNDERGONE DURING THAT EVENTFUL PERIOD, THE MARKET PRICE OF GOLD HAS ON NO OCCASION RISEN ABOVE 78s. per oz., NOR FALLEN BELOW 77s. 6d., AN EXTREME RANGE OF ONLY 6d. IN THE OUNCE. NOR WOULD EVEN
THAT EXTENT OF FLUCTUATION BE NOW POSSIBLE; FOR IT WAS SOLELY OWING TO THE RENEWED DETERIORATION OF THE COIN, THAT EVEN SO TRIVIAL A RISE OCCURRED AS 1 1/2d. IN THE OUNCE, OR ABOUT II. P.C. ABOVE THE MINT PRICE; AND THE FALL TO 77s. 6d. IS ENTIRELY ACCOUNTED FOR BY THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF THE BANK HAVING AT ONE TIME THOUGHT PROPER TO ESTABLISH THAT RATE AS THE LIMIT FOR ITS PURCHASES. THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, HOWEVER, EXIST NO LONGER. FOR MANY YEARS THE BANK HAS BEEN IN THE PRACTICE OF ALLOWING 77s. 9d. FOR ALL THE GOLD BROUGHT TO IT FOR COINAGE" (i.e. the Bank pockets 1 1/2d. seigniorage, as the Mint does the job gratis for it); "AND AS SOON AS THE RECOINAGE OF SOVEREIGNS NOW IN PROGRESS SHALL BE COMPLETED, THERE WILL BE AN EFFECTUAL BAR, UNTIL THE COIN SHALL AGAIN BECOME DETERIORATED, TO ANY FUTURE FLUCTUATION OF THE PRICE OF GOLD BULLION IN OUR MARKET BEYOND THE SMALL FRACTIONAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 77s. 9d. ALLOWED BY THE BANK, AND THE MINT PRICE OF 77s 10 1/2d." (I.e., pp. 9-10).
The contradiction between money as MEASURE and equivalent, on the one hand, and as means of circulation. In the latter form abrasion, LOSS
OF METALLIC WEIGHT.
Garnier observes that
"if a slightly worn ecu were to be considered to be wotth somewhat less than a quite new one, circulation would be continually checked, and every payment would provide an occasion for dispute" [Garnier, Histoire de la monnaie, Vol. I, p. 24]. (The material destined for accumulation was naturally sought and chosen in the realm of minerals. Garnier [ibid., p. 7].)
�
::Z� � ;: �����f� . . . r e b m ce e ' D m n e tt n w s ' a w ThIS In ;re:�� :�i;fi��� arises: If ligh. t gold [coin] is a etter to e th , d e t p e c c ' a IS It f I . e r u c se in e d a m is le o h w e th f sed ' g m n r e c n o C .) lt su e r e sa h h it w , � e c � n le u � d u a fr to d e n e p o is ���r t a th id sa IS It s, n o ti a m la c the above-mentioned pro HE CURRENT T F O LE O H W E H T CE N U O EN EN BE Y LL A U T IR V S A H ... CT FE EF (I .e ., S" r N ei IO "th CT SA N RA T RY A ET N O M R FO M M;�� L A G LE IL D N A FE SA N U N A S A IN O GOLD C
2nd ed., London, 1844, p. 10).
Causes of rises in the price of bullion above according to Fullarton:
249
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0
U S D EN EP D Y C EN RR U C A F O E LU 2 assert THAT THE VA 5 en M Y C EN RR U C The , d . n a CY EN RR CU E H T f o E LU VA e th If ) 3 1 . p ] ., It o , C [ n to r P a ll u (F ' Y IT T ' N QUA . re a s n o ti c sa n a tr f o ss a m e th d n a . s e c n p e h t , d n a h r e th . o o the te tm e d f a ly n o E RS U CO F O ), n o ' tI la u rc ci f o ty ci lo e v e th o ls a d n (a c sa n a tr g?, f 0 s a m e th d n a � s ce ri p e th n e iv G . te la u . c ir c n a � �it c thIS quantIty dePe nds
:
•
, n o ti la u rc ci f o ty ci lo e v e tI� ons, Yan d th value of the CURRENCY. GIv' en this valu e h t d n a e . clusivel on the , it d p nds excl ivel h e h ��locity oI circula�ionns. Th�IS �IS how t�e q�a��i:Y if�:t:;;�n�d� mass of transactIontative money mere tokens f value is in se H e if repreuantity o t a t th tokens of ::' the � ion, a ci 9 ey represent . I� i� ��!�:.� �o��f:�:. � �;o; the STANDARD WhIchluethis determined solely by their quantIty E g ., this that their va pO lI ds cannot circulate in the same quantIty as � s. notes 'representing sh�dlm g g n ti n se e r p e r s te o n 0
.
.
•
d te si p e lu a v l, a it p a c l a e r is t fi o r p s ld ie y . h ic h w l a it p a C ] � [VI I 62 s a I lf a i c u d o r p e � l se y sl u o � a lt � as sim ?� a� l; se � � � � � � � � :s � �t � e � t 7 e g m In a re n o tl � sl s presuppo it in is st e r te in g in ld ie � l a it p a � � � 1 p a c y b d te sl o · p surplus value stract form of profit-YIe. ld'mg capIt. aI. turn a purely ab 10-785
250
25 1
Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy
Addenda to the Chapters on Money and on Capital
When capital is posited as yielding profit, corresponding to its value (assuming a certain level of productive power), the commodity, or the commodity posited in its form as money (the form which corresponds to it as value become independent, or, as we may now say: realised capital), can enter into circulation as capital; capital can as capital become a commodity. In this case, it is capital loaned out at interest. The form of its circulation or of the exchange through which it passes then appears specifically different from that considered so far. We have seen how capital posits itself both in the determination of commodity and in that of money. But this occurs only in so far as both appear as moments of the circuit of capital, in which it is alternately realised. They are merely transitory and constantly reproduced modes of existence of capital, moments of its life-process. Yet capital as capital has not itself become a moment of circulation; capital itself as a commodity. The commodity has not been sold as capital, nor has money as capital. In a word, neither commodity nor money and strictly speaking we have only to consider the latter as the adequate form have entered into circulation as profit-yielding
y Ma 15 is� om on Ec e Th ( s ice pr t ec aff y all fin n ca at which represents consumption th [18]58). . 0f the nt ' ou am e atl i e e h t on nd pe de s � ce pn � at th ed ain int ma "Mr. Ricardo . a gh ro th ly on e ns s ce pn at th , � ely tIv ec sp re s e iti od . mm co of d an circulating medium . m It of e nc da bu t ea gr too a m fro � � IS, at th , cy en rr cu e de reciation of th es, that they fall either from a reductIon m the �,?ount. of r� ortion to commoditi lative increase in the st k of general co�modItIes. whIch f. he �. urrenctesy,. orAllfrothme aburellion and gold com. m� the country to g dm or acc IS, . . It orcuIa nd po res r co a t h ou t wi s ' ase re ' mc IS h t f I d an , cy en rr cu . ed on d 0, to be reck r Ica R r. M · ' ed , and It' b. ecomes profItable . ng increase in commodities, the currency IS depreCIat or est rv ha d ba a If , nd ha r he ot e th On . es iti od mm co an . . . �.o export bullion rather th y an t ou th wI , es ItI od mm co of n tio uc str de t ea gr a th r calamity cause e os wh , cy en rr cu e th , ion lat cu cir e th of nt ou am e change in th ���re� o�ding op : c du re nly de � su th to � a th er th ra d ate � tim es e amou�t was pr ortioned to thbecomes redundant or depreCIated , and must market of commodities, again re its value can be restored Accord.mg to thIS. t.e� diminished by exportation befothe root of Lord Overs�one;s theo�y, the supp � ? . rease m . Itely mc of the circulation , which is atcy is always capable o� bemg m. defm circulating medium or curren lue according to that mcrease; and ca� be restor�d to amount and diminishes in va rtation of the superabundant portIon. Any Iss�e, its pro�er value only by expoich might supply the �ap caused by the �xportatlon therefore, of aper money wh the 'natural' fall of pnces therwl.se cert
values.
Maclaren says 53 :
"Mr. Tooke, Mr. Fullarton, and Mr. Wilson consider money as possessing intrinsic value as a commodity, and exchanging with goods according to that value, and not merely in accordance with the supply of pieces at the time; and they suppose with Dr. Smith that exports of bullion are made, quite irrespective of the state of the currency, to discharge balances of international debt, and to pay for commodities, such as corn, for which there is a sudden demand, and that they are taken from a fund which forms no part of the internal circulation, nor affects prices, but is set apart for these purposes.... Difficulty in explaining in what manner the bullion they say is set apart for this purpose, and has no effect on prices, can escape the laws of supply and demand, and though existing in the shape of money lying unemployed and known for the making of purchases, is neither applied for that purpose nor affects prices by the possibility of its being so applied... The reply to this is, that the stock of bullion in question represents surplus-capital, not surplus-income, and is not available, therefore, merely to increase the demand for commodities, except on condition of increasing also the supply. Capital in search of employment is not a pure addition to the demanding power of the community. It cannot be lost in the currency. If it tends to raise prices by a demand, it tends to lower them by a corresponding supply. Money, as the security for capital, is not a mere purchasing power,-it purchases only in order to sell, and finally goes abroad in exchange for foreign commodities rather than disburse itself in merely adding to the currency at home. Money, as the security for capital, never comes into the market so as to be set off against commodities, because its purpose is to reproduce commodities; it is only the money
.
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252
Value
I. VALUE 54
[VII-63J This section to be inserted earlier. The first. category in which bourgeois wealth makes its appearan�e IS that of the c m odity. The commodity itself appe ar s � � as the �mty ?f two determmatIons. It is use value, i.e. an object the satIsfactIon of some system of human wants. This is for its material aspect, which can be common to the most dispar at e epoch� .of production and lies outside the sphere of investiga of I.>0I�tIcal eco�lOmy. Use value comes within that sphere as sotion . on as It IS modIfIed by the modern production relations or its el f ex.ert.s a modifying influence on them. What is usually said ab thIS m general terms, for the sake of decorum, is confinedout to platitu?es which had an historical value in the early beginnin gs of . t�at sc�ence, when the SOCIa l forms of bourgeois production �ere . still belI�g labonously abstracted from the material and with gr ea . t effort fIxed as mdependent objects for investigation. In fact, �owever, the us� value of the c?mmodity i a given presuppo si . � . . tIon the matenal basIs m whIch a defImte economic rela presents itself. It is only this definite relation which stamps th tion e us value as a commodity. E. g. , wheat possesses the same use va e lu e whether it is grown by slaves, serfs or free labourers. It would no � lose its use value were it to fall from the sky like snow. Well, how does use value turn into a commodity? By being bearer o� exchange value. Although they are directly united in a th e commodIty, use value and exchange value equally directly fa asunde� . Exchange value not merely does not appear to ll determmed by use value, but the commodity, rather, only becombe es
I
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253
a commodity, is only realised as exchange value, to the �xte� t th�t its owner does not relate to it as a use value. Only by alIenatIng It, by exchanging it for other commodit�es, �oes .he appro.priate use values. Appropriation by mea�s of alIenatI
•
•
254
GOLD-WEIGHING MACHINES
l al sm to e bl ica pl ap in in co a sly ou vi ob is is th t cattle, bu . t es rli ea e th of ne O on e ar s ell S m x. an of t ou ge an ch ? ve gi to r lle pure ;s��s' for it would puzzle the Insedia, the Ind�an islan�s, and Afnca; t e cowry to a reat extent as money, in ndsd ;;,. m al i ts nu aco C g. hl rt fa h IIs g En an to ? l� . of I dia have a value of about 32 Ie k ms .. . sa t ... s es tn un co ng nu hu In . . es been a .Z have all had to do dutyIcelasanmdonaneyd Newfoundland; sugar has at tIm 5 : Sl o�ten the n;;oney in . West-India money. gree '' de y ar m d' ao tr ex an m e bl ra pa � se or le sib vi di e; . y usage, etc. (ItS suppIy very "Gold very solid and dens ar dm or or , re stu oi m or r ai by ed ct fe af tle very lit o N d. lim��;?). . se po ex is it ch hi w to n tio ic fr nt ta ns coin , by the co •• eaTlng away 01 gold e th ar be t s y d 0 b e m so , ne go n he � W . ... go s le ic r one can say whither the worn pa � one day, an ays It. away to IS miller the n ? ig re p . ve so a s ke ta ho w r ke ba A s lo h en � an th e on er ht lIg a IS It f; el its n ig re ve nex ' does not pay the veritable so gold coin in England bears an �nnua oss 0 . s he r cel. ed it" Accordin to Jacob eathch m eo � er Iiv s In . d) un po e th in ng hi rt fa a an . e or . m le n itt a�o�� ll900 by frictio n Io l at u rc cl g m as ce un e or m e th to g in ow er 10sS !S suPPosed tO be 5 or 6 times reat ., id [ib n" io ict fr ar be to al et m e th of ss � n of SlIver th an gold , and to the le s fit pp. 14-17].
�
� u�:lt ; fi � U
a
\
[VII-64] "Mr. Cotton's machine ... the most delicate ever yet constructed for weighing gold coin. Adopted by the Bank of England. Divides the sheep from the goats b In the transaction between the Bank of England and the public, the weighing of gold coin has been a most anxious and tedious process. As between the Bank and the Mint, the labour is not so minute; for 200 sovereigns being first accurately weighed, all the rest are weighed in groups of 200. The Mint officers are allowed a deviation of 1 2 grains in about 50 sovereigns; but they generally work to within half of this amount of error; and if the groups of sovereigns are correct within the prescribed limits no closer weighing is adopted. In the transactions between the Bank and the public, however, matters must be treated in more detail. It is no satisfaction to Smith to know that if his sovereign is light, Brown has a correct one and Jones a heavy one, so that therefore the Bank is just in the aggregate; each one demands that his sovereign should be of proper weight ... If a difference of even 1/1 00 of a grain existed between 2 sovereigns, it is said that this machine would detect it. On a rough average, 30,000 sovereigns pass over the Bank counter every day; each machine can weigh 10,000 sovereigns in 6 hours; and there are 6 machines; so that the Bank can weigh all its issues of gold by these means, and have reserve power to spare. Between 1844 and 1848 there were 48 million gold coins weighed by these machines at the Bank ... These machines save £1,000 a year to the Bank in weighers' wages. (A child can turn the handle, but the machine judges for itself, casts the full-weight sovereigns to one side and the light ones to the other.) (Formerly liability of error on the part of the weighers (the 'personal equation', as the astronomers would term it) not equal.) An expen weigher could weigh about 700 sovereigns in an hour by the old balance; but the agitation of the air by the sudden opening of a door, the breathing of persons near the apparatus, the fatigued state of the hand and eye of the weigher-all Ied to minute errors" (Dodd's Curiosities of Industry, London, 1854 [pp. 19-21]). Curiosities of Money. "When society rises above the level of mere baner[ing] transactions, any substance which is equally valued by buyer and seller may become •••
a
255
Gold-Weighing Machines
The title and the text, except for a few words, are in English in the manuscript.- Ed. b Matthew 25:32.- Ed.
'::
Th
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A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 57 PART ONE
gur 4ritik bet
I)on
(if r fl e l � eft.
�uI "9
(fil.
of
Written in November 1 85 8-Ja nuary 1 85 9 Printed in Berlin in 1 85 9 Signed: Karl Marx
Printed edition
according
to
the
1 859
•
m e d i n. " 0n Wr"n J
� u u If u. �efl"" 18 ..1A8.�.nblun8·) 1859.
Title page of the first editio�
A Contribution to the Critique of Pohtzcal Economy
261
PREFACE
g in w o ll fo e th in y m o n o ec is eo rg I examine the systemopoerf tyb,ouwage-labour; the State, foreign trade, order: capital, landed pr e re th e th f o ce n te is ex f o s n io world market. The economic condit e ar ed id iv d is y et ci so is eo rg u o b n great classes into whicht thmreodeerheadings; the interconnection of the analysed u nder the firsis self-evident. The first part of the first other three headings ital, comprises the following chapters : l . book, dealing with Caponey or simple circulatio n ; 3 . Capital in The commodity; 2 . M art consists of the first two chapters. The general. The present pore me in the form of monographs, which entire material lies befublication but for self-clarification at widely were written not for peir remoulding into an integrated whole · separated periods; th n I have indicated will depend upon according to 5 the pla circumstances. 8 ce n si , d te it m o is , ed ft ra d ad h A general introductionn:itwsehicemh sI to me confusing to anticipate on further consideratioe to be substantiated, and the reader who results which still hav me will have to decide to advance from the really wishes to follow eral. A few brief remarks regarding the particular to the gen of political economy may, however, be course of my study appropriate here. ence was my special study, I pursued it as a Although jurisprud to philosophy and history. In the year subject subordinated the Rheinische Zeitung, I first found myself in 1 84 2 -4 3, as editor of as n w o n k is at h w ss cu is d to g in the embarrassing position of hav a
See present edition, Vol.
28 ,
pp.
1 7-48.- Ed.
262
Preface
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
, material interests , The deliberations , ,of the Rh'Ine ProvInce Assembly in thefts of wood and �he dlvI I' n of landed property; the official polemic started by He r von �c�a1?e�, then Oberprasi ' the Rhemzsche Zeitung about dent of the Rhine Province' agaInst the condition of the MoseI peasantry and finally th, e d, ebates on free trade and protective tariffs caus�d me In ' the fIrst Instance to ' questIOns,a On the other hand' at turn my attention to econom lC " tIOns "to Push forward" often took the that time wh fo�: � ; e � � ; place of, fac a o ge' an ech f French SOCIa' rIsm and commUnIsm slightly til"!'ged by Ph'l� os�phy, was noticeable in the Rheinische ieitung I b e� ted to thIS dIlettantism , but at the same ' J � � time frankly ad it In a controversy with the Allgememe A ugsburger Zeitungb that my pre ' U d'Ies did not all,ow me to express any opinion on the cont:�;�t�he Fr�nch theones , When the publishers of the Rh��' , che Zez'tung conceIved the illusion that by a more compliant ol the P r of he paper it might be possible to secure th� ablo;:tion t t�� ;eath, sentence passed upon it, I eagerly grasped the opportunIty to wIthdraw from the public s�age to my study , The fIrst work which I undertook t d'ISpel t�e dou�ts assailing me was a critical re-examination of ��e egehan phIlosophy of law; the introduction to th'IS wo!' :�n� published in the , ' Deutsch-Franzosische Tahrbiicher Issue M ' ' d In Pans In 1844 Y InqUIry ' Ied me to the conclusion that ne ' he Ie aI relatIOns nor political forms could be comprehend d �et�er �r themselves or, on the basis of a so-called general d:ve�p�ent the h �man mInd, but that on the contra the\i�I" �n�� In , the matenal conditions of life, the totality of �hich g " �1 OWIng the example of English and French thinkers of th elg h eenth century, embraces within the term "civil society" ; �hat ��e natomy of this civil society, ' t �conomy, The study of this, however, has to be sough in P�I tlCa I contInued In Brussels ' �here I moved which began in Paris I , ' . OWIng �o an expulsion order issued b� ' GUIzot , The general conclUSIOn at which I arrived ?d wh IC�, once re�ched, became the guidin g principle of my stu�Ies can be summansed as follows , 0
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. Rhine Province A reference to the articles "P oce d'mgs of the SIxth Ass�mbly. Third article. Debates on ;h� �aw f �hefts of Wood", "Polemical ArtIcles Against the A llgemeine Zeitung" an "Just!}!CatIOn of the Correspondent from the Mosel".- Ed. b See "Communism and the Au?�burg Allgemeine Zeitung " .- Ed. See "Contribution to th C tI �ep�.� He el's Philosophy of Law" and "Contribution to the Critique �f H�gei s 1 0SOP�Y of Law. Introduction" .- Ed. On January 1 1 , 1845 .- Ed. a
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r te n e ly b a it v e in n e m , e c n te is x e ir e th f o n o ti c u d o r p l ia In the soc lations, which are independent of their will, namely into definite re oduction appropriate to a given stage in the relations of pr eir material forces of production. The totality of development of thproduction constitutes the economic structure of these relations of foundation, on which arises a legal and political society, the real to which correspond definite forms of social superstructure and mode of production of material life conditions consciousness. The of social, political and intellectual life , It is not the general processof men that determines their existence, but their the consciousness at determines their consciousness. At a certain social existence th ent, the material productive forces of society stage of developm with the existing relations of production come into colynfleicxpt resses the same thing in legal terms with the or this mere s within the framework of which they have property relation From forms of development of the productive operated hitherto, ns turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of forces these relatioThe changes in the economic foundation lead social revolution. the transformation of the whole immense sooner or later to studying such transformations it is always superstructure. In guish between the material transformation of necessary to distinitions of production , which can be determined the economic condn of natural science, and the legal, political, with the precisio or philosophic in short, ideological forms in religious, artistic e conscious of this conflict and fight it out. Just which men becom judge an individual by what he thinks about as one does not annot judge such a period of transformation by himself, so one c but, on the contrary, this consciousness must be its consciousness, the contradictions of material life, from the explained from between the social forces of production and the conflict existing ction , No social formation is ever destroyed relations of prodduuctive forces for which it is sufficient have been before all the proew superior relations of production never replace developed, and n the material conditions for their existence have older ones before e framework of the old society. Mankind thus matured within th lf only such tasks as it is able to solve, since inevitably sets itsen will always show that the problem itself arises closer examinatio aterial conditions for its solution are already only when the mst in the course of formation. I n broad outline, present or at lecaient, feudal and modern bourgeois modes of the Asiatic, an be designated as epochs marking progress in the production may pment of society. The bourgeois relations of economic develo e last antagonistic form of the social process of production are th
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production antagonistic not in the sense of individ ism but of an antagonism that emanates from theual antagon social conditions of existence but the productive forcindividuals' ing within bourgeois society create also the material co es develop a solution of this antagonism. The prehistory of h nditions for uman society accordingly closes with this social formation. Frederick Engels, with whom I maintained a consta of ideas by correspondence since the publication nt exchange essay on the critique of economic categories a (pof his brilliant . rinted in the Deutsch-Franziisische Jahrbucher), a rr iv e d b y his Condition of the Working-Class in Englanda)noatththere road (compare sa m e re su lt a s I, a n d when in the sp r in g o f 1 8 4 5 h e to we decided to set forth together our conocecaptimoen toas live in B russels, ideological one of German philosophy, in fact to opposed to the with our former philosophical conscience. The settle accounts carried out in the form of a critique of post-Hege intention was The manuscript, two large octavo volumes, b had lolian philosophy. the publishers in Westphalia when we were infor ng ago reached to changed circumstances it could not be printed. med that owing the manuscript to the gnawing criticism of th We abandoned more willingly since we had achieved our e mice all the self-clarification. Of the scattered works in whic main purpose presented one or another aspect of our views to h at that time we mention only the Manifesto of the Communist Pa the public, I shall by Engels and myself, and a Speech on the Quesrty, jointly written which I myself published. The salient points tion of Free Trade, were first outlined in an academic, although poleof our conception mical, form in my Poverty of Philosophy .. . , this bo o k w h ic ed at Proudhon appeared in 1 847. The publication ofh awn aes ssaaim written in German in which I combined the lectuyreon Wage-Labour this subject at the German Workers' Society in s I had held o n interrupted by the February Revolution and my B russels,6o was forcible removal from B elgium in consequence. The publication of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in and subsequent events cut short my economic 184 8 and 1 849 could only resume in London in 1 850. The enor studies, which I material relating to the history of political econommous amount of the B ritish Museum, the fact that London is a con y assembled in point for the observation of bourgeois society, and venient vantage stage of development which this society seemed tofinally the new have entered Engels, "Outlines of a Critique of Political Econom y" .E d. K . Marx and F. Engels, The Germ an ldeology.- Ed.
. . 4 California Australia, induced ld in and f go with the dIscovery . " and to work carefully me to start agaIn from the very begmnmg through the new matena. .I. These studies. led partly ' of their own accord to app�rently qmte remote subjects on whICh I had to ' But it was in particular the spend a certam .amount of. tIme. livin which reduced the time impera��e ne�es�� �!ll:���fOl�?conti;ued now for e� ght years, at. my Isposa . with the New y:ork T 'bune,6 1 the leading .Anglo-Amenc�n news paper, necessitated an excessive fragmentatIO� �f �!e st�dIes ' for I wrote o?ly excepti��allY news�:��r�r;�:!:. n e i the strict ributions consisted of sense. Smce. a CO? SI .erable p articles d�almg with Impor�� economic events in Britain and on Pelled to become conversant with the ontme�t' I s practIca � l detaIls whi;�, stC:c: tly speaking, lie outside the sphere of political economy. This sketch of . th� course f my studies in the domain of political economy IS I�te?d:d �erelh to show that my views no matter how th�y I? ay e J u ged and ow little they conform to the interested prejUdICeS f the . ruling classes are the outcome of conscientious research carned n over many years . At the entrance to science, as at the entrance to hell, the demand must be made: 0
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Qui si convien lasciare o�i sospetto . Ogni vitti! convien che qUt sw morta.
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London, January 1859
Karl Marx
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Inferno, Canto III. Here all misgiving mus� thy mind reject. Here cowardice must die and be no more. . Dante. The Divine Comedy. Inferno. En lish translation by Laurence BI?yonCa�to TIl, II. 14-15, Viking Portable Library. 1969.)- Ed. a
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BOOK ONE
ON CAPITAL
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Section One CAPITAL IN GENERAL Chapter One THE COMMODITY
as lf se it ts n se re p t, h g si t rs fi at y, et ci so The wealth of bourgeois of commodities, its unit being a single n an immense accumulatiood e us t ec p as d ol of tw a as h , er ev ow commodity. Every comm * ity, h value and exchange value. sh li n � E e th of e ag gu n la e th in odity, 2 To begin with, a comm an ", fe li in t an as le p r o l fu se u , ry sa economists, is "any thin,ganmeceaesns of subsistence in the widest sense object of human wants as an aspect of the commodity coincides of the term. Use value le existence of the commodity. Wheat, for with the physical palpabuse value differing from the use values of example, is a distinct c. A use value has value only in use, and is cotton, glass, paper, et ss of consumption. One and the same use realised only in the procerious ways. But the extent of its possible value can be used in vaby its existence as an object with distinct applications is limited over, determined not only qualitatively but properties. It is, more ferent use values have different measures also quantitatively. Dif ysical characteristics; for example, a bushel appropriate to their fphpaper, a yard of linen, etc. of wht;at, a quire o
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f "O ). 37 18 i, ni xo O i, er kk Be I. t. di (e * Aristoteles, De Republica, I. I, c. 9 us r he ot e th d an , er op pr e th is e on ... : es two everything which we possess there are Fo is d an r, ea w r fo ed us is oe sh a e, pl am the improper or secondary use of it. e rshex r fo ge an ch ex in oe sh a s ve gi ho w e H . oe used for exchange ; both are uses of th is th t bu , oe sh a as oe sh e th e us ed de in es money or food to him who wants one, do of ct je ob an be to e ad m t no is oe sh for a is not its proper or primary purpose,l po is n tio sla an tr h is gl En he [T " . ... ns sio es ss barter. The same may be said of al amin 19 66 , d, or xf O , on iti ed d se vi re t, et w Jo taken from Aristotle, Politica, by Benj 1 25 7 ] [Marx quotes in Greek.] a.
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Chapter One. The Commodity
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Whatever its. social form may be, wealth always consists 0f use " Instance are not affected by this f° vaIues, whIC' h In the fIrst FroU? the taste of wheat it is not possible to tell who produced i�� RUSSIan serf, a Fre�ch peasant or an English capitalist. Althou�h use values serve sOCIal needs and there�ore exist within the social fram�work, they do not express the socIal relations of production F?r Instance, let us take as a use value a commodity such as � dIamond: We canno� tell by looking at it that the diamond is a commodIty. Where It serves as an aesthetic or mechanical use on the neck of a courtesan or in value, the hand of a gIass-cutter .It IS. a dIamond ' not a commodity. To be a use value i� .vIdentl a necessaand ry prerequisite of the commodity, but it is � � �mma�er.Ial .to the use value whether it is a commodity. Use value In thIS IndIfference to the determined economic form' I'.e. use value as such , rIes outSI' de the sphere of investigation of political econo�y.* It belongs in this sphere only when it is itself d�t:�mInate �o;m. Use va.lue is the immediate physical entity i� w IC a defInIte economIC relationship exchange value is ex pressed. Exch�nge. valu: appears first as a quantitative relation the pr?portI�n In whICh use values are exchanged for one anoth�r In thIS relatIon they const�tute equal exchangeable magnitudes. Thus one volume of PropertlUs a�d eight ounces of snuff may have the sar;:e ex�hange v.alue, despIte the dissimilar use values of snuff �n elegles. ConsIdered as exchange value, one use value is worth Just as ?Iuch as an<;>ther, provided the two are available in the appropnat� prOpOr!I�n. The exchange value of a palace can be expressed In a defInIte number of tins of boot polish L d �anufacturers of boot poli.sh, on the other hand, have �xp��ss�� t e exchang.e v�lue of theIr numerous tins of polish in terms of pa�aces. QuIte Ir:espective, therefore, of their natural form of eXIstence, an� wIthout regard to the specific character of the . needs they satIsfy as use values, commodities in definite quantities are congruent, they take one another's place in the exchan e process, are regarded as equivalents, and despite their motl�y appearance have a common denominator. Use values serve directly as means of subsistence. But, on the other hand, these means of subsistence are themselves the ' con amore about use values calling them That is why German compl'Iers wnte . " goods " , See for example the section on , " goods' " m L. Stem, System der . Staatswissenschaf� Bd I U fu l ' formation on 'goods" may be found in "manuals dealing with merch�ndise��
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, gy er en an m hu ed nd pe ex of lt su re products of social activity, thicate ion of social labour, all commodities objectified labour. As objectif of r te ac ar ch ic if ec sp he T e. nc ta bs su e m sa e th are crystallisations of e, lu va ge an ch ex in ed di bo em is ch hi w this substance, i.e. of labour has now to be examined. e ounce of gold, one ton of iron, one Let us suppose that on yards of silk are exchange values of quarter of wheat and twenvatylents in which the qualitative differ equal magnitude. As equilues is eliminated, they represent equal ence between their use va nd of labour. The labour which is amounts of the same kithem must be uniform, homogeneous, u niformly objectified in little whether this is embodied in gold, simple labour; it matters asatters to oxygen whether it is found in iron , wheat or silk, as it mere, in the juice of grapes or in human rusty iron, in the atmosph, mining iron, cultivating wheat and blood. But digging gold ely different kinds of labour. In fact, weaving silk are qualitativas diversity of the use values, appears, what appears objectively ally, as diversity of the activities which when looked at dynamic. Since the particular material of which produce those use values irrelevant to the labour that creates the use values consist isrticular form of this labour is equally exchange value, the pa values are, moreover, products of the irrelevant. Different use dividuals and therefore the result of activity of different in s of labour. But as exchange values they individually different kind eneous labour, i.e. labour in which the represent the same homogof the workers are obliterated. Labour individual characteristics lue is thus abstract general labour. which creates exchange vae ton of iron , one quarter of wheat and If one ounce of gold, on change values of equal magnitude or twenty yards of silk are ex e re th , on ir of n to a lf ha , ld go equivalents, then one ouncyaerdofs of silk are exchange values which bushels of wheat and fivenitudes, and this quantitative difference is have very different mag hich as exchange values they are at all the only difference of wlues of different magnitudes they repre capable. As exchange va rtions, larger or smaller amounts of sent larger or smaller pogeneral labour, which is the substance of simple, uniform, abstractestion now arises, how can these amounts exchange value. The qu the question arises, what is the quantitative be measured ? Or raththeris labour, since the quantitative differences form of existence of exchange values are merely the quantitative of the commodities as ur objectified in them. Just as motion is differences of the labois labour by labour time. Variations in the measured by time, soe the only possible difference that can occur duration of labour ar
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if the quality of labour is assumed to be given. Labour time is measured in terms �f th� natu�a� units of time, i.e. hours, days, weeks, etc. Labour time IS the hvmg state of existence of labour irrespective of its form, its content and its individual features ' it i� the living quantitative aspect of labour as well as its inh�rent measure. The labour time objectified in the use values of commodities is both the substance that turns them into exchange values and therefore into commodities, and the standard by which �he precis� .magnit�de of their value is measured. The correspond mg quantItIe� of different �se values containing the same amount of labour time are eqUivalents; that is, all use values are equivalents when taken in proportions which contain the same amount of expended, objectified labour time. Regarded as exchange values all commodities are merely definite quantities of
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perform. The characteristic.s of this a�era�e labour are diffe�ent in different countries and different hlstoncal epochs, but m any particular society it appears as somet?ing tPve� . t:he greater part of the labour performed in bourgeOiS society IS simple l�bou: as statistical data show. Whether A works 6 hours producmg Iron and 6 hours producing linen, an.d B. likewise works 6 hours producing iron and 6 hours producmg �men: or � wo�ks 1 2. hours producing iron and B 1 2 hours producmg lmen I� qUite eVidently merely a different application of the sa� labour time. B�t wha� IS the position with regard to more comphcat�� labou: wh�ch, bemg labour of greater intensity and greater speCifIC gr.avlty, . nses �bove the general level? This kind of labour resolves Itself mto Simple labour put together; it is simple labour raised to a higher power, so that for example one day of skilled �abour .may equ� three days of simple labour. The laws govermng this reduc�on . do not concern us here. It is, however, dear that the reduction IS made, for, as exchange value, the product of highly skilled lab�ur is equivalent, in definite proportions, to the p.roduct of slmpl.e average labour; thus being equated to a certam amount of this simple labour. . The determination of exchange value by labour time, moreover, presupposes that the same amount of l�bour is . objectified in � . particular commodity, say a ton of Iron, Irrespective of .wh�t�er It is the work of A or of B, that is to say, different mdlvldu.als expend equal amounts of la�ou.r time to produce use values W?IC� are qualitatively and quantitatively equal. In other wo:ds,. It IS assumed that the labour time contained in a commodity IS .the labour time necessary for its produ�t.ion, na�e.ly the labour t�me required, under the generally prevaIlmg condlt1�:)lls of prodUCtion, to produce another unit of the same comm�dlty. From the analysis of exchange value It follows that t�e conditions of labour which creates exchange value are socwl categories of labour or ca�egories of social labour, social . however �r� �imple �abour Imphes first of. all that th.e labour of different mdlvlduals IS equal and that their labour IS treated as equal by being in fact reduced to h?moge?eous . labour. The labour of every individual in so far as It mamfest.s Itself I. ?, exchange values possesses this social ch�racter of eq�al�ty, and It manifests itself in exchange value only m so far as It IS equated with the labour of all other individuals. Furthermore, in exchange value the labo�r ti�e of a particul�r individual is directly represented as labour ttme tn genera� and thiS
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The following basic propositions are essential for an under standing. of the determ�nation of exchange value by labour time. Labour I� r�duced .to Simple labour, labour, so to speak, without any qualitative attnbutes; labour which creates exchange value, and th�refore co�modities, is specifically social labour, finally, labour m so far as ItS results are use values is distinct from labour in so far as its results are exchange values. exchange values of commodities by the labour To measure th � . time they con tam , the different kinds of labour have to be reduced to �niform, homogeneous, simple labour, in short to labou� of umform quality, whose only difference, therefore, is quantity. This reduction appears to be an abstraction but it is an abstract�on which is m�de every day in the so�ial process of production. The conversIOn of all commodities into labour time is no greater an abstraction, and is no less real, than the resolution , of all orga?,ic bodies into air. Labour, thus measured by time, does not seem, md�ed, to be the labour of different persons, but on the contr�ry the different working individuals seem to be mere organs of thts labour. In other words the labour embodied in exchange values could be called human labour in generaL This abstraction, human labour in general, exists in the form of average labour which, .in a give� society, the average person can perform, productive expenditure of a certain amount of human muscles nerves,' br�n, etc. It is simple labour * which any average individuai can be tramed to do and which in one way or another he has to * English economists call it
"UNSKILLED LABOUR " .
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of individual labour appears as the social character of this labour. The labour time expressed in exchange value is the labour time of an individual, but of an individual in no way differing from the next individual and from all other individuals in so far as they perform equal labour; the labour time, therefore, which one person requires for the production of a given commodity is the necessary labour time which any other person would require to produce the same commodity. It is the labour time of an individual, his labour time, but only as labour time common to all; consequently it is quite immaterial whose individual labour time this is. This universal labour time finds its expres sion in a universal product, a universal equivalent, a definite amount of objectified labour time, for which the distinct form of the use value in which it is manifested as the direct product of one person is a matter of complete indifference, and it can be converted at will into any other form of use value, in which it appears as the product of any other person. Only as such a universal magnitude does it represent a social magnitude. The labour of an individual can produce exchange value only if it produces universal equivalents, that is to say, if the individual's labour time represents universal labour time or if universal labour time represents individual labour time. The effect is the same as if the different individuals had amalgamated their labour time and allocated different portions of the labour time at their joint disposal to the various use values. The labour time of the individual is thus, in fact, the labour time required by society to produce a particular use value, that is to satisfy a particular want. But what matters here is only the specific manner in which the social character of labour is established. A certain amount of a spinner's labour time is objectified, say, in 100 lbs. of linen yarn. The same amount of labour time is assumed to be represented in 100 yards of linen, the product of a weaver. Since these two products represent equal amounts of universal labour time, and are therefore equivalents of any use value which contains the same amount of labour time, they are equal to each other. Only because the labour time of the spinner and the labour time of the weaver represent universal labour time, and their products are thus universal equivalents, is the social aspect of the labour of the two individuals represented for each of them by the labour of the other, that is to say, the labour of the weaver represents it for the spinner, and the labour of the spinner represents it for the weaver. On the other hand, under the rural patriarchal system of production, when spinner and weaver lived under the same
roof the women of the family spinning and the. men weavin�, say for the requirements of the fami�y-yar? and lmen w.er� soczal products, and spinning and weavmg soczal labou.r withm the framework of the family. But their social character dId not appear in the form of yarn becoming a universal equivalent exchanged for linen as a universal equivalent, i.e. of the .two prod�cts exchanging for each other as equal and equally vahd expreSSIOns of the same universal labour time. On the contrary, . the pro?uct ?f labour bore the specific social imprint of the famIly relatIOnShIp with its naturally evolved division of labour. Or let us ta�e .the service and dues in kind of the Middle Ages. It was the dIstmct labour of the individual in its original form, the particular featur.es of his labour and not its universal aspect that formed the �oc�al ties at that time. Or finally let us take commu!1�I. labour. m Its naturally evolved for� as we find �t among all CIv�hsed natIons at the dawn of their hIstory. * In thIS case the SOCIal ch�ra�t�r of labour is evidently not mediated by the labour of the !ndiVIdual assuming the abstract form �f universal. labour or hIS product assuming the form of a unIversal eqt.llval.ent. The communal system on which [this mode of] prod'-;lctIon � s based prevents th.e labour of an individual from becommg pn�at� �abour . and hIS product the private product of a separate mdividual; It causes individual labour to appear rather as the di�ect fun�tion �f a member of the social organisation. Labour WhICh manIfes�s Itself in exchange value appears to be the lab�ur of an Isolat�d individual. It becomes social labour by assummg the form of Its direct opposite, of abstract universal labour. . , Lastly, it is a characteristic feature of .labour .wh�c� POSItS exchange value that it causes the socia� relatIo� s of mdivIdu�ls to appear in the perverted form of a SOCIal relatIon between thmgs. The labour of different persons is equated . and tre.ated . as universal labour only by bringing one use value mto rela�IO.n with another one in the guise of exchange value. Although It IS thus
general character
At present an absurdly biased view is widely held, namely .that primi!ive communal property is a specifically Slavonic, or even an exclUSIvely RUSSIan, phenomenon. 55 It is an early form which can be found among Romans, Teu.tons and Celts, and of which a whole collection of diverse patterns (though somet�m:s only remnants survive) is still in existence in India. A more caref�1 s.tudy of ASIatIc, particularly Indian, forms of communal property would md�cate. tha� the disintegration of different forms of primitive communal ownershIp gIves nse to diverse forms of property. For instance, various prototypes of Roman a.nd Germanic private property can be traced back to certam forms of IndIan communal property. *
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correct to say that exchange value is a relation between pers on s, * it is however necessary to add that it is a relation hidden material veil. Just as a pound of iron and a pound of gold by a ha ve the same weight despite their different physical and ch properties, so two commodities which have different use emical va but contain the same amount of labour time have th lues e sa m e exchange value. Exchange value thus appear s to be determination of use values, a determination which is pra social op er to them as things and in consequence of which they are definite proportions to take one another's place in the able in ex process, i.e . they are equivalents, just as simple chemical change el em ents combined in certain proportions form chemical equivale the conventions of everyday life make it appear common nts. Only pl ordinary that social relations of production should as ace and su m e the shape of things, so that the relations into which people the course of their work appear as the relations of th enter in in gs to one another and of things to people. This mystification is st ill a very simple one in the case of a commodity. Everybody derstands more or less clearly that the relations of commodities un as values are really the relations of people to the produc exchange tiv e ac tiv ities of one another. The semblance of simplicity disappea advanced relations of production . All the illusions of th rs in more e system 63 arise from the failure to perceive that money monetary : th ou gh a physical object with distinct properties, represents a so of production. A s soon as the modern economists, cial relation w ho sneer at the illusions of the monetary system, deal with the m or e co mplex economic categories, such as capital, they displa illusions. This emerges clearly in their confessi y the same on of naive astonishment when the phenomenon that they have ju st po nder ously described as a thing reappears as a social re moment later, having been defined as a social relati lation and, a on , te as es th em on ce m or e as a thing. . Since the ex�hange value of commodities is indeed a mutual relation between various kinds of labour nothing but regarded as equal and universal labour, i.e . nothing of individuals bu expression of a specific social form of labour, it is t a material a ta ut ology to say that labour is the only source of exchange accordingly of wealth in so far as this consists of ex value and change value. * "Wealth is a relation between two persons." Galiani, Della Moneta, p. 22 1 in Vol. III of Custodi's collection of Serittori classici Italiani di Economia Politica. Parte Moderna, Milano, 1 803. [Marx quotes in Italian.] a
The original has "gold"; changed by Marx in his own copy.- Ed.
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It is equally a tautology to say that material in its natural state does not have exchange value * since it cont
and the American Thomas Cooper explains in popular form: "Take away from a loaf of bread the labour bestowed on it, the l�bour of the baker" the miller the farmer, etc., and what will remain? A few grams of grass, growing wild, and unfit for any human purpose. *** "
B t all these observations are concerned not with abstract labour, w�ich is the source of exchange value, but with conc!ete labour �s the source of material wealth, in short with labour m so far. as � t produces use values. Since the use value. �f the commodIty IS postulated, the specific utility and the defImt� ,!sefulness of the labour expended on it is also pos�ulat�d; but thIS IS the only aspect of labour as useful labour whIch IS relevant to the study of commodities. In considering bread as a use value, we are concerned with its properties as an article of food and �y no means with the labour of the farmer, miller, baker, etc. Even If the labour required were reduced by 95 per cent as a result ?f so�e invention, the usefulness of a loaf of br�ad wo�ld remam qUIte unaffected. It would lose not a single partIcle of ItS use value �'.'en if it dropped ready-made from the sky. W�ereas labour p?�Itmg exchange value manifests itself in the equahty of c?�modlt1� s as universal equivalents, labour as useful productive activIty mam�� sts itself in the infinite variety of use values. Wh�reas labour posItmg exchange value is abstract universal �n? u,mform labour, la??ur positing use value is concrete and dIstmctIve l�bour, compnsmg infinitely varying kinds of labour as regards Its form and the material to which it is applied. •
* "In its natural state, matter ... is always . destitut� of valu� ." MacCulloch, Discours sur l'origine de l'iconomie politique etc., tradult par �revost, Geneve, 1 825, p. 5 '
� J i �
[Marx quotes MacCulloch in French.] This shows how high even a MacCull�h an s above the fetishism of German "thinkers" who assert that "material" and ha a � �n ' similar irrelevancies are elements of value. Cf., e.g., !-'. Stem , I. . c., Vol. . , I?' ** Berkeley, The Querist, London, 1 750. [The ongmal EnglIsh text IS gIVen by Marx in this footnote.] . . of *** Th. Cooper, Lectures on the Elements Polltual Economy, London, 1 83 1 (Columbia, 1 826), p. 99. a
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use values wrong to say produces that labour which It would be .IS the onl sourc of the ealth produced by it, that is of material � � ! wealth. Smce thIS labour IS an activity which adapts material f sO.me purpose or other, . it needs material as a prerequisi�� DIfferent use values contain very different proportions of labour and natural products, but use value always comprises a natural element: As useful activity directed to the appropriation of natural factors m �me form or an.o.ther, labour is a natural condition of human eXIstence, a. c�ndItIon of material interchange between man and nature, qUIte mdependent of the form of society. On the oth�r hand, the labour which posits exchange value is a specific sOCIa� form of labou�. "for example, tailoring if one considers its physICal aspect as a dlstmct productive activity produces a coat but not the exch�nge value of the coat. The exchange val�e i produced by I� not as tailoring as such but as abstract universa� la?our, and this .belon�s to a social framework not devised by the tailor. Women .m anCient domestic industry, for instance, pro duced coats WIthout producing the exchange value of coats Labour as a sou:ce of material wealth was well known both t� Moses, the law-glve�, and to Adam Smith, the customs official. * Let �s now examme a few propositions which follow from the reductIon of exchange value to labour time. A commodity as a .use value has an eminently material function Wheat for example IS .used a� food. A machine replaces a certai� �mount of labourue. This fuI?ctIon, by virtue of which a commodity IS o�ly a use v� : an artIcle of consumption, may be called its servICe, the servICe �t renders as a use value. But the commodity as an exchange value IS always c.onsidered solely from the standpoint of, t?e result. What matters IS not the service it renders but th service ** rendered to it in the course of its production. Thus th� exchange value of a rr.tachine: for instance, is determined not by replace but by the amount of labour tIme' whICh it can , amount the . " e?,pended m its production and therefore required of labour tIme for the productIon of a new machine of the same type. �Friedri�h List �as never been able to grasp the difference between labour as
a pr ucer � .some! mg useful, a use value, and labour as a producer of exchange . ·h egotistic value, a speCIfIC socIal form of wealth (since his mind bei d occuple wit ng . Practical matters . was not c�ncerned WIth understanding); he therefore re arded the . modern EnglIsh eCO�?mIsts as mere plagiarists of Moses of Egypt. [F. d t Dos nahonale System der pohtlSchen Oekonomie, Vol. 1 , Stuttgart and Tiibingen , 1841 , p. 205.] ** I� can easily be seen what "servic� " the category "service" must render to economIsts such as J . B. Say and F. BastIat, whose sagacitY as. Malthus has aptly " ' condlUons. remarked, always abstracts from the specific form of economIC
�
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of on ti uc od pr e th r fo ed ir qu re ur Thus, if the amount ofnslatabont, their exchange value would also commodities remained ucot the facility or difficulty of production remain unchanged. B e productivity of labour grows, the same varies continually. If thuced in less time. If the productivity of use value will be prod se u e m sa e th ce u od pr to ed ed ne be labour declines, more tilamboe uwrilltime contained in a commodity, and value. The amount of value, is consequently a variable quantity, therefore its exchange rse proportion to the rise or fall of the rising or falling in inve. The level of the productivity of labour, productivity of labour in manufacturing industry, depends in which is predeterminedtive industry also upon uncontrollable agriculture and extrac same quantity of labour will result in a natural conditions. Theut of various metals depending on the larger or smaller outpuency of the deposits of these metals in the relative rarity and freq amount of labour may yield two bushels of earth's crust. The sameseason, and perhaps only one bushel in an wheat in a favourable arcity or abundance brought about by u nfavourable season. Scseems in this case to determine the natural circumstances mmodities, because it determines the exchange value of coific concrete labour which is bound u p with productivity of the spec the natural conditions. bour time, or equal amounts of exchange Equal amounts of la nequal volumes of different use values. value, are contained in eu of a use value which contains a given The smaller the votilumme as compared with other use values of amount of labour ter is the specific exchange value of that commodities, the gread that in different epochs of civilisation commodity. If we fin iods of time, various use values for separated by long perpper and iro n , or wheat, rye, barley and example gold, silver, co e th n o h ic h w es lu va ge an ch oats form a series ofvesporecdifericinexrelation to one another, though whole retain their relati al proportions, it follows that the progres ic not their exact numerth a d te er ex as h es rc fo e iv ct u d ro sive development of oermsoefcifealctpon the labour time required for uniform or nearly unif e various commodities. the production of thesof a commodity is not expressed in its own The exchange value ification of u niversal social labour time, the use value. But as object odity is brought into relation with the use use value of one commmmodities. The exchange value of one values of other co ifests itself in the use values of other commodity thus man e exchange value of one commodity commodities. In fact thvalue of another commodity represents expressed in the use
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equivalence. If one says, for instance, one yard of linen is worth two poun?s of coffee, then the exchange value of linen is �xpresse? �n the us� value o� coffee, and it is moreover expressed I� a defInIte quantIty of thI� use �alue. Once the proportion is gIven, the val?e o� any quantIty of lInen can be expressed in terms of c�ffee . .It IS eVldent �hat the exchange value of a commodity, e.g. lin�n, IS not exha�stIvely expressed by the proportion in which a par.tIcular commodIty, e.g. coffee, forms its equivalent. The qu�ntItr of universal labour time represented by a yard of linen eXIsts SImultaneously in infinitely varied amounts of the use values of all <;>ther commodi �es. Th� use value of any other commodity taken I� the proportIon WhICh represents the same quantity of labour tIme constItutes . an eq';livalent for the yard of linen. The exchan&e value of thts parttcular commodity can therefore be ex�austlvely expressed only by the infinite number of equations in whIch the use val�es of all ot?er commodit.ies form its equivalent. The only exhaustI�e expressIOn for a unzversal equivalent is the �um �f these equatIons or the totality of the different proportions In whIch a commodity can be exchanged for any other commodity. For example the senes of equations1 yard of linen 1/2 lb. of tea, 1 yard of linen 2 lbs. of coffee, 1 yard of linen 8 lbs. of bread, 1 yard of linen 6 yards of calico may be put in the following for m 1 yard of linen I/S lb. o f tea + 1/2 lb. of coffee + 2 lbs. of bread + 1 1/2 yards of calico. T h .�In � s if we h�d all the equations in which the value of a yard of en IS exhaustIvely express d , w could de In the form of a sen. es. Th<:IS IS. �In fact note its exchange value a n in finite series for the range of commodities can never be fi n a ll y ci rc u m sc ribed but x p a n d s co ntinuously. Since the exchange value of o � ne commodity IS measured by the use values of all exchange ,:alues of all other commod other commodities, the it measured In terms of the use value ies are on the contrary o f measured by them. * If the exchange valu the one commodity expressed in 1/2 lb. of tea, or 2 lbs. of co e of one yard of linen is ffee, or 6 yards of calico, =
=
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' aIso a feature of measures to * "It IS enter into such a relation with the thing . . measured that In a certaIn way the latter becomes the mea . sure of the former." Montanan, D�lla Moneta, p. 4 1 in Custodi' s collection, Vol. II I, Parte Antica. [Marx . quotes In ItalIan.] i
281
or 8 lbs. of bread, etc., it follows that coffee, tea, calico, bread, etc., must be equal to one another i� the pr.oportion in which they are equal to linen, a third magmtude, lInen thus serves as a common measure of their exchange value. The exchange � alue. of any commodity considered as o?jectified univers.al labc;mr tIme, I.e. as a definite quantity of umversal labour tIme, IS measured successively in terms of definite quantities of the use values of all other commodities; and on the other hand the exchange val?es of all other commodities are measured in the use value of thIS one exclusive commodity. But any commodity considered as exchange value is both the exclusive commodity which serves as the common measure of the exchange values of all other co� modities and on the other hand it is merely one commodIty of the many commodities in the series in which the exchange value of any other commodity is directly expressed. . . The existing number of different types of commodItIeS do:s not affect the value of a commodity. But whether the senes of equations in which its exchange value can be realised is longer or shorter depends on the great�r or �maller variety of other commodities. The series of equatIons whIch �� press, say, �he ,:al�e of coffee shows the range of its exchangeabilIty, the hmIts WIthIn which it functions as an exchange value. The exchange value of a commodity as the objective expr�ssion of ';lniversal . social . la?o� r time finds its appropriate expreSSIOn of eqUIvalence In the InfImte variety of use values. . . We have seeri that the exchange value of a cOI?mod� ty �anes with the quantity of labour time directly contaIned In �t. Its realised exchange value, that is its exchange value expressed In the use values of other commodities, must also depend on the degree to which the labour time expended on the production of all other commodities varies. For example, if the labour time necessary f?r the production of a bushel of wheat rema�ned unchanged, whIle the labour time needed for the productIon of all other coI? modities' doubled, the exchange value of a bushel of wheat In terms of its equivalents would have bee� halved .. The result would actually be the same as if the labour tIme reqUIre.d to pro?uce a bushel of wheat had been halved and the labour tIme reqUIred to produce all other commodities had remained unchanged. �he value of commodities is determined by the amount of the� whICh can be produced in a given labou: time. In �rder to examIne what changes are liable to aff�ct thIS proportI�m, let �s take two commodities, A and B. First. The labour tIme reqUIre.d for the production of B is assumed to remain unchanged. In thIS case the 11-785
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exchange value of A expressed in terms of B falls or rises in direct proportion to the decrease or increase in the labour time necessary for the production of A. Secondly. The labour time neces.sary for the production of commodity A is assumed to remam uncha�ge�. �he exchange v?lue of commodity A in terms ns�s m mve�se proportIon to the decrease or increase ?f B falls�or I ? the la our tIme reqUIred to produce B. Thirdly. The labour tIme reqUIred for the production of A and of B is assumed to decrease or incre�se at t?e same rate. The equation expressing the value of commodIty A m terms of B remains unchanged in this case. If some .factor were to cause the productivity of all types of labour .t� fall m equal .degree, thus requiring the same proportion of addItIonal labour tIme for the production of all commodities, then t?e value of all commodities would rise, the actual expression of theI: exchange value remaining unchanged, and the real wealth of sO�Iety would decrease, since the production of the same quantIty of use values would require a larger amount of labour tIme. Fourthly. !he labour ti�e required for the production of both A and B IS assumed t? mcreas� or decrease but in unequal ?egree, or els� the labou� tIme reqUIred for the production of A IS assumed to mcrease whIle that required for B decreases, or vice versa. All th�se cases �an be simply reduced to the position where the l ?bour tIme reqUIr�d for the �roduction of one commodity remams unchanged, whIle that reqUIred for the production of the other either increases or decreases. The exchange value of any commodity is expressed in terms of the �se value of any other commodity, either in whole units or in fractlOn.s of that . use . ,,:alue. Every commodity as exchange value can .be Just as easIly dIvIded as the labour time objectified in it. The e9�I�a!�nce of commodities is just as independent of their physical dlVlSlbdIty �s . us� values as the summation of the exchange values of cOmmOdItIes IS unaffected by the real change of form which the use. values of th �se �ommodities may undergo in the course of theIr transformatIOn mto a single new commodity. So far two aspects of t�e commodity use value and exchange value have been exammed, but each time one-sidedly. The commodity, however, is t�e d�r�ct unity of use value and exchange value, and at ��e same tIme It IS a commodity only in relation to other commodItIes. The exchange process of commodities is the real rela�ion that e::,ist � ?etween them. This is a social process which is carned on .by !ndIvIduals independently of one another, but they take part m . It only as commodity owners; they exist for one another only m so far as their commodities exist, they thus appear
Chapter One. The Commodity
28 3
s. es oc pr ge an ch ex e th of es tiv ta en es pr re us cio ns co e th to be in fact d, on am di a , en lin t, ea wh e, lu va e us a is The commod, ity se u t a no sly ou ne ta ul sim is it ity od m m co a as t bu c. . m achinery, et d not be a commodity, if it were a use value for ItS value. It woulis a direct means for the satisfaction of his own needs. owner, thatner it is on the contrary a non-use val,,!,e, that IS' mereIy For its ow pository of exchange value, or SImply a means of the physical de e as an active carrier of exchange value becomes exchange. Use valu r ne ow its or � e lu va e us a is ity od m m co he T . ge an ch ex means of e or ef er th Ity od m m co he ! * . ue al ge an ch ex an � only so far as it is e value, m r fo e lu va e us a e ac pl st fIr e th us a me has still to beco e us a be t us m it r, ne ow its to e lu va e us a t no is it e others. Sinc en th , se ca e th t no is is th If . es iti od m m co r he value to owners of ot lt su re e th d an u bo la s es el us s wa it on � ed nd the labour expe e th on t, us m Ity od m m co he T . ity od m m co a t no is accordingly of ns ea m s hi ce sin r, ne ow its r fo e lu va e us a other hand, become 's le op pe r he ot of es lu va e us e th in it, de tsi ou subsistence exist t us m ity od m m co e th e, lu va e us a me co be o T commodities. e us e th s hu T . fy tis sa n ca it ich wh ed ne r encounter the particula of ge an ch ex l ua ut m a by es lu va e us me co be es iti values of commod re we ey th om wh r fo e os th of s nd ha e th om fr ss places : they pa as ve se �y th om wh r fo e os th : of s nd ha e th means of exchange into . of n atw en alt al rs Ive un is th of lt su re a as y nl O s. consumer good ul ef us e m co be em th in d ne ai nt co ur bo la commodities does the e th in rm fo ic om on ec w ne a ire qu ac t no do es labour. Commoditi e th , ry ra nt co e th n O . es lu va e us as ns tio course of their mutual rela . rs ea pp sa di es iti od m m co as em th ed sh ui ng sti specific form which di er um ns co e th to r ke ba e th om fr g in ss pa in e, nc Bread, for insta e th at th er th ra is It d. ea br as r te ac ar does not change its ch s ea er wh , ff stu od fo r la icu rt pa a as e, lu va e us a consumer treats it as y pl sim s wa it r ke ba e th of s nd ha e th in s wa so long as it e m sa e th at d an te r nc co a n, tio la re ic om c: therefore th t representative of an econ Io at m or sf an tr ly on he T ? use values �IS g. in th t ac str ab an time g m m co be of se ur co e th in e nc rie pe ex commodities e us nno re we ey th ch hi w in ce en ist ex al rm fo r the cessation of thei o T r. ne ow ?no r ei th r fo es lu va e us d values for their owner, an es must be altogether ahenated ; they become use values commoditi ge process; exchange however is must enter into the exchan aspect as exchange values. Hence, concerned merely with their a
It is in this sense that Aristotle speaks of exchange value (see the passage quoted at the beginning of this chapter). *
11*
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only by being realised as exchange values can they be realised as use values. The individual commodity as a use value was originally regarded as something independent, while as an exchange value it was from the outset regarded in its relation to all other commodities. But this was merely a theoretical, hypothetical, relation. It realises itself only in the process of exchange. On the other hand, a commodity is an exchange value in so far as a definite amount of labour time has been expended on its production and it accordingly represents objectified labour time. Yet the commodity as it comes into being is only objectified individual labour time of a specific kind, and not universal labour time. The commodity is thus not immediately exchange value, but has still to become exchange value. To begin with, it can be objectification of universal labour time only when it represents a particular useful application of labour time, that is a use value. This is the material condition under which alone the labour time contained in commodities is regarded as universal, social labour time. A commodity can only therefore become a use value if it is realised as an exchange value, while it can only be realised as an exchange value if it is alienated and functions as a use value. The alienation of a commodity as a use value is only possible to the person for whom it is a use value, i.e. an object satisfying particular needs. On the other hand, it can only be alienated in exchange for another commodity, or if we regard the matter from the standpoint of the owner of the other commodity, he too can only alienate, i.e. realise, his commodity by bringing it into contact with the particular need of which it is the object. During the universal alien.ation . of commodities as use values they are brought into r�latIon with one another as discrete things which are physically dIfferent and because of their specific properties satisfy particular needs. But as mere use values they exist independently of one another or rather without any connection. They can be exchanged as use values only in connection with particular needs. They are, however, exchangeable only as equivalents, and they are equival ents only as equal quantities of objectified labour time, when their physical properties as use values, and hence the relations of these commodities to specific needs, are entirely disregarded. A commodity functions as an exchange value if it can freely take the place of a definite quantity of any other commodity, irrespective of whether or not it constitutes a use value for the owner of the other commodity. But for the owner of the other commodity it becomes a commodity only in so far as it constitutes a use value
Chapter One. The Commodity
285
him, and for the owner in w.h�se hands it �s it becomes an xcha nge value only in so far as It IS a commodIty for the other wner. One and the same relation must therefore be simult ane �usly a relation of essential�y equa� commodities whi�h diffe� only in magnitude, i.e. a relatIon WhICh. expresses theIr equal�ty as materialisations of universal labour tIme, and at the same tIme it must be their relation as qualitatively different things, as distinct use values for distinct needs, in short a relation which differen tiates them as actual use values. But equality and inequality thus posited are mutually exclusive. The result is not simply a vicious circle of problems, where the solution of one problem presupposes the solution of the other, but a whole complex of contradIctory premisses, since the fulfilment of one condition depends directly upon the fulfilment of its opposite. The exchange process must comprise both the evolution and the solution of these contradictions, which cannot however be demon strated in the process in this simple form. We have merely observed how the commodities themselves are related to one another as use values, i.e. how commodities as use values fun ction within the exchange process. On the other hand, ex�hange value as we have considered it till now has merely eXIsted as our abstraction, or, if one prefers, as the abstraction of the individual commodity owner, who keeps the commodity as use value in the warehouse, and has it on his conscience as exchange value. I n the exchange process, however, the commodities must exist for one another not only as use values but also as exchan.ge values, and this aspect of their existence must appear �s theIr . own mutual relation. The difficulty which confronted us I� the fIrs� place was that the commodity as a use value has to be ahenated, dIsposed of, before it can function as an exchange value, as objectified universal labour time, while on the contrary its alienation as a use value presupposes its existence as exchange value. But let .us suppose that this difficulty has been overcome, that the co�modIty has she'd its particular use value and has thereb� fulfIlled the material condition of being socially useful labour, Instead of the particular labour of an individual by himself. In the exchange process, the commodity as exchange value mus� then become a universal equivalent, objectified general lab?u� tIme for . all other commodities; it has thus no longer the hmIted functIon of a particular use value, but is capable of being direc.tly represent.ed in all use values as its equivalents. Ever� co� modIty howe�er IS the commodity which, as a result of the al�eI?atI�)ll of ItS l?artIcular use value, must appear as the direct matenaiIsatIon of UnIversal labour for
e
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time: But on the other �and, only particular commodities, partIcular use values e�bodymg the labour of private individuals, c�)llfrc:>nt o� e another m the exchange process. Universal labour tIme Itsc:l � IS an abstraction which, as such, does not exist for commodItIes. Let us consider the series of equations in which the exchange value of a commodity is expressed in concrete terms, for exampleI yard of linen 2 lbs. of coffee, I yard of linen 1/2 lb. of tea, I yard of linen 8 lbs. of bread, etc. To .be sure, t?ese equati<;>ns merely denote that equal amounts of umversal sOCIal labour tIme are objectified in I yard of linen � l�s.. of coffee, 1/2 lb. of tea, etc. But the different kinds of mdlvldual labour represented in these particular use values, in fact, become l�bour m general, and in this way social labour, only by actually bemg exchanged f?r o�e another proportionately to th� d� ratlOn of labour con tamed m them. a Social labour time eXIsts m t�ese comm c:>dities in a latent state, so to speak, and becomes eVldcnt only m the cours� o� �heir exchange. The point of departure IS: not the labour of mdlvlduals considered as social la�our, .but. �)ll the . con trary the particular kinds of labour of pn�ate mdlvlduals, I.e. labour which proves that it is universal sOCIal labour only by the supersess�on of its original character in the exchange process: Um. versal sOCIal labour is consequently not a . r�a�y-made . prereqUISI. te but an emergmg result. Thus a new dIffIculty anses: on the one hand, commodities must enter the exchange process �s objectified universal labour time, on the other hand, t�e labour tIme of individuals becomes objectified universal labo� r tIme only as �he r�sult of the exchange process. It IS throu !?h the alIenatIon of its use value, that is of its original form of c:xlsten�e, that every commodity has to acquire its corres pondmg eXIstence as exchange value. The commodity must therefore assume a dual form of existence in the exchange process. On the other hand, its second form of existence exchange value, ca� only be represented by another commodity : . for only comI?o�ItIes confront one another in the exchange . e to pre p�ocess. Ho� I� y po�sIbl sent a particular commodity dIrectly as �bJectijzed universal labour time, or- which amounts to the same thmg- how can the individual labour time objectified in =
=
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The original has: "proportionately to their duration" ; changed by Marx in his own copy.- Ed. a
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a particular commodity directly assume a universal character? The concrete expression of the exchange value of a commodity, i.e. of any commodity considered as universal equivalent, consists of an infinite series of equations such asI yard of linen 2 lbs. of coffee, I yard of linen 1/2 lb. of tea, I yard of linen 8 lbs. of bread, 1 yard of linen 6 yards of calico, I yard of linen and so on . This is a theoretical statement since the commodity is merely regarded as a definite quantity of objectified universal labour time. A particular commodity as a universal equivalent is transformed from a pure abstraction into a social result of the exchange process, if one simply reverses the above series of equations. For example2 lbs. of coffee I yard of linen, 1 /2 lb. of tea 1 yard of linen, 8 lbs. of bread I yard of linen, 6 yards of calico I yard of linen. Just as the labour time contained in coffee, tea, bread, calico, in short in all commodities, is expressed in terms of linen, so conversely the exchange value of linen is reflected in all other commodities which act as its equivalents, and the labour time objectified in linen becomes direct universal labour time, which is equally embodied in different volumes of all other commodities. Linen thus becomes the universal equivalent in consequence of the universal action of all other commodities in relation to it. Every commodity considered as exchange value became a measure of the value of all other commodities. In this case, on the contrary, because the exchange value of all commodities is measured in terms of one particular commodity, the excluded commodity becomes the adequate representation of exchange value as the universal equivalent. On the other hand, the infinite series or the infinite number of equations in which the exchange value of each commodity was expressed is now reduced to a single equation consisting of two terms. The equation 2 lbs. of coffee I yard of linen is now a comprehensive expression for the exchange value of coffee, for in this expression it appears as the direct equivalent to a definite quantity of any other commodity. Commodities within the exchange process accordingly exist for one another, or appear to one another, as exchange values in the form of linen. The fact •
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that all . co�modities �re related to one another as exchange values, I.e. sImply as dIfferent quantities of objectified universal labour time, now �ppears in th� . form that all exchange values represent merely dIfferent quantItIes of one and the same article li�en. Universal labour time thus appears in turn as a specifi� thmg, a� .a commodity in addition to and apart from all other commod�tIes. At the same time, the equation in which one commodIty represents the exchange value of another commodity, e.g. 2. lbs.
Chapter One. The Commodity
28 9
the use value of this commodity, though real, seems in the exchange process to have merely a formal existence which has s�ill to be realised by conversion into actual use values. The commodIty originally appeared as commodity in general, as universa.l .labour time objectified in a particular use value. All commodItIeS are compared in the exchange process with the one excluded commodity which is regarded as commodity in general, the commodity, the embodiment of universal labour time in a particular use value. They are therefore as particular commodities opposed to one particular commodity considered as being the universal commodity.* The fact that commodity owners treat one another's labour as universal social labour appears in the form of their treating their own commodities as exchange values; and the interrelation of commodities as exchange values in the exchange process appears as their universal relation to a particular commodity as the adequate expression of their exchange value; this in turn appears as the specific relation of this particular commodity to all other commodities and hence as the distinctive, as it were naturally evolved, social character of a thing. The particular commodity which thus represents the exchange valu� .of all commodities, that is to say, the exchange value of commodItIes regarded as a particular, exclusive commodity, constitut�� money. �t is a crystallisation of the exchange value of commodItIeS and IS formed in the exchange proc.ess. Thus, while in the exchange process commodities become use values for. one another �y discarding all determinate forms and confrontmg one another m their immediate physical aspect, they must assume a new determinate form, they must evolve money, so as to be able to confront one another as exchange values. Money is not a symbol, just as the existence of a use value in the form of a commoditr is no symbol. A social relation of producti�n appears as so.m�thI!1g existing apart from individual human bemgs, and the dIstmctIVe relations into which they enter in the course of production in society appear as the specific properties of a thing it is this perverted appearance, this prosaically real, and by. no means imaginary, mystification that is characteristic of all SOCIal forms of labour positing exchange value. This perverted appearanc.e manifests itself merely in a more striking manner in money than It does in commodities. The necessary physical properties of the particular commodity, * The same term is used by Genovesi. [Note in Marx's own copy.]
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in which the money form of all other commodities is to be crystallised - in so far as they directly follow from the nature of exchange value are: unlimited divisibility, homogeneity of its parts and uniform quality of all units of the commodity. As the materialisation of universal labour time it must be homogeneous and capable of expressing only quantitative differences. Another necessary property is durability of its use value since it must endure through the exchange process. Precious metals possess these qualities in an exceptionally high degree. Since money is not the result of d�liberation or of agreement, but has come into being spontaneously In the course of exchange, many different, more or less unsuitable, commodities were at various times used as money. When exchange reaches a certain stage of development, the need arises to polarise the functions of exchange value and use value among various commodities so that one commodity, for exam ple, shall act as means of exchange while another is disposed of as a use value. The outcome is that one commodity or sometimes several commodities representing the most common use value come occasionally to serve as money. Even when no immediate need for these use values exists, the demand for them is bound to be more general than that for other use values, since they constitute the most substantial physical element in wealth. Direct barter, the spontaneous form of exchange, signifies the beginning of the transformation of use values into commodities rather than the transformation of commodities into money. Exchange value does not acquire an independent form, but is still directly tied to use value. This is manifested in two ways. Use value, not exchange value, is the purpose of the whole system of production, and use values accordingly cease to be use values and become means of exchange, or commodities, only when a larger amount ?f them has been produced than is required for c�ns�mptlO:r;t. �n the othe� �and, t�ey become commodities only wIthIn the hmIts set by theIr ImmedIate use value, even when this fu�ction is polarised so that the commodities to be exchanged by theIr owners must be use values for both of them, but each commodity must be a use value for its non-owner. In fact, the exchange of commodities evolves originally not within primitive communities, * but on their margins, on their borders, the few * . Aristotle
make� � . similar obs�rvation with regard to the individual family c�nsldered . as the pnmltIve commumty. But the primitive form of the family is the tnbal family, from the historical dissolution of which the individual family
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. communities. This om p. ts where they come into contact with other . . ' s here barter begins and moves thence Into the mteno � f the �o;munity, exerting a disintegrating influence upon �t. The articular use values which, as a result of barter between dIfferent �ommunities, become commodities, .e. � . slaves, cattle, . :netals, usually serve also as the first money. wIthIn these commumtIes. We have seen that the degree to WhICh t�e exch�nge value of a commodity functions as exchange value IS the hIghe� , the .longer the series of its equivalents or the larger the s�here In WhICh the commodity is exchanged. The gradual extenSIOn of b.arter, �he rowing number of exchange transactions, and the Increasmg �ariety of commodities bartered lead, therefore, to �he further development of the commodity as exchange v�l�e, stll�ulate the formation of money and consequently have a dIsmtegratmg effect on direct barter. Economists usually reason that the e:nergence of money is due to external difficulties which the expanSIOn of barter encounters, but they forget that these difficulties arise .from the evolution of exchange value and hence fro:r;tt. that of SOCIal labour as universal labour. For example commodItIes as use values are not divisible at will, a property which as excha� ge values. they should possess. Or it may happen that the commodIty b�longIng to A may be use value required by B; where B'� commodIty may not have any use value for A. Or the commodIty o�:r;ters may nee? each other's commodities but these cannot be dIVIded and theIr relative exchange values are different. In othe� wor�s, on the pl�a of examining simple barter, these �conomIsts dIs�lay cert�m aspects of the contradiction inherent In the commodIty as beIng the direct unity of use value and exchange value. On the other hand they then persistently regard barter as a form we�l adapte? to c�mmodity exchange, suffering merely from certam tec�mI cal inconveniences, to overcome which mon�y. has �een c�nnmg ly devised. Proceeding from this quite supe�hCI�1 pomt of VIew, a� ingenious British economist has. rightly . mamtaIned that �oney IS merely 'a material instrument, hke a ShIp or a st�am engme, an? not an expression of a social relation of pr?ductlOn, and he?ce IS not an economic category. It is therefore SImply � m�lpractIce to deal with thil' subject in political economy, WhICh m fact has nothing in common with technology.* 0
develo s. "In the first community, indeed, whic.h is the family, th!s art" (that is, trade) �'is obviously of no use" (Aristotle, loc. ClL). [ �arx quotes. m Gr�ek l * "Money is, in fact, only the instrument for carry�ng on buyu:'lg �n se m� (but, if you please, what do you understand by buymg and selhng. ) " and t e. "
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. . ' 0f The world of commodities presupposes a developed dIVlSIOn ' " of labour manifests itself directly in labour: or :ather the dIVlSIOn the . dIversIty of ��e values which confront one another as ' s d' which embody ust partIcular commodItIes and J a many Iverse . . . I f slOn b a our. The dlv� of .labour as the aggregate of all k' d P��tt�u�ar types of pro�uctIve actIvIty constitutes the totality of the phys�cal �spects of sOCIal labour as labour producing use values But It eXIsts as .suc� as regards commodities and the exchan � process . �mlY m Its results, in the particularisation of t�e commodItIes themselves. Th� fxcha.nge of commodities is the process in which the social m�ta I�m, . I? other �ords, the exchange of particular products .of pnv�te mdlvlduals, sImultaneously gives rise to definite aI relatIo�s of prod�ction, into which individuals enter in the c����e I ' As d Of thIS . metabolIsm ey eve op, th h e mterrelations of t . '. . . I e crystallIse mto distinct aspects of umversa commodItIes th . eqUlvaIent, an d thus the e.xchange process becomes at the same (Im.e the pro�ess of formatIOn of money. This process as a whole ' whICh compnses several processes, constitutes circulation. 0
A. HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE ANALYSIS OF COMMODITIES
The decisive outcome of the research carried on for v � ����Z ;nd a. half. by classical . poli.tical economy, beginnin� :t e�tY .m �r�ta�n and B.OlsgUlll �bert in France,* and ending with RICar 0 m ntam and Slsmondl in France is an analY sis of. I va ue IS the aspects of the commodity in two forms" . of labour-use . reduced to concrete Iabo�r or purposIve productIve activity, exchange value to Iabour tIme or homogeneous social labour :�t:Y :e��ces use valu� to la?our without deceiving him�elf ab th pen dence 0 f Its creatIve power on natural factors. He . .. consideration of it no more forms a part ' of polItIcal economy than . . 0f the sCience the consideration of ships or steam engmes.' or of any other mstruments employed .. ' tn·butIon 0f wealth" (Th . H0dgsk m, ' Popular IS to facIlItate the production and d . " PoIIt!cal Economy etc., London " 1 827 pp. 1 78 , 1 79). [Marx quotes and makes a remark in English.] . .. ' * A comparatIve b ' study of Petty's and BOISg�1'11e ert s w:It�ngs and charactersapart from illuminating the social divergence �tw.een Bntam �nd France at the close of the seventeenth centur and he b�gmnll�g of the eighteenth-would explain the origins of those natio�al con rasts t at .exls� between British and French political economy. The same con trast reappears m Ricardo and Sismondi.
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immediately perceives concrete labour in its entire social aspect as division of labour.* This conception of the source of material wealth does not remain more or less sterile as with his contemporary Hobbes, but leads to the political arithmetic, the first form in which political economy is treated as a separate science. But he accepts exchange value as it appears in the exchange of commodities, i.e. as money, and money itself as an existing commodity, as gold and silver. Caught up in the ideas of the monetary system, he asserts that the labour which determines exchange value is the particular kind of concrete labour by which gold and silver is extracted. does so he d an e, rc fo e tiv uc od pr a as so al * Petty treats the division of labour m Smith. See A n Essay concerning the Ada on a much grander scale than ows sh he y sa es is th In 6. -3 35 . pp 8, 69 1 , Edition Multiplication of Mankind etc., Third e th ith w ly on t no n tio uc od pr r fo s ur ha the advantages which division of labo r with the te la d di ith Sm m da A as ch at w a example of the manufacture of a whole d an n w to a so al s er id ns co t bu npi example of the manufacture of a ember ov N 26 of r to ta ec Sp e Th . ts en hm is bl ta country as large-scale industrial es Petty ". m ia ill W r E Si BL RA MI AD E TH OF N IO 1 7 1 1 refers to this "I LLUSTRAT years y rt fo r te ri w a ith w tty Pe ed us nf co r to ta MacCulloch's conjecture that The Spec onomy, a Ec al ic lit Po of e ur at ter Li he T , ch lo ul C his ju nior is therefore wrong. (See Mac r of de un fo e th as lf se m hi s rd ga re tty Pe ) 2. 10 Classified Catalogue, London, 1 84 5, p. ing us of d ea st in r fo , l" ua us ry ve t no s "i a new science. H e says that his method to es os op pr he , ts en m gu ar l ua ct lle te in d , an only comparative and superlative words e, ns se of ts en m gu ar ly on e us to ; EASURE speak in TERMS OF NUMBER. WEIGHT OR M VISIBLE FOUNDATIONS IN NATURE; leaving AS HAVE , es us ca ch su ly on er id ns co to d an D PASSIONS O F AN S, TE TI PE AP . NS IO IN OP , DS IN M LE those that depend upon the MUTAB ndon, Lo c., et ck eti m th ri A l ca iti ol (P rs he ot of n PARTICULAR ME N, to the consideratio osal op pr s hi in ce an st in r fo t en id ev es m co 1 699, Preface). His audacious genius be of ds an hl ig H e th of d an d, an el Ir of le to transport all the movables and peop ur bo la of ng vi sa e th in lt su re ld ou w s hi T . Scotland ... into the rest of Great Britain ld ou w ts ec bj Su s hi d an g in K he "t d an , ur time, in increasing productivity of labo ). 5] 22 o [p 4 er pt ha C k, ic et m th ri A al ic lit Po ( thereby become more rich. and strong" nd la ol H n he w e tim a at ch hi w in k ic met Also in the chapter of his Political Arith to . ay w e th on be to ed em se ce an Fr d an was still the predominant trading nation to ed in st de is d an gl En at th es ov pr - he becoming the principal trading power KING OF ENGLAND'S SUBJECTS HAVE STOCK E conquer the world market: "THAT TH ADE OF THE WHOLE COMMERCIAL
E THE TR IV DR TO NT IE EN NV CO D AN T EN COMPET EAT· GR S D' AN GL EN OF TS EN M DI PE IM E 2] ). "THAT TH nse se WORLD " (I. e. , Chapter 10 [p o 27 al in ig or ly gh hi A . q.) se et " 7 24 . (p E VABL NESS, ARE BUT CONTINGENT AN D REMO r example that the conquest •
shows fo he s hu T . gs tin ri w s hi l al es ad rv pe r ou of hum by y tr un co el od m e th as ed rd ga re en th as w of the world market by Holland, which by y tr un co el od m e th as ed rd ga re w English economists just as Britain is no by perfectly natural causes "WITHOUT t ou ab t gh ou br as w s, ist om on ec l ta en contin S" (I. c. , ER ND LA OL H E TH TO E UT IB TR AT S, AS SOME SUCH ANGELICAL WITS AND JU DGMENT ause ec "b e, ad tr of on iti nd co a as ce en ci ns pp . 1 75 -7 6) . H e champions freedom of co ur and industry is their duty towards bo la at th ve lie be d an t en lig di e ar or the po the ve ha ey th , lth ea w ss le ng vi ha , at th k in God so long as they are permitted to th ink th ey th ch hi w , od G of gs in th e th of ly more Wit and U nderstanding, especial
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What he r�ally has in mind is that in bourgeois economy labour does not dIrectly produce use values but commodities' use values which, in . consequence of their alienation in exchange, are capable of assummg the . form of .gol? and s.ilver, i.e. of money, i.e. of ex�h�mge value, I.e. of objectIfIed unIversal labour. His case is a stnkmg proof that recognition of labour as the source of material we�lth by n? mea�s precludes misapprehension of the specific sOCIal form m WhICh labour constitutes the source of exchange value. �oisguillebert for his part, in fact, although he may not be aware of It, reduces the exchange value of commodities to labour time by determining .the :'true �alue" ( La juste valeur) according to th� correct proportIOn m WhICh the labour time of the individual producers .is divided between t�� di�ferent b�anches of industry, an.d declarmg that f�ee �OmpetI�IOn IS the sOCIal process by which thIS correct. proportIon IS. est�bhshed. But simultaneously, and in con�rast wIth Petty, .BOlsguIlI�bert wages a fanatical struggle agaI.�st !ll0ney, whose mterventIOn, he alleges, disturbs the natural �qUlhbnum �r the harmony of the exchange of commodities and, hk� a fanta�tIc Moloch , demands all physical wealth as a sacrifice. Th�s 'pole�nIc �gainst money is, on the one hand, connected with d�fmIte histonc�l conditions, for Boisguillebert fights against the bhndly destructIve greed for gold which possessed the court of
Louis XIV, his tax-farmers and the aristocracy *; whereas Petty acclaims the greed for gold as a vigorous force which spurs a nation to industrial progress and to the conquest of the world market; at the same time however it throws into bold relief more profound fundamental differences which. recur as a perp�t.ual contrast between typically English and typICally French ** polItIcal economy. Boisguillebert, in fact, turns his attention only to the material content of wealth, to use value, enjoyment of it,*** and regards the bourgeois form of labour, the production of use values as commodities and the exchange of commodities, as the appropriate social form in which individual labour accomplis��s this object. Where, as in money, he encounters the. spec�fIc features of bourgeois wealth, he therefore speaks of the mtruSIOn of usurping alien factors, and inveighs against one of the forms. of labour in bourgeois society, while simultaneously pronouncmg utopian eulogies on it in another form.**** Boisguillebert's work proves that it is possible to regard labour time as the meas�re �f the value of commodities, while confusing the labour whICh IS objectified in the exchange value of commodities and measured in time units with the direct physical activity of indiv�duals. . It is a man of the New World where bourgeOIs relatIons of production imported together with their representatives sprouted rapidly in a soil in which the superabundance of humus .made. up for the lack of historical tradition who for the fIrst tIme deliberately and clearly (so clearly as to be almost tri�e) reduc�s . exchange value to labour time. This man wa.s . BenJamm Fra,!" klm, who formulated the basic law of modern pohtIcal econ'Omy m an
294
chie�ly belon� t? the Poor". From whence it follows that trade is " not fixed to any species of rehglOn as such; but r�ther to. the H�ter<;>dox part of the whole" (I.e., pp. 1 83-86). H e recommends speCial pubhc contnbutIon for rogues since it would be better for the general public to impose a tax on themselves for th� benefit of the ro�ues than to be taxed by them (I.e., p. 197). On the other hand, he rejects taxes which tran�fer w�a1th from industrious people to those who "do nothing at all, but eat and dnn�, sl�g.' play, and dance: nay such as study the Metaphysics" lop. cit., p. � 98]. �etty s �ntl1�gs ha�� almost .be.come bibliographical curiosities and are only available m old mfenor edmons. This IS the more surprising since William Petty is not only. the fathe: of English political economy but also an ancestor of Henry Petty, ahas Ma�qU1s of Lansdowne, the Nestor of the English Whigs. But the Lansd<;>wn� fa�I1y �ou!d hardly prepare a complete edition of Petty's works without prefacm� It wI.th his .b.lOgraphy, and what is true with regard to the origin of most of the big Whig families, applies also in this case-THE LESS SAID OF IT THE BETTER. The army s�rgeon, who was a bold thinker but quite unscrupulous and just as apt to p!under I.n Ireland under the aegis of Cromwell as to fawn upon Charles II to obtam the title o� ba;onet to embellish his trash, is hardly a suitable image of an ancestor for pubhc display. In most of the writings his published during lifetime, moreover, Petty seeks to prove . that England's golden age was the reign of Charles II, a ,rather heterodox view for hereditary exploiters of the "GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 64 •
he "T s: say ert leb uil isg Bo e, tim his of ce" an fin of art k lac "b . * As against the 01 the Interest� �f ge led ow kn gh rou tho a t bu ng thi no is science of finance . s lre Da ne ge Eu In 7. 69 1 , nce Fra La de aiL det (Le " rce me agriculture and of com arx [M 1), 24 p. , I l. Vo 3, 84 1 , ris Pa le, siec ' II! XV du s ier anc fin edition of Economistes . quotes in French.] ch en Fr d an sh gh En of ast ntr co e th ce sin y, om on ec l ca liti po e nc ma ** But not Ro the d an les Na at ne , ols ho sc o tw p ir the in ns lia <;> Ita economists is repeated by the aniards of the earhe. r penod are either s�. mp!y other at Milan; whereas the Sp ntilists like Ustariz, or follow Adam Smith m Mercantilists and modified Merca Jovellanos (see his Obras, Barcelona, 1 839-4?l. . observing the "happy mean" like hfe of es san ces ne the of ly on t no nt me joy en e let mp co the is ... h alt *** "True we " ses sen the to re asu ple e giv can t tha all of d an s tie lui erf sup but also of all the s ote qu arx [M 3). 40 p. , etc. e ess rich La de ure nat La sur on tati ser (Boisguillebert, Dis er, tur ven ad d ple nci pri un , ng spi gra s, lou vo fri a t jus s wa tty Pe as French .] But where for up od sto V, XI uis Lo of s ant end int the of e on s wa he h ug ho , Boisguillebert alt , age cou and ce for al ctu elle � int at gre th bo h wit s the interests of the oppressed classe by Proudhon suffers from the same national *** * French socialism as represented failing, m
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was in 1729 and published in 1731�* He t wor which arl k, �ec �res It. necessary towritten seek another measure of value tha the preCIous metals, and this measure is labour.
b "By labour may the value of silver e mea�ure as well as As d other things. suppose one man is emP10:ed t r�.:� �orn, .while a�other is digging and refinin� silver; at the year's end, 0 at a� e p�nod of t:e, the complete produce of corn, and that of silver' are the �aturaI l:nce 0f eac other; and if one be twenty bushels, and the other twentl �: n��:� t �: af �unce of. that &ilver is worth the labour of raising a bushel o t t . w f y the discovery of some nearer n more easy or plentiful mines et �orty o�nces of �ilver as easily a� � formerly he did twenty, and the:a:: la':::�r;: �till reqUired to raise twenty bushels of. �orn, then two ounces of silver will be w t no �ore than the same labour of ralsmg one bushel of corn ' and that busheI 0f corn will be as cheap at two ounces, . as It was before at one, Cluteris paribus a THUS THE RICHES OF A COUNTRY ARE TO BE VALUED BY THE QUANTITY OF LABOUR ITS INHABITANTS ARE ABLE TO PURCHASE " (I.e., p. 265).b
e h r, u o b la l a u id iv d in f o n o ti a n e li a l a rs e iv n u e th y b t u o b a t h g u bro is th f o t n e im d o b m e ct e ir d e th r fo y e n o m e k ta is m to d n u o b is n io ct e n n co c si in tr in e th e se to s il fa re fo re e th e H r. u o b la d te aliena n o t u b , e lu a v e g n a ch x e ts si o p h ic h w r u o b la d n a y e n o m n e e betw h ic h w e ic v e d l a ic n ch te t n ie n e v n co a as y e n o m s rd a g re ry a tr n co e th * . e id ts u o m o fr e g n a h c x e f o e r e h sp e th to in d e c u d o tr in h a s been n o ce n e u fl in ct e ir d o n d a h e lu a v e g n a ch x e f o s si ly a n a 's n li k n Fra h it w ly n o lt a e d e h se u ca e b , ce n ie sc e th f o e rs u co l ra e the gen l a ic ct ra p e it n fi e d r fo y m o n co e l ca ti li o p f o s m le b ro p l a speci purposes. r u o b la d n a r u o b la l fu se u te e cr n co n e e tw e b ce n re fe if d The in st re te in le b ra e d si n co d se u ro a e lu a v e g n a ch x e s te a e cr which t a h w : rm fo g in w o ll fo e th in ry tu n ce th n e te h ig e e th g n ri u d e p Euro is o e rg u o b f o e rc u so e th is r u o b la te e cr n co f o d in k r particula is h ic h w r u o b la f o d in k ry e v e t o n t a th d e m u ss a s u th s a w It ? wealth ly ct e ir d y b re e th st u m s ct u d ro p s ld ie y r o s e lu a v se u in d se li a ri mate ts n e n o p p o ir e th d n a ts a r c o si y h P e th th o b r fo t u B . h lt a e create w t u b e lu a v s te a e cr r u o b la f o d in k t a h w t o n s a w e su is l a ci u the cr s u th re e w y e h T e. lu a v s lu rp su s te a e cr r u o b la f o d in k t wha it d e lv so g in v a h re fo e b rm fo x le p m o c a in m le b o r p e th discussing s ce n ie sc ll a f o ss re g ro p l a ic r to is h e th s a st ju ; m r fo ry ta n e m in its ele l a re e th to s e v o m ry to ic d a tr n o c f o e d u it lt u m a h g u o r th ly n o leads ly n o t o n s d il u b s, ct e it h rc a r e th o e k li n u , e c n ie c S . e r tu r a p e point of d f o s y re o st le b a it b a h te ra a p se t c u r st n o c y a m t u b , ir a e th in castles w o n ll a sh e W . e n o st n o ti a d n u fo e th g in y la re fo e b g in d il u the b n a li a It f o s e ri se le o h w a rd a g re is d d n a ts a cr o si y h P leave the a to se lo c e m o c s a e id t n e n ti r e p ss le r o e r o m se o h w , ts is m econo ir S to e c n o t a n r tu to r e rd o in * ,* y it d o m m o c e th f o s si ly correct a n a f o m e st sy l ra e n e g a d n u o p x e to n o it r B t rs fi e th * * ,* rt a u te James S e k li e lu a v e g n a h c x e f o t p e c n o c e h T . y m o n o c e l a c ti li o p is o e g bour k r o w is h in re a y m o n o c e l a c ti li o p f o s e ri o g te ca t c a r st b a the other d n a t n te n o c l ia r te a m ir e th m o fr n o ti a ti n e r fe if d f o ss e c o r p still in e h e g a ss a p e n o In s. u o u ig b m a d n a d e r r lu b e b to r a e p p therefore a
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From the outset Franklin
Iscovenng a measure of their
value. To quote Franklin again:
" TRADE IN GENERAL BEING NOTHING ELSE BUT THE EXCHANGE OF LABOUR FOR LABOUR, THE VALUE OF ALL THINGS IS ' AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE, MOST JUSTLY MEASURED 267).c BY LABOUR" (I.e.,
p.
. If in this sentence the term labour IS . replaced by �oncr.ete labour, it is at once obvious that I abour m one form IS bemg . confused with labour another form Because trade may, for ex.ample, .consist in the exchange of th� labour 0f a shoemaker mmer sp n p ' t n o th�re�ore the lab
The Works of Benjamin Franklin ' �7 ' ** Remarks and Facts relative to the
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1836. mencan Paper Money, 1 764 (I.e.). .
: Other t?i.ngs being equal.- Ed. ongmal English text of the last sentence and the page reference are .givenThe by Marx in a footnote.- Ed The original English text of this passage and the page reference are given by Marx in a footnote.- Ed.
See Papers on American Politics, and Italiani di ci si as Paper Money , 1 764 (I .e .) . cl ri to it cr S in I, II l. o V , a la Monet el D i, n ia al G ce an st : in t is r "I fo e Se ys e sa ** H . 3 80 1 , o n ila M a, em od M te Par , i) d o st u C y b ed h lis b u (p a is ic it r u ol o P b ia la m r fo " a Econo ic at "f rm te e h T 74 . . p ," g in th e th to e lu va es iv g at th e n o al a] ic toil [fat .] n ia al It in s te o qu x ar [M . er n er characteristic o'f thoerksoAunthInquiry into the principles of Political Economy , Being an Essay 7, in 76 1 in n ** * Steuart s w o d n o L in ed h lis b u p t rs fi as w e Nations re F in y ic ol P c ti es om D te o of qu ce I en . ci S ns e io at N on th of lth ea W 's h it Sm am d A an th r ie rl ea s ar ye n te , es m lu two quarto vo edition of 1 770 . from the Dublin *
e t 1 b J ' par s, Vol. II, Boston, 0
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C
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merican Remarks and Facts relative to the A
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter One. The Commodity
determines real value by labour time (WHAT A WORKMAN CAN PERFORM IN A DAY) , but beside it he introduces wages and raw ma ter ial in a rather confusing way. * His struggle with the material content is brought out even more strikingly in another passage. He calls the physical element contained in a commodity, e.g . the silver in silver filigree, its and the labour time contained in it Its "
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USEFUL VALUE
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Various kinds of concrete labour, such as agriculture, manufac ture, shipping and commerce, had each in turn been. claimed to constitute the real source of wealth, before Adam SmIth declared that the sole source of material wealth or of use values is labour in general, that is the entire social a�pect ?f labour as it appears in the division of labour. Whereas m thIS context he completely overlooks the natural factor, he is pursued by it when he examines the sphere of purely social wealth, ex��ange value. Altho� gh Adam determines the value of commodItIes by the labour tIme contained in them, he then nevertheless transfers this determina tion of value in actual fact to pre-Adamian times. In other words, what he regards as true when considering simple commodities becomes confused as soon as he examines the higher and more complex forms of capital, wage labour, rent,. �tc. He expresses this in the following way: the value of commodItIeS was measured by labour time contained in them in the PARADISE LOST of the bourgeoisie, where people did not confront one another as capitalists, wage workers, landowners, tenant farmers, usu��rs, and so on, but simply as persons who produced commodItIes �nd exchanged them. Adam Smith constantly confus�s the det�rmm� tion of the value of commodities by the labour tIme contamed m them with the determination of their value by the value of labour; he is often inconsistent in the details of his exposition and he mistakes the objective equalisation of unequal quantities of l.ab�ur forcibly brought about by the social process for the sU�JectIve equality of the labours of individuals. * He tries �o accomplIsh the transition from concrete labour to labour WhICh produces ex change value, i.e. the basic form of. b<;>urgeois labour, by mea� s of the division of labour. But though It IS corre�t to say that p:Iva�e exchange presupposes division of labo�r, it IS wrong to mamtam that division of labour presupposes pnvate exchange. For exam ple, division of labour had reached an exceptionally high de.gree of development among the Peruvians, although no pnvate
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"The first," he says, "is something real in itself... the use value, on the contrary, must be estimated according to the labour it has cost to produce it. The labour employed in the modification of the material REPRESENTS A PORTION OF A MAN'S TIME,
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His clear differentiation between specifically social labour which manifests itself in exchange value and concrete labour which yields use values distinguishes Steuart from his predecessors and his successors. Labour, he says, which through its ALIENATION a creates A UNIVERSA L EQUIVAL. ENT,a I call industry.
He distinguishes labour as industry not only from concrete labour but also from other social forms of labour. He sees in it the bourgeois form of labour as distinct from its antique and mediaeval forms. He is particularly interested in the difference between bourgeois and feudal labour, having observed the latter in the stage of its decline both in Scotland and during his extensive journeys on the continent. Steuart knew very well that in pre-bourgeois eras also products assumed the form of com modities and commodities that of money; but he shows in great detail that the commodity as the elementary and primary unit of wealth and alienation as the predominant form of appropriation are characteristic only of the bourgeois period of production, and that accordingly labour which creates exchange value is a specifically bourgeois feature. ** *
* Steuart, I.e. , Vol. I, pp. 1 8 1 -83. ** Ibid., pp. 36 1-62 [here Marx reproduces the English part of the sentence]. . *** �te�art therefore. declares that the patriarchal form of agriculture whose
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dIrect aIm IS the productIon of use values for the owner of the land, is an "abuse ", although not in Sparta or Rome or even in Athens, but certainly in the industrial countries of the eighteenth century. This "ABUSIVE AGRICULTURE " " TRADE " is no t but a "mere means of subsistence" . Just as bourgeois agricultu re clears the land of superfluous mouths, so bourgeois manufacture clears the fac tory of superfluous hands. a Marx gives this English term in parentheses after its German equivalent.- Ed.
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Adam Smith writes for instance-"Equal quantities of labour, at all times and places, must be of equal value to the labourer. I� his. ordinary stat.e of health, strength, and spirits; in the ordinary ?egree o� h �s skIll and d.extenty.' he must always lay down the same portion of hIS ease, hIS lIberty, and hIS ha�pmess. The price which he pays is always the same, whatever may � the quantIty �f goods which he receives in return for his labour. Of these, mdeed, that pnce may sometimes purchase a greater and sometimes a smaller. quantity; but it is so merely because their value varies, not that of the labour whICh purchases them. L�bour alone, therefore. never varies in its own value. It is, therefore. the real pnce of commodities, ete." [ Wealth of Nations. Book I, Chapter V.]
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exchange, no exchange of products ig the form of commodities, took place. David Ricardo, unlike Adam Smith, neatly sets forth the determination of the value of commodities by labour time, and demonstrates that this law governs even those bourgeois relations of production which apparently contradict it most decisively. Ricardo's investigations are concerned exclusively with the mag nitude of value, and regarding this he is at least aware that the operation of the law depends on definite historical preconditions. He says that the determination of value by labour time applies to such commodities only as can be increased to any quantity by industry, and the production of which is dominated by unrestrained competition .*
This in fact means that the full development of the law of value presupposes a society in which large-scale industrial production and free competition obtain, in other words, modern bourgeois s�ciety. For the rest, the bourgeois form of labour is regarded by RICardo as the eternal natural form of social labour. Ricardo's primitive fisherman and primitive hunter are from the outset owners of commodities who exchange their fish and game in proportion to the labour time which is objectified in these exchange values. On this occasion he slips into the anachronism of allowing the primitive fisherman and hunter to calculate the value of their implements in accordance with the annuity tables used on the. London Stock . Exchange �n 1 8 � 7. Apart from bourgeois SOCIety, the only SOCIal system wah whIch Ricardo was acquainted seems to have been the "parallelograms of Mr. Owen".65 Although encomp�ssed by this bourgeois horizon, Ricardo analyses bourgeOIS economy, whose deeper layers differ essentially from its surface appearance, with such theoretical acumen that Lord Brougham could say of him: "MR. Ricardo SEEMED AS IF HE HAD DROPPED FROM ANOTHER PLANET. "
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Arguing directly with Ricardo, Sismondi not only emphasises the specifically social character of labour which creates exchange value,** but states also that it is a "characteristic feature of our economic progress" to reduce value to necessary labour time, to * David Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation, Third Edition, London, 182 1 , p. 3. ** Sismondi, Etudes sur l'economie politique, tome II, Bruxelles, 1838. "Trade has reduced the whole matter to the antithesis of use value and exchange value." P. 1 62. [Marx quotes in French.] a
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The Parliamentary Debates. New series, Vol. I , London, 1820, p. 685.- Ed.
"the relation between the needs of the whole society and the quantity of labour which is sufficient to satisfy these needs".*
Sismondi is no longer preoccupied with . Boi�guillebert's notion that labour which creates exchange value IS dIstorted by . money : but just as Boisguillebert denounced money s� does, SIsm??dI denounce large industrial capital. Whereas Ricardo s . pohtIcal economy ruthlessly draws its final conclusion. and there�Ith ��ds, Sismondi supplements this ending by expressmg doubt m pohtIcal economy itself. . Since the determination of exchange value by labour tIme has been formulated and expounded in the cleare�t manner . b.y .Ricardo, who gave to classical politic�l economy its fI�al shape, It IS quite natural that the argu�ents rals�d by ec.on?mls�s should ?e primarily directed against him. If thIS 1?0lemIC IS stnpped of Its mainly trivial ** form it can be summansed as f.allows: One. Labour itself has exchange value and dIfferent types of labour have different exchange values. �f one make� exc��nge value the measure of exchange value, one IS caught up a VICIOUS circle, for the exchange value used as a measur� reqUIres m tu�n a measure. This objection merges into the followmg problem: gIven labour time as the intrinsic measure of exchange value, how are wages to be determined o� this basis. The theory of wage labour provides the answer to thIS. . Two. If the exchange value of a product equals the labour tl�e contained in the product, then the exchange value of a workmg day is equal to the product it yields, in other words, wag�s �ust be equal to the product of labour. *** But in fact the opposIte IS true. •
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* Ibid.. pp. 1 63-66 et seq. . ** It probably assumes the most trivial form in J. B. Say's annotations to the French translation - prepared by Constancio - of Ricar?o's work, and the most pedantic and presumptuous in Mr. Macleod's recently published Theory of Exchange ,66 London. 1 858. . . . . *** This objection, which was advanced agamst RICardo by bourgeOiS economIsts, . was later . taken up by socialists. Assuming that �he formula was theoretically sound. they alleged that practice stood in conflict with the theory and de�anded th.at bourgeois society should draw the practical conclusi?ns sU�J>
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the to amounts d h problem Ergo, this objection ucpro oes ow d ' .
t�'on �n the baSlS of exchange value solely determined by labour tIme ead to the result that . the exchange value of labour is less than the e�change �alue of Its product? This problem is solved ' our analysIs of capital. Three. In accordanc� with the changing relation of demand and s�p'ply, th� market pnce of commodities falls below or rises above t elr exc ange va�ue. The exchange value of commodities is' the by not mIlled uen onse dete y, them in contained time labour � �ut 6y . t�e relatIo? of demand . and supply. In fact, this strang� conclusIOn only raIses the questIon how on the baSlS' 0f exchange " dIffering from this exchange value comes �a1ue � market pnce Illtf b.eIll �, or r�the :, how. the law of exchange value asserts itself on y Ill. .ItS antithesIs. ThIS problem is solved in the theory 0 f competItion. Four. he last and apparently the decisive objection unless it is advan�eI . as . commonly happens- in the form of cu�ious exam. ples, IS thIS: If exchange .value is nothing . but the 1abour time ' d . ' a commodity , how does It come about that contaIlle ' which contain no labour possess exchange value in c�;;modItIes f r o s, w h d oes t ?e exchange value of natural forces arise? � ? � �hi� p o em IS solved the theory of rent.
Chapter Two
III
MONEY OR SIMPLE C IRCULATION
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Gladstone, speaking in a parliamentary debate on Sir Robert Peel's Bank Act of 1844 and 1845,67 observed that even love has not turned more men into fools than has meditation upon the nature of money. He spoke of Britons to Britons. The Dutch, on the other hand, who in spite of Petty's doubts possessed a "divine sense" for money speculation from time immemorial, have never lost their senses in speculation about money. The principal difficulty in the analysis of money is surmounted as soon as it is understood that the commodity is the origin of money. After that it is only a question of clearly comprehending the specific form peculiar to it. This is not so easy because all bourgeois relations appear to be gilded, i.e. they appear to be money relations, and the money form, therefore, seems to possess an infinitely varied content, which is quite alien to this form. During the following analysis it is important to keep in mind that we are only concerned with those forms of money which arise directly from the exchange of commodities, but not with forms of money, such as credit money, which belong to a higher stage of production. For the sake of simplicity gold is assumed throughout to be the money commodity. a
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\ . MEASURE OF VALUE
The first phase of circulation is, as it were, a theoretical phase preparatory to real circulation. Commodities, which exist as use rithmetic k, A al ic lit Po in s ay ss E l ra ve Se in k" ic a W . Petty, "Political Arithmet London, 1 699, p. 1 76.- Ed.
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assume all of ppear to one values, must first a y the which in form a . a�?th�;' �oml ?ally as excha?ge values, as definite quantities of move in this o JectI I� unwersal labour tIme. The first necessary . ' d the process IS, as we have seen ' that Itles a apart set commo . ' say, g�ld, WhICh becomes the direct materialisas ecific c0I?modlty, lIOn 0f umversal labour tIme or the universal equivalent Let us return for a mome?� to the form in which gold is conve;ted into money by commoditIes. 1 ton of iron 2 ounces of gold, 1 quarter of wheat 1 ounce of gold, 1 hundredweight of Mocha I coffee /4 ounce of gold ' 1/2 ounce of gold ' 1 hundredweight of potash 1 ton of Brazil-timber 1 1 /2 ounces of gold, X . y c mmodities gold. of ounces � In thiS senes of equations iron, wheat, coffee potash et ' to on� a.nothe.r as materialisation of uniform iabour, �ha� is �;���� ' tIve ' features of the matenahsed m gold ' in which all dl'stmc co�crete Iabour represented in the different use values are entirel obhte�a�d. They are as values identical, i.e. materialisations of th� same a our or the same materialisation of labour gold. Since . they �re umform materialisations of the same labour the d' ff �?ir m one w�y, quantitatively: in other words th�y r!r r:se�: erent magmtudes of value, because their use values contain . ' ' of d dual indivI These time. labour unequal amounts can ItIes commo . be co� pared With one another as embodiments of universal labour t"me, �nce they have been compared with universal labour time in t�e s .ape 0f the excluded commodity ' I' .e . gold . The same ' dynamlc reIatIon, as a result of which commodities become �xcha�ge values for one �nother, causes the labour time contained m .go . to represent umversal labour time a given amount of whlc� IS expressed in different quantities of iron' wheat. ' coffee, ' or It may be etc., m short in the. use values of all comm0dl' ties, ' d�'sp Iayed dIrectly m the infinite series of commodity equivalents . ' " IS expressed in gold� Smce the exchange value 0f aII commodItIes the .e:,-change value of gold is directly expressed in all com mo�lt1es. Because the commodities themselves assume the form of exc . ange valu � for one another, they turn gold into the universal eqmvalent or mto money. become . �he �easure of value because the exchange value of G�:1 commoJ1�le� IS measured in gold, is expressed in the . reIatIon of a defImte quantity of gold and a definite quantity of =
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commodity containing equal amounts of labour time. To begin with, gold becomes the universal equivalent, or money, only because it thus functions as the measure of value and as such its own value is measured directly in all commodity equivalents. The exchange value of all commodities, on the other hand, is now expressed in gold. One has to distinguish a qualitative and a quantitative aspect in this expression. The exchange value of the commodity exists as the embodiment of equal uniform labour time, the value of the commodity is thus fully expressed, for to the extent that commodities are equated with gold they are equated with one another. Their golden equivalent reflects the universal character of the labour time contained in them on the one hand, and its quantity on the other hand. The exchange value of commodities thus expressed in the form of universal equivalence and simultaneously as the degree of this equivalence in terms of a specific, commodity, that is a single equation to which commodities are compared with a specific commodity, constitutes price. Price is the converted form in which the exchange value of commodities appears within the circulation process. Thus as a result of the same process through which the values of commodities are expressed in gold prices, gold is transformed into the measure of value and thence into money. If the values of all commodities were measured in silver or wheat or copper, and accordingly expressed in terms of silver, wheat or copper prices, then silver, wheat or copper would become the measure of value and consequently universal equivalents. Commodities as exchange . values must be antecedent to circulation in order to appear as prices in circulation. Gold becomes the measure of value only because the exchange value of all commodities is estimated in terms of gold. The universality of this dynamic relation, from which alone springs the capacity of gold to act as a measure, presupposes however that every single commodity is measured in terms ,of gold in accordance with the labour time contained in both, so that the real measure of commodity and gold is labour itself, that is commodity and gold are as exchange values equated by direct exchange. How this equating is carried through in practice cannot be discussed in the context of simple circulation. It is evident, however, that in countries where gold and silver are produced a definite amount of labour time is directly incorporated in a definite quantity of gold and silver, whereas countries which produce no gold and silver arrive at the same result in a roundabout way, by direct or indirect exchange of their home products, i.e. of a definite portion of their average national labour,
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f?r a definite q'! antity of labour �ime materialised in the gold and sdv�r of countnes that possess mmes. Gold must be in principle a vanable �al.ue, . if it is to serve as a measure of value, because only as matenahsatI?? of labour time can it become the equivalent of other commodItIes, but as a result of changes in the productivity concrete labour, the same amount of labour time is embodied ?mf unequal volumes of the same type of use values. The valuation of all commodities in terms of gold like the expression of the exchange value ?f any commodity in terms of the use value of another commodIty ��rely pres�pposes that at a given moment gold represents a defmIte quantIty of labour time. The law of exchange value set forth earlier applies to changes occurring in the value of gold. If the exchange value of commodities remains unchanged, then a general rise of their prices in terms of gold can only take place when the exchange value of gold falls. If the ex�han.ge value of gold . remains unchanged, then a general rise of pnces m. t�rm� of gold IS only possible if the exchange values of all com!ll0�ItIes nse.. The reverse takes place in the case of a general dechne m the 'pnc�s of commodities. If the value of an ounce of gold . falls or r�ses m cons�quence of a change in the labour time requ�red for Its productIon, then it will fall or rise equally in relat.lOn to all other commodities and will thus for all of them contmue to represent a definite volume of labour time. The same exchange values will now be estimated in quantities of gold which are larger or. small�r than before, but they will be estimated in accordanc� wIth theIr values and will therefore maintain the same value rel�tIve to one another. The ratio 2 : 4 : 8 remains the same whether It. becomes 1 : 2 : 4 or 4 : 8 : 16. The fact that, because of the �hangmg . ,:alue of gold, exchange values are represented by varymg quantItIes of gold does not prevent gold from functioning a.s the . measur� of value, any more than the fact that the value of sIlver IS. one-fIf�eenth of that of gold prevents silver from taking over thI� �unctIon. Labour time is the measure of both gold and commodItIe� , . and gold becomes the measure of value only because all commod!tIes. are measured in terms of gold; it is consequently merely an IllUSIOn created by the circulation process to suppose that money makes commodities commensurable. * On the contrary, * Aristotle does !ndeed realise that the exchange value of commodities is antecedent to the pnce� of co�modities: "That exchange took place thus before ' plam; for It makes no difference whether it is five beds that the�e was money IS �x� ange .for a . house, or the money value of five beds." On the other hand since It IS only m pnce that commodities possess the form of exchange value in r�lation to one another, he makes them commensurable by means of money. "This is why
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d ie if ct je ob as s ie it od m m co of y bilit it is only the comcomnenvesurtra . ey n o m to in ld go s h ic h w e m labour ti of ss ce ro p e th r te en s ie it d o m m The concrete form in wesh. icThhco e m � ec b ly n o ill w s ie it � 0 ll m co e exchange is as use valua result of theI!r ahenat.Ion. �he �stabhsh universal equivalents as mere y th ir ideal co�VerSI?n mto the ment of their price anis equat�Ion W<:Ith gold WhICh stIll � �s to be u niversal equivalent, t be ause pri es convert commodltI�s only � y gold - I.. e . the eXIstence put into practice. Bu ly �mto Im . ar m ag n o r . o ld go to in ideally r eI th om fr ed at ar p se t ye ot n d ee d in is of commodities as moneybee y ar in g im to in �d rm o � sf an tr y el er m n real existence gold hmaseasure of value, a?-� defIm. t� �luantItI. es of money, only into the as nam s for defImte qu.:mtItI�s of labour ly � gold serve in fact simprm ey n o m to m s se lh ta ys cr ld go h IC h w in time. The distinct fo n the wa in which the exchange values of depends in each case o nted WItyh regard to one another. commodities are represe as ly al re ; rm fo al u d a in er th o nt one an Cominodities now confroex w o n t n se re p re ey h T . es lu va e g an use values and ideally as formch of labour contained in them, since for one another the due allabour actu Jly exists as their � se v.alue, the particular concret ct labour tI� me assumes an Imagmary while universal abstra, in which they are all alike embodiments of existence in their pricef value, differing only quantitatively. the same substance o een exchange value and price is, on the one The difference betw as Adam S ith sa�s, labour is the real ; � om nal pn. c . Instead of hand, merely nominalan n r eI th ey n o � days� labour, one m d s ie it d o m m co f o price . ty Ir th h rt o w IS t ea h . w f o r te ar u q e n o saying that IS ld o g f o ce n u e n o n e h , ld o g e ounce of w, rence �IS on the other now says it is worth onrk fe If d e h T s. ay d g in o w ty ir th produced in ge, an ch ex be s ay w al ill e er th en th r fo ; � all goods must have a price set on them oney, then, actmg as a measure, makes M . an m ith w an m of n io at ci so as so if and been v� ha e er th ld ou w er ? it ne r fo ; em goods ��mmensurate and equates th nor y, lIt ua eq t no e er w e er th If ge an ch ex r association if there were not exchange, no y." �risto le is aware of the fact t�at the lit bi ra � su en m m co t no e er w e er th if y lit equa tu?es. nI ag m e bl ra su en m m co m y el tIr en e ar . different things measured by money lIved he ce sm d an , es lu va ge an ch ex as es iti What he seeks is the oneness of commod m to find it . H e �xtricates himself from r hi fo le ib ss po im as w it e ec re G t en ci an in rable --: su en m � c gs m th e bl ra su en m m co c: in . this predicament by making essen.tially trut� It m ow N . ey on m of ns ea m by sed ne so far as this is necessary for practIcal but WIth , te ra su en m m co e m co be ld ou sh h uc m is impossible that things differing so come so sufficiently" (�ristotles, Ethlca . reference to demand they may be IS from xt te h lIs ng � he [T ). 37 18 i, ni xo 9 , ri s, Nicomacheo, I. V , c. 8, edit. Bekke os R . D . W by n tIo sla an tr 8, er pt Cha Aristotle- Ethica Nicomacheo, Book V , reek .] G Oxford, 1 92 5, 1 133b.] [Marx quotes in
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hand so far from being simply a nominal difference that all the s�orms .which threaten .the commodity in the actual process of CIrculatIon c�ntre upon It. A quarter of wheat contains thirty days' labour, and It therefore does not have to be expressed in terms of labour. time.. But gold is a commodity distinct from wheat, and only clr�ulatIon can show whether the quarter of wheat is actually tur?ed Into an ounce of gold as has been anticipated in its price. ThiS depends on whether or not the wheat proves to be a use value, whether or not the quantity of labour time contained in it pr�ves to be the quan�ity of labour time necessarily required by sOCIety fO.r the productIon of a quarter of wheat. The commodity a� such an exchange value, the commodity has a price. This difference between exchange value and price is a reflection of the fact that the particular individual labour contained in the comm?ditJ: can only through alienation be represented as its 0p�oslte, Impe�sonal, abstract, general and only in this form social labour, I.e. money. Whether it can be thus represented or not seems a matter of chance. Although, therefore, the price gives e�c?ange value a form of existence which is only nominally dlstIn�t fr�m the commo.dity, and the two aspects of the labour contaIned m the commodity appear as yet only as different modes of .expression; wh.ile, on the other hand, gold, the embodiment of unIversal labour tIme, accordingly confronts concrete commodities m�rely as an ima&"inary measure of value; yet the existence of pnce as an expressIOn of exchange value, or of gold as a measure of value, entails the necessity for alienation of commodities in excha�ge �or glittering gold and thus the possibility of their non-alIenation. In short, there is here contained in latent fOrm the whole c?ntradiction which arises because the product is a �o��odIty, or because the particular labour of an isolated l�dlVldual ca? be�ome socially effective only if it is expressed as its d�rect Oppo�lte, I.e. ab�t�act universal labour. The utopians who wl�h to retam comI?odltIes but not money, production based on pnvate �xchange without the essential conditions for this type of productIon, are therefore quite consistent when they seek to "abolish " money not only in its palpable state but even in the nebulous, chimerical state that it assumes as the measure of value. For . beneath the invisible measure of value lurks hard money. Given the process by which gold has been turned into the measure of value and exchange value into price, all commodities when expr�ssed in th�ir price� are merely imagined quantities of gold of vanous. magnItudes. Smce they are thus various quantities of the same thmg, namely gold, they are similar, comparable and
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commensurable, and thus arises the technical necessity of relating them to a definite quantity of gold as a unit of measur�. Th�s .unit of measure then develops into a scale of measure by bemg diVided into aliquot parts which are in turn subdivided into aliquot parts. * The quantities of gold themselves, however, are measured. by weight. The standard weights generally used for. metal� �ccordmg Iy provide ready-made standard measures, whICh ongmally also served as standard measures of price wherever metallic currency was in use. Since commodities are no longer compared as exchange values which are measure? in. terms of labo� r time, but as magnitudes of the same denommatIon measured m terms of gold, gold, the measure .of va�ue, �comes the �tandard of pri�e.. The comparison of commodity pnces m terms of different quantIt�es of gold thus becomes crystallised .in figures denoting imagmary quantities of gold and representmg gold as a standard measure divided into aliquot parts. Gold as measure of value and as standard of price has quite distinct specific functions, and the confusion of the one with the other has led to the most absurd theories. Gold as objectified labour time is a measure of v�lue, as a piece of metal of definite weight it is the standard of pnce. Gold becomes the measure of value because as an exchange value it is compared with ' the exchange values of other commodities; in its aspect as a standard of price a definite qu.antity of gold serves as a unit for other quantities of gold. Gold IS the mea�ure of valu.e because its value is variable; it is the standard of pnce because It has been established as an invariable unit of weight. Here, as in all cases of measuring quantities of the same denomination, st�bility and exactitude of the proportions is essential. The necessity of establishing a quantity of gold as the unit �f me.asure an� its aliquot parts as subdivisions of this unit has given nse to the !d.ea that a fixed ratio of values has been set up between a defInIte quantity of gold, whose value is of course variable, a?d the exchange values of commodities. But such a .v.iew simply Ign�res the fact that the exchange values of commoditIes are turned mto prices, into quantities of gold, before gold �ecomes the standard of price. Quite irrespective of any changes m the value of gold,
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* The strange fact that the ounce of gold as the standard of money i� England
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is not divided into fractional parts is accounted for as follows: "Our cOl�age was originally adapted to the employment of silver only-he?ce an ou�ce of silver can always be divided into a certain adequate number of pIeces of �om; but, as gold was introduced at a later period into a coinage adapt.ed only to silver, an. ounce of gold cannot be coined into an adequate number of pIeces" (Maclaren, HIStory of the Currency, London, 1 858, p. 16). [Marx quotes in English.)
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different quantities of gold will always represent the same ratio of values with regard to one another. If the value of gold should fall by 1,000 per cent, then the value of twelve ounces of gold would still be t�elve times bigger than that of one ounce of gold, and so far as. prIces are co?�erned what matters is only the proportion of the dIfferent quantItIes of gold to one another. Since, on the other hand, a rise or fall in the value of an ounce of gold does not in �ny �ay affect its weight, the weight of its aliquot parts remains lIkeWIse unaffected; gold can thus always serve as a stable standard of price, regardless of any changes in its value. * As a result of a.n historical process, which, as we shall explain later, was de�ermmed by the nature of metallic currency, the names . of. �ar�Icular �eights were �etained for constantly changing and dImIlllshm.g weIghts of prec�ous metals functioning as the standard of prIce. Thus the EnglIsh pound sterling denotes less than one-third of its original weight, the pound Scots before the Union 48 only '/36, the French livre 1/74, the Spanish maravedi less th �n '!,.ooo and the Portuguese rei an even smaller proportion. HIstOrIcal development thus led to a separation of the money names of certain weights of metals from the common names of t�ese weights. ** Because the designation of the unit of measure, its alIquot . parts and their names is, on the one hand, purely conv�ntI�mal, and on . th� other hand must be accepted as universal and mdIspensable wIthm the sphere of circulation it had to be established by legal means. The purely formal e�actment thus devolved upon the government. *** Which particular metal served . .*
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
"Mo,:ey may continually vary in value, and yet be as good a measure of value as If It remamed perfectly stationary. Suppose, for instance, it is reduced in value.... Before the reduction, . a guinea would purchase three bushels of wheat or 6 days' labour; subsequently, I� would purchase only 2 bushels of wheat, or 4 days' labour. In �th cases, th� relatIon� of wheat and labour to money being given, their mutual relatIOns can be mferred; m other words, we can ascertain that a bushel of wheat is worth 2 days' labour. This, which is all that measuring value implies, is as readily . done after �he reductIon as before. The excellence of thing as a measure of value is altogether mdependent of its own variableness in value" (Bailey, Money and Its VIC!�!t�?es, Lo�don, 1837, pp. 9, 1 0). (Marx quotes in English.J . . The coms which today are Ideal are the oldest coins of every nation, and all of t�em were once real" (so generally stated the latter assertion is incorrect) "and preCIsely because they were real they were used for calculation" (Galiani, Della Moneta, I.e., p. 1 53). (Marx quotes in Italian.J ***. The romanti� A. Mu.lIer says: "According to our views every independent sove:elgn has the nght to mtroduce metallic currency and ascribe to it a social nom.mal value, order, position and title" (A. H. Muller, Die Elemente der Staatskuns� BerlIn, 1809. Part II, p. 288). The aulic councillor is right as regards the title, but he forgets the content. How confused his "views" are becomes evident, for instance,
311
material of Inoney depended on the given social conditions. �ht l egal standard o f price is of course different in different untries. In England, for example, the ounce as a weight of metal o �IS d ivided into PENNYWEIGHTS. GRAINS and CARATS TROY; but the ounce of ola a s the unit of money is divided into 3 7/8 sovereigns, the gov�reign into 20 shillings and the shilling into 12 pence, so that �OO pounds of 22-carat gold (1,200 ounces) equal 4,672 sovereigns and 1 0 shillings. B u t in the world market, where state frontiers dis;lppear, such n ational features of the standards of money dis;:lppear as well and are replaced by measures of weight generally used for metals. The price of a commodity, or the quantity of gold into which it is nominally converted, is now expressed therefore in the mon etary names of the standard of gold. Thus, instead of saying a qU;lrter of wheat is worth an ounce of gold, one would say in Engl d it is worth [3 1 7s. 10'/2 d. All prices are thus expressed in the same denomination. The specific form which the exchange value of commodities assumes is converted into denominations of money. by which their value is expressed. Money a in turn becomes the
an
money of account.*
in the following passage: "Everybody realises how important it is to determine the price of coin s correctly, especially in a country like England, where the government with splendid generosity coins money gratuitously" (Mr. Muller apparently assumes that the members of the British government defray the costs of minting out of their own pocket), "where it does not levy seigniorage, ete., and consequently if it were to fix the mint price of gold considerably above the market price, if instead of paying £3 1 7 s. 1 0 /2 d. for an ounce of gold as at present, it should decide to fix the price of an ounce of gold at £3 1 9s., all money would flow into the mint and the silver obtained there would be exchanged for the cheaper gold on the market, and then i t would again be taken to the mint, thus throwing the monetary system into disorder" (I . e., pp. 280, 28 1 ). Muller throws his ideas into "disorder", so as to preserve order at the mint in England. Whereas shillings and pence are merely names, that is names of definite fractions of an ounce of gold represented by silver and cop per tokens, he i magines that an ounce of gold is estimated in terms of gold, sIlver and copper and thus confers upon the English a triple STANDARD OF VALUE. Silver as the standard of money along with gold was formally abolished only in 1816 by 56 George III, C. 68, although it was in fact legally abolished by 14 George I I , C. 42 in 1 734, and in practice even earlier. Two circumstances in particular e nabled A. Muller to arrive at a so-called higher conception of political economy : first his extensive ignorance of economic facts and second his purely amateurish infatuation with philosophy. * "When Anacharsis was asked what the Hellenes used money for, he replied- for calculation" (Athenaeus, Deipnosophistai, I. IV, 49, v. II, (p. 1 20J, ed. Schweighauser, 1 802). (Marx quotes in Greek.J
'
a
T he original has "gold"; changed by Marx in his own copy.- Ed.
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
Th� transformation o f commodities into m o ney of account in . the mmd, on paper or m words takes place exchange v�lue becomes fixed in a particulawhenever the aspect f r ty t=ansformatI<;m needs the material o f gold pe of wealth. * Th�s , b u t only in imagina_ tIOn. Not a smgle atom o f real gold is used a thousand bales of cotton in t rms of a ce to estimate the value f rt a � o f gold and then to express thIS n u ber o in number o f ounc�s f o u n ces in [. s. d ., the � names of �cc�unt o� the ounce. For mstan ce . gold was m CIrculatIon m Scotland before , not a single ounce of S ir Act of .1 �4 5 , although the ounce of gold, calledRobert Peel 's1 Bank [3 1 7s . lO /2d. as th� B n�Is� stand�rd o f account, served a pnce. SImIl��ly, sIlver serves as the standa s the legal standard of rd o f p ri ce in e x ch f co m m o d It Ie s between Siberia and China, although this ange ? trade is m fact merely barter. It makes n o differen mon�y. . of account whether or not its ce, therefore, to gold as subdIVIsIons are actually coined. During th standard unit or its e re ig n of William the C:0nqueror, one 'p�>un� sterling, at that sIlver, and the shIllmg /20 o f a pound , ex time a pound o f pure is te : money of ac�ount, �h I!e the penny, 1 /2 o d in England only as the la=�est sIlver com m existence. On40th f a pound o f silver, was e n o shIllmgs or pence in England today, other hand, there are a lt h o ugh they are legal names of account for definite fractions Money as � oney of account may ex o f an ounce of gold. is . a� tually eXIstmg money I ay be coined t only ideally, while according to a n en tirely ? differ�nt standard . Thus m many o f the English colonies in North Amenca, the mo�ey in circulation con si st e d o f Spanish and . . Portuguese coms tIll late m the eighteen money of account was everywhere the th century, whereas the sa m Because a s standard of rice gold is e e as in England. * * names �f account as the pn�ces o f comm xpressed by the same o d 1. 7s. lO /2d. may denote a n ounce of go ities for example [3 ld ju st as well as a ton of Iron these names �f account are calle d Thus the queer notIon arose that gold the mint price o f gold. is estimated in its own
313
by rn aterial and that, unlike all other commodities, its price is fixed fIllIte The establishing of . e names of account f d or State. h �� ghts of gold was mistake!1 for th� estab�ishing of the . value of pnce nor any pnce at all, th ese weights. * Gold has neither a. fIxed . ' a�d th. erefore when it is a factor in the determmatIon 0f pnces functions as money of account. In order �� have a pr�ce, m o�her words to be expressed in terms o� a specifIc comm?dIty functIon ing as the universal equivalent, thIS other commodIty . woul� have to play the same exclusive role in the process of ClrculatIo� . as gold. But two commodities which exclude all other commO�ItIeS would exclude each other as well. Consequently, wherever sIlver and gold exist side by side as legal money, i.e. as measure of value, the vain attempt has always been made to treat them as one and the same substance. If one assumes that a given labour time is invariably objectified in the same proportion in silver and gold, then one assumes, in fact, that silver and gold are the same substanc� , and that silver, the less valuable metal, represents a constant fractIon of gold. The history of the monetary system in England from the reign of Edward III up to the time of George �I consists of a continuous series of disturbances caused by confhct between the legally established ratio. betw�en the values ?f gold and silver and the actual fluctuations m their value. SometImes the value of gold was too high, sometimes that of silver. The meta� whos� value was estimated at too low a rate was withdrawn from CIrculatIon, melted down and exported. The value ratio of the two �etals was .th�n once again changed by law; but soon th� new nommal val.ue m Its turn clashed with the actual value ratIo. In our own tIme, the slight and short-lived fall in the v�lue of gold . as compared with silver, brought about by the IndIan and Chmese demand f<;>r silver, produced the same phenome.no.n <;>n a l�rge scale m France the export of silver and the ehmmatIon of sIlver from the sphere of circulation by gold. During the years 1 855, 1 856 and 1 857, the excess of France's gold imports over her �old exports amounted to [41 ,580,000, while the excess of her sIlver exports over silver imports came to [34,704,000." In countries like France, where both metals are legally sanctioned measures of value and
* G. Gar;tier, one of the first to tran . slate Adam Smith into French, had th Idea o f establIshI. ng t�e prop rtion e odd be tw ee n the use of money of account and . real m�mey. [AccordIng to h? that of im] this proportion is 1 0 to 1 (G. Gar nier, Histoire de la mo��ate depuls les temps de la plus haute antiquite etc. , t. I, p . 78 ). The Act of Maryland of 1 73 2, which made tobacco legal currenc . . converted It but S value Into English gold money, by declaring a pound of tobacco eq�al to a penny, recalls the leges barbaror m 68 , which on the contrary equated d . u. efinite sums of m�ney with oxen, c?ws, etc. In thiS ca se the real material of the money of ac count was neither gold nor sIlver, but the ox and the cow. [See J. Wirth, Die Geschicht Deutsche n, Vol. I, Stuttgart, 1 846, e der pp. 97-99.]
* Thus we read, for example, in the Familiar Words of Mr. David Urquhart- The value of gold is t� be measure? by itself; how can any sub�tance be the measure of its own worth In other thIngs? The worth of gold IS to be established by its own weight, under a false denomination of that �ei.ght-: an.d an ounce is to be worth so many pounds and fractions of. pound� . ThiS IS falSifYIng a measure, not establishing a standard." [Marx quotes In English.) H
a
i· ,
• •
12-785
"Foreign Correspondence", The Economist, No. 775, July 3, 1858.- Ed.
3 14
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
both are .accepted as legal tender, where moreover every can pay m t�e o?e. or the other metal as he pleases, person whose value nses IS m fact at a premium, and its price lithe metal any other . commodIt" y IS measured in terms of the ke that f o v er et al , W h IC h t�lUS s�rves . alone as the measure of value.-rated � . All hlstonca� �xpenen�e m this sphere simply shows that, commodItIes function as legally valid measures of where tw.o always one of them only which actually maintains th value it l is position. ! 0
B. THEORIES OF THE STANDARD OF MONEY
The fact t?at o?mmodities are only nominally converted in the form of pn�es mto gold and hence gold is only transformed mto money led to the doctrine of the ideanominally l standard of money. Because only imaginary gold o r si lv er, i.e. gold and silver m�rely . as money of account, is used in th pnces, It was asser�ed that t�e terms pound, shile lidnget, erpemination of fran�, etc. denote Ideal particles of value but not weig nce, thaler, or sIlver or any form of objectified labour. If, for exhts of gold value of a� ounce of sI. lver were to rise, it would conta ample, the in ore of h e se p ar tIcles and would therefore have to be divided ormco � ined mto a greater number of shillings. This doctrine, wh the close of the seventeenth century, was again advanich arose at the last commerci�l crisis !n England and was even adced during Members of Parhament m two special reports appen vocated by 185 8 Report o� the Select Committee on the Ban ded to the England at the tI�e of the accession of William II I, thek Acts. In of an ounce of Inlver was 5s. 2 d ., that is 1/ 2 of an ou mint price was calle? a penI?Y �nd 12 of these pence w6 ere called nce of silver bar of sIlver �elghmg say six ounces would, accorda shilling. A standard, be comed into 3 1 coins which would be call ing to this But whe�eas the mtn. t pn.ce of an ounce of silver wa ed shillings. s 5 s. 2 d ., its market p:lce ro�e to 6s. 3 d ., that is to sa y in o rd of �ncomed sIlver 6s. 3 d . had to be handed eorvtoer.buy an ounce possible for the market price of an ounce of silver to riHow was it mint. price, if the mint price was merely a name of se above its fr�ctlOI? s of an ounce of silver? The solution of thisaccount for qUIte simple. Four million of the [5,600,000 of silver riddle was money in 2
5
* "Money �s th� measure of comm erce ought to be kept (as all other m as steady and InvarIable a may be easures) . B two metals, whose proportI�on consta ut this cannot be, if your money be made of ntly varies" (John Locke, Some Consid . erations on the Lowenng of Interest etc., 1 69 1 ; in his Works, 7th Edition London 1 768 Vol . I I p . 65 ). ' "
,
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
315
C1. rcu. I atl'on at that time were worn out or. clipped. A trial showed that [57,200 in silv�r coins, whose weight ought to ha�e been ounces, wel�hed only � 41,000 ounces. The mmt con000 220, . ed to coin silver pieces accordmg to .the same but the standard, unu . represented ' r hter shillings which were actually m CIrcuI atIon .lg aller fractions of an ounce than their name denoted. A l arger . for be to paid ntly conseque had shillings reduced these of antity ;� I ounce of uncoined silver on the market. When, because of the n �esulting difficulties, it wasT decided to recoin all the money, Lowndes, the SECRETARY TO THE REASURY,. claimed that th� value of an unce of silver had risen and that m future accordmgly 6s. 3d. �ould have to be struck from an ounce instead of 5s. 2d. as previously. He thus in effect asserted t�at, �ecause the value of an ounce of silver had risen, the value of ItS ahquot parts had fallen. But his false theory was merely designed to make a correct practical measure more palatable. The government �eb�s ha� been contracted in light shillings, were they to be repaid m �oms of standard weight? Instead of saying pay back 4. ounces <;>f sIl,:er for every 5 ounces you received nominally but WhICh contamed m fact only 4 ounces of silver, he said, on the contrary, pay back nominally 5 ounces but reduce their m�tal content .t� 4 ounce� �nd call the amount you hitherto call�d /5 ?f a shIlhng a shIlhng. Lowndes's action, therefore, was m reahty based on the met�l content whereas in theory he stuck to the name of account. HIS oppone�ts on the other hand, who simply clung to the nam� of account and therefore declared that a shilling of standard �elght was identical with a shilling which was 25 to 50 per cent hghter, claimed to be adhering to the metal content. John Locke, �ho championed the new bourgeoisie in every way he took the Side of the manufacturers against the working classes and the p.aupe�s, the merchants against the old-fashioned usu:ers, the fmanCIal aristocracy against governments that were m debt; . he even demonstrated in a separate work that the �ou�geOls way of thinking is the normal human way of thmkmg-took up Lowndes's challenge. John Locke won t�e . day and m?n�y borrowed in guineas containing 10 to 14 shIlh.ngs was repaid. m guineas of 20 shilling� . * Sir 1,ames Steuart gives the followmg ironical summary of thiS operatIon: * Locke says inter alia : "Call that a Crown now, which before was a half Crown. Its Value is determined, as before, by the quantity of metal. If you can �educe the quantity of silver of any coin by 1/20 without lessening i�s value: you can Just as well reduce it by 19/20, According to this theory, a farthu: g, beIng called. a Cro� n, should buy as much spice, or silk, or any other commodity, as a crown-piece, whICh 1 2*
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
" ... The state gained considerably u on th� scor: of t�xes, as well as the creditors upon their capitals and interest and t e natI°n, whlc� was the principal loser, was pleased; because their standard" (the standard 0f their own value) "was not debased." *
Steuart believed that in the course of further d:veIopment of commerce the nation would become wiser But e wrong. Some 12? years !ater the same quid pro qu� was re e:::d 0 doctnne w gave t e of th . �ommaI standard of money a theoretical twist, which the practica� E��ETARY TO THE TREASURY had omitted to do. Berkeley says: '
. Whether the terms livre, pound sterlin ( g, crow � , etc., are not to be considered as mere denominations of proportions"," . I.e. prop�rtIons of abstract value as such). "And whether gold silver' and p'e ::� not tIcke�s or counters for reckoning, recording and transferring there�� [o � f7bortIon of value). "Whether power to command the industry of oth�rs " (soc a a tur) "be .not real weal�h ? And whether money be not in truth, tickets or tokens or conveymg and recordmg such power, and whether it be of great consequence what materials the tickets are made of?" **
contains 60 times as much silver. All :0� ca� d� �. s t? giv. e a less quantI. ty of silver the stamp and denomination of a gr a .e.r, ut . tIs silver and not names that pay debts. and purchase commoditl'es . The raISIng bemg but g"Ivmg 0f names at pleasure to aliquot parts of a silver piece' e g c II'mg the elgh ' �? part of an �)Unce a penny, you may, in fact, set moneY as hi it :s lOU pleasr [Some Cons,derations of tlJe ondo�' 7�8, pp. 54, 58.] In reply to Consequences of the Lowering of Inte�est Lowndes, Locke declared that the rise. �i' the mar et rnce above the mint price was not brought about by increase the �alue of .sl!ver, �ut by a d.ecrease in the weight of the silver coins." Sevent _::ven cl kP�d sh�llmgs did �ot weigh more than 62 shillings of standard wei ht' .; II Loc � IS <J.Ult� co.rrect I.n emphasising that, irrespective of the loss of sil�er su��:r:d btb; e �oms I� clrcl!latIon, a ce.rtain rise in the market price of silver bullion over �lInt pnce might occur m England, because the export of silver bullio::S :')s rer;:'lltted whereas that of silver coin was prohibited (see I .e. , pp. 54- 1 1 6 p i . � e takes good car� to avoid the vital issue of the national debt just as he u ly pr��ently refral�s from discussing another ticklish economic �roblem i ' �h acco� mg t? the eVidence. o� both the exchan�e rate and the ratio of sil;er �ulli�� to. Sllver com, the depreCIatIOn of the money m circulation was b no m�.ns prop.ortI?n� to the amount of silver it had actually lost. We shall ret:m t s q�est�n I.n ItS general f?rm in the section dealing with the medium of cir�ulat: �' n D,s�ourse Concerning Coining the New Money Lighter, in answer to Mr Loc� 01�''d�;:pont etc., London , 1 696, Nicholas . ICU t ground. Barbon vainly sought to entice ' Lock: �� * Steuart, I.e., Vol. II.' p. 1 56. . . " ** The Quenst, ' I.e. InCIdentally, the section "Q�enes on Money IS rather witty. Among other things it contains the true ' obsen:atIon that the development of the North American colonies "makes it PIal� as daylight, that gold and silver are not so necessary for the wealth of a �� .. t": �i �s t e vulgar of all ranks imagine." [The text in quotes is in English in the o � . "an
n tio la cu ir C e pl m Si or ey on M o. w T er pt Cha
3 17
e th s se fu n co , d an h e n o e th n o r, o th au e th e, g sa as p is th In e h er th o e th n o d an , ce ri p f o d ar d an st e th h it w e u al v f o re su ea f o s m n a e m as d n a e u al v f o re su ea m as er lv si r o ld o g s se confu s al et m s u o ci re p r fo d te u it st b su e b n ca s en k to se au ec B . n o ti la u circ s en k to e es th at th es d u cl n co ey el k er B , n o ti la u rc ci f o e er h sp e th in e. u al v f o t p ce n co ct ra st ab e th . e i. , g in h ot n t n se re p re rn tu r ei in th y ll fu so as w ey n o m f o d ar d an al st The theory of the esnoSmteinuar t o n e ar ey th s er w o ll fo is h at th t, am J ir S y b d te ra o ab el d n fi n ca im h w o n k t o n o d ey th ce aware of being follreowsseriosn sinnor even a new example. He writes: neither a new exp arbitrary scale of equal parts, invented
an an th e or m no is t un co ac of ey on a "M ite qu is t n u co ac of ey on M . le ib nd ve gs in th of e lu va e tiv ec sp re e th ng ri su ea m gh ou th al r t, fo is ex ht ig m it d an * e, ic pr is Y-CO IN ,a which NE O M om fr g in th r t fo en nt er le ff va di ui eq l na tio or op pr a be d ul co as ld or w e th in e nc ta bs su ch su o n as e w th to e er rd th ga re h it w ce fi of e m sa e th s m or rf pe t un co ac of ey on M y. it od m m co as y or er , es ev gl an to rd ga re ith w do , c. et s, nd co se , es ut in m s, ee gr de at th , gs in th of n io e at lu in va m no de e m sa e th , ns io nt ve in e es th l al In e. et s, ap m al ic ph ra og ge to do ly es le al so sc g in be ns io nt ve in e es th l al of ss ne ul ef us he T . it un e th r fo n ke ta s ay w al no is ve ha n ca ey on m in it un e th so st Ju n. tio or op pr of ng ki ar m e th to ed in be ot conf nn ca it y sa to is at th e, lu va of rt pa y an to n tio or op pr e at in rm te de le ab r. ri ve inva oe ts ha w ity od m m co r he ot y an or , er lv si , ld go of y tit an qu ar ul ic rt pa y an to e th s A fixed e. lu va st te ea gr e th to nd ce as , it g in ly tip ul m by n, ca e w d, xe fi ce on it un s ce The an st um rc ci of n tio na bi m co l ra ne ge a on up s nd pe de es iti od m m co of as value ed er id ns co be to t gh ou it , en m of s ie d to the fanc e th relative to themselvesspan es us nf co or bs ur st di ch hi w ng hi yt an r ect to one anothe ; the means of a general, determinate changing only with reange by n tio or op pr of s ch e os th ng l ua eq ascertaini of e al sc l ea id an is ey on M e. ad tr to swer and invariable scale, mduswthabet ouhughrttfutol be an I ? rt pa e on of e lu va rd da an st e th parts. If it be demandeestion: What is the standard length of a degree, a minute, a by putting another qubut so soon as one part becomes determined, by the nature of second? It has none, ust follow in proportion. Examples of this ideal money are the a scale, all the rest m Amsterdam and that of Angola, on the African coast. " ** money of the bank of pears in the sphere of
ap it y e n o m rs e d si n co ly p m si Steuart If t. n u co ac of ey on m s a d n a ce d of pri circulation, i.e. as stsanardar e iv ct e sp re s. 6 3 d n a s. 0 2 , s. 15 t a d te o u q e ie it d o m m co t n re diffe er lv si e th th o b e lu a v ir e th f o n so ri a p m co a in n e th , st li ce ri p a in ly t. n a v le re ir e it u q d e e d in e ar e m a content. of the shillinxgpreanssdeditsinnthe numerical relations of 15 , 20 Everything is now e eral one has become the sole unit of measure. and 36, and the numexpression of a proportion is after all only the The purely abstract roportion. In order to be consistent, Steuart abstract numerical p ndon not only gold and silver but also their therefore had to aba lish economists, price is used as
ng E y ur nt ce hnt ee nt ve se of ks or w e th * Here, as in . nt le va ui eq te re nc co a of e ns se in the 2- 07 . 10 . p p , II . ol V ., I.e t, ar eu St ** d. E .nt le va ui eq an m er G s it r te af ts ke ac br in rm te h lis ng E is th s ve gi x ar a M
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
" .. .The state gained considerabl u on th� scor� of t�xes, as well as the creditors upon their capitals and intIrest and t e natl°n, whIe� was the principal loser, was pleased; because their standard" (the standard of theIr own value) "was not debased." *
Steuart believed that in the course of. further development of commerce the nation would become WIser' But he was wrong. Sorne 1 20 years later the same quid p quo was repeated. Very fittingly it Bisho Berkel was mystical f ey, the advocate ? .Idealism in English philosoph wh� gave the doctrme of the nominal standard of n a t���r�lCal twist, which the practical SECRETARY TO THE TREAS:� ::d omI te to do. Berkeley says: "Whether the terms livre, pound sterling, cr wn. ete ., are not to be considered as mere denominations of proportions :>. " (I.e. prop�rtlons of abstract value as such) . . "And whether ro
0
'
gold " silver and paper are not tickets. or counters for reckomng . recordmg and transferring there P" ,(.0f th� proportion of value). "Whether powd to command the industr of o�h�rs (soclal labour) "be not real wealth? And . ' and recordmg such whether money be not in �ruth , t'Iekets or tokens for conveymg power, and whether it be of great consequence what materials the tickets are made of?" **
. . contains 60 times as much silver' All ��� ca� d� �s t? gIve a less quantity of silver the stamp and denomination of a r r �. tis sllve� �nd not names that pay debt� and purchase commodities. T;e raisi�g m� but gIVIng of names at pleasure to ahquot parts of a silver piece' g call"m��he elgh�? part of an ounce a penny, you may, in fact, set money as �igh as Y please. [ Some Considerations of the. Consequences of the Lowering Of 1 Interes . . . , London 1768 pp. 54 , 58 . ] In reply to ' . ' f th e rarket pnce above the mint price was Lowndes, Locke declared that the rise � no� brought about by "an increase in he �a ue of .sllver, but by a decrease in the weIght of the silver coins " SeventJ�:��e��I k��d sh�lings did �ot weigh more than Ult� co.rrect I.n emphasising that, ?2 shillings of standard .:veight. q Irrespective of the loss of silver sufferld bth the �oms I� clrc�lIatlon, a certain rise in the market price of silver bullion over e �lInt pnce mIght occur in England . � e because the export of silver d bulli er er in f te at a as h o as lt lv w th co w si m : r : : C;: 4 prohibited (see I. e. , pp. 5 - 1 16 P si ) ' ke takes good care to avoid .the vi. tal ' f from dlscussmg Issue of th. e . national debt, J'ust as h. e equaliy prudentl re rams Y . another tlckhsh economic probl��' I.� �h/t acco:dmg t? the evidence of both the exchange rate and the ratio of :er u Ion to. sliver com, the depreciation of the money in circulation was b no :-ns prop.ortl?na� to the amount of silver it had actually lost. We shall ret!rn to :� :��t�n I.n Its general f?rm i� �he section dealing �ith the medium of circulat n ' D!S�ourse Concermng Commg the New Money LIghter, in answer to Mr' Lock '��0;Sld 7flOnt etc., London, 1696, Nicholas . Barbon vainly sought to entice Lock: 0 JI IeU t ground. * Steuart, I.e., Vol. II. p. 156. . . ' I.e. InCIdentally the section "Q�enes on Money" IS rather witty. ** The Quenst, Among other things it contains the true ob�er�atlon that the development of the North American colonies "makes I' t PIal'� as ayhght, that gold and silver are not so necessary for the wealth of a .. ' s t e vulgar of all ranks imagine." [The text in quotes is in English in the o�f����i.� ..
IS
'
n o ti la cu ir C le p m Si or ey n o M . Chapter Two
3 17
e th s se fu n o c , d n a h e n o e th n o , r o th u a e th , e g a ss a p I n thisof value with the standard of price, and on the other hef measuseres gold or silver as measure of value and asiomuseamnes taols onfuation . Because tokens can be substituted for prec �ircule sphere of circulation, Berkeley concludes that these toakluenes. in their turn represent nothing, i. e . the abstract concept of v y in th theory of the nominal standard of money was so full t o n e r a The y e th s r e w o ll fo is h t a th , rt a u te S es m a J ir S y b elaboratedbeing followers since they do not know him can find aware ofa new expression nor even a new example. He writes: neither d te n ve in , ts ar p al u eq f o e al sc re than an arbitrary
unt is no mo e a it u q is t n u co ac "Money of accore f o ey n o M . le ib d n ve s g in th f o e lu va ve ti ec sp e th g for measurining from MONEY-COlN,' which is price,* and it might exist,ivalalthenotufoghr different th such substance in the world as could be a proportional equ d to the there was noodity. Money of account performs the same office with regar s, or as every comm s, that degrees, minutes, seconds, ete., do with regard to angle ation value of thing ographical maps, ete. In all these inventions, the same denomin ly scales do to ge for the unit. The usefulness of all these inventions being sole o is always takene marking of proportion. Just so the unit in money can have n confined to th inate proportion to any part of value, that is to say it cannot be. invariable determcular quantity of gold, silver, or any other commodity whatsoevere fixed to any partixed, we can, by multiplying it, ascend to the greatest value. As th s The unit once fi dities depends upon a general combination of circumstance value of commo lves and to the fancies of men, it ought to be considered as relative to themseh respect to one another; anything which disturbs or confuses the changing only wit changes of proportion by the means of a general, determinate ascertaining those e, must be hurtful to trade. Money is an ideal scale of equal and invariable scalanded what ought to be the standard value of one part? I answer parts. If it be dem question: What is the standard length of a degree, a minute, af by putting anothere, but so soon as one part becomes determined, by the nature o second? It has non must follow in proportion . Exam ples of this ideal money are the a scale, all the rest of Amsterdam and that of Angola, on the African coast." ** money of the bank f o e r e h sp e th in rs ea p p a it oney as
m s r e d si n o c ly p m si t r a u te S If t. n u o cc a of ey n o m s a d n a ce ri p of rd a d n a st s a . e i. , n o e v circulati ti c e sp e r s. 6 3 d n a . s 0 2 ., s 5 1 t a d te o u q e r a s ie it d o m different com en in a comparison of their value both the silver ly in a price list, thilling and its name are indeed quite irrelevant. content" of the sh expressed in the n umerical relations of 1 5 , 20 Everything is nonwumeral one has become the sole unit of measure . and 36, and the act expression of a proportion is after all only the The purely abstral proportion. I n order to be consistent, Steuart abstract numeric abandon not only gold and silver but also their therefore h ad to d se u is ce ri p , ts is m o n o ec sh li g n ry E tu en -c th en te n ve se f o s rk o w e th * Here, as in crete equivalent. in the sense ofI. ea.,coVnol. II , pp. 102-07. * * Steuart, Ed. t. n le a iv u q e an m er G s it r te af s et ck ra b in rm te sh li g n E is th a Marx gives
3 18
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
legal designations. . But since he does not understand how the measure of. value IS transfo:med into the standard of price, he natu�ally thmks tha� the partICular quantity of gold which serves as a umt of measure .I�, as a measure, related to values as such, and not t� other quantItIes of gold. Because commodities appear to be magmt�des of .the same denomination as a result of the converSIOn of theIr exchange values into prices, Steuart denies that the measure po�sess.es the quality which reduces commodities to the s��e denommatIOn, and since in this comparison of different 9uantItIes of gold the .quantity of gold which serves as a standard IS a matter of con�entIOn, he denies that it must be established at al1. Instead of calhng a 360th part of a circle a degree he might call a 180th part a degree; the right angle would then m�asure not 90 degrees but 45, and the measurements of acute and obtuse angles would change correspon�ingly. Nevertheless, the measure of the a�gle �ould remam fIrstly a qualitatively determined mathe�atIcal fI�ure, the circle, and secondly a quantitatively determmed sectIOn of t�e circle. As for Steuart's economic examples o�e of these dIsproves his own assertions, the other proves nothmg at al1. The money of the Ba nk of Amsterdam was m �act only. the name of account for Spanish doubloons, which retamed theIr s�andard �eight because they lay idle in the vaults of the ban�, whI!e the .co.ms w�ich busily circulated lost weight as a res�lt of. mt�nsIVe fnctIon WIth their environment. As for the Afncan Ideahsts, we must !eave them to their fate until critical account� by travellers prOVIde further information about them. * On� mIght say that the French assignat 37 " National property A:zgnment of 1 00 francs " is ?early ideal money in Steuart's sense � T e . use value WhICh th� asslgnat was supposed to represent, i.e . . tIv. e confIsc. .ated land, wa. s mdeed specified, but the quantIta defmitIon of the umt .of measure had been omitted and "franc" was therefore a meanmgless word. How much or little land this franc. repres�nted depended on the outcome of public auctions �ut m practIce th� assignat circulated as a token representini sIlver money, �nd Its depreciation was consequently measured in terms of thIS sIlver standard. The period when the Bank of England suspended cash
. . * I n con?ectIon �Ith the . last commercial crisis a certain faction in En land ardently praIse� the Ideal A�
�
rlCan money after moving its location on this occ sion . from the coast Into the Intenor of Barbary. It was declared that becaus e their BARS . �ns . u.ted an Ide al meas?re, the Berbers had no commercial and industrial crises. ou It not have been sI�pler to say that commerce and industry are the conditio . qua non for com . sme mercIal and Industrial crises?
��
319
ly more prolific of war bulletins than of payments was hard monetary theories.69 The depreciation of bank notes and the rise e caused some of the market price of gold above its mintofpric defenders of the Bank to revive the doctrine the ideal measure expres of money. Lord Castlereagh found the classica11y confusedstan sion for this confused notion when he declared that the dard of money is "A SENSE OF VALUE IN REFERENCE TO CURRENCY AS COMPARED WITH COMMODITIEs··.a
0 7 when the situation s Pari of aty Tre the r afte s A few year ch permitted the resumption of cash payments, the problem whi Lowndes had broached during the reign of William III arosea again in practica11y the same form. A huge national debt andmu mass of private debts, fixed obligations, etc. , which had accuated lated in the course of over 20 years, were incurred in depreci of bank notes. Should they be repaid in bank-notes £4,672 lOs.arat which represented, not in name but in fact, 100 lbs. of 22-cndes Low gold? Thomas Attwood, a Birmingham banker, acted like a retu redivivus.b He advocated that as many shi11ings should be rned ording to the creditors as they had nomina11t: lent, but whereas acc d was to the old monetary standard, say /78 of an ounce of gol be called known as a shilling, now perhaps 1/90 of an ounce should mingham a shilling. Attwood's supporters3 are known as the Birthe ideal school of "little shillingmen ". 6 The quarrel about ied on standard of money, which began in 181 9, was still carr far asinit 1845 by Sir Robert Peel and Attwood, whose wisdom in so marised concerns the function of money as a measure is fu11y sum in the following quotation: In his polemic with the Birm ingham Chamber of Commerce, Sir Robert Peel asked, What will your pound note represent? What is a pound? What, conversely, is to be understood by the present standard of value? Is [3 17s. 101/2d. an ounce of gold, or is it its value? If it be an ounce of gold, why not call things by their proper names, and, instead of saying pounds, shillings and pence, say ounces, pen nyweights and grains? Then we revert to direct system of barter. ... Or is it the [3 1 7s. 10 1/2 d., why was it worth at different times now [5 4s. value? If an ounce now [3 1 7s. 9d? .. The expression pound (£) has reference to value, but not to the value fixed in an unchangeable weight unit of gold. The term pound is the ideal unit.... Labour is the substance to which the production costs can be reduced and it gives the relative value to gold or iron. Therefore, whatever the particular names of account used to express the daily or weekly labour of a man, such names express the value of the commodity produced.* =
* The Currency Question , the Gemini Letters, 36 London, 1844, pp. 268-72 passim.
a
b
Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 74, London, 1844 , p. 725. - Ed. Resurrected.- Ed.
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
The hazy notion about the ideal measure of money fades away in the last words and its real mental content becomes clear. Pound shilling, etc., the names of account of money; are said to be name� representing definite quantities of labour time. Since labour time is the substance and the inherent measure of value the names thus indeed express the value relations themselves. In 'other words it is asserted th�t l�bour time is the real standard of money. Here we leave �he Blrmmg�am school and merely note in passing that �he doctnne of the Ideal measure of money has gained new Importance in connection with the controversy over the converti bility or non-convertibility of bank notes. While the denomination ?f �aper is based .o.n gold or silver, the convertibility of the note, I.e . Its exchangeabilIty for gold or silver, remains an economic law regardless of what juridical law may say. For instance, a Prussian paper .thal�r,. although legally inconvertible, would immediately depreCiate If m everyday commerce It. were worth less than a silver thaler, that is if it were not convertible in practice. The consistent advocates of inconvertible paper money in Britain, therefore, had recourse to the ideal standard of money. If the denominations of money, pound, shilling and so on , are names for a determinate amount of particles of value, of which sometimes more sometimes less are either absorbed or lost by a commodity 'when it is exchange� for oth�r �ommo�ities, then the value of an English [5 not� , for lI�stance, . IS Just as lIttle affected by its relation to gold as by ItS relatIOn to Iron and cotton. Since its designation would no longer equate the bank note in theory to a determinate quantity of gold or of any �ther commodity, its very concept would preclude t�e demand f�r Its convertibility, that is for its equation in practice with a determmate quantity of a specific thing. 1oh,,! Gray was the first to set forth the theory that labour time is the direct . measure of money in a systematic way. * He proposes that a natIon�1 central bank �hould ascertain through its branches the !�bour time expended m the production of various com modities. In exchange for the commodity, the producer would John Gray, The Social System. A Treatise on the Principle of Exchange , Edinburgh, 1 83 1 . Cj. the same author's Lectures on the Nature and Use of Money, Edinburgh, 1 848. Afte� .the February [1848] Revolution, Gray sent a memorandum to the French ProvISIonal Government in which he explains that France did not need an "ORGANISATION OF LA �OUR '" but an "ORGANISATION OF EXCHANGE'", the plan for which was ful!y worked out m the monetary system he had invented. The worthy John had no mklIng that sixteen y�ars after the publication of The Social System , the ingenious Proudhon would be takmg out a patent for the same invention. *
a The original has "gold .- Ed. "
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
321
eceive an official certificate of its value, i.e. a receipt for as much note of one �abour time as his commodity contains,* and this bank rve at labour week, one labour day, one labour hour, etc., would s:valen t. t. he same time as an order to the bank to hand over anes.eqUI any of the other commodities stored in its warehous ** ThIS' IS ��e basic principle, which is scrupulousl� w�rke? o� t in detail and modelled throughout on existing EnglIsh mstItutIons , Gray says that under this system "to sell for money may be rendered, at all times, �recisely as easy as i� .now is to buy with money; ... production would become the umform and never-fallmg cause of demand". ***
The precious metals would l�s� their "privileged" position in comparison with other commodItIes and
"take their proper place in the market beside butter and eggs, and �Ioth and . calico, and then the value of the precious metals Will concern us Just as httle ... as the value of the diamond". **** "Shall we retain our fictitious standard of value, gold, and thus keep the productive resources of the country in bondage? or, shall. we resort to the natural standard of value, labour, and thereby set our productive resources free.";l " *****
Since labour time is the intrinsic measure of value, why use another extraneous standard as well? Why is exchange v�l�e transformed into price? Why is the value of .all co�modItIes computed in terms of an exclusive commodity, �hlCh thu� becomes the adequate expression of exchange value, I.� . money. This was the problem which Gray had to solve. But mst�ad of solving it, he assumed that commodities . could be directly compared with one another as products of sOCial labo�� . But they are only comparable as the things they .are: �Omm?dltIeS are the direct products of isolated independent mdlvl�ual, �mds of labour, a.l}d through their alienation in the course of mdlvldual exchange •
Gray, The Social System etc., p. 63. "Mo.ney should be merely a receip� , an evidence that the holder of it has either contnbuted a cert.am value to the national stock of wealth, or that he has acquired a .right t� the said value from some one who has contributed to it." [Marx quotes m EnglIsh.] . . ** "An estimated value being previously put upon produ ce, lety be lodged m a . bank, and drawn out again whenever it is required;. merely stlpulatmg, ?y common consent, that he who lodges any kind of property m the prop? se� National Ba? k, may take out of it an equal value of whatever it may �?ntam, mst�ad of bemg obliged to draw out the self-same thing that he put m. L.e., pp. 67-68. [Marx quotes in English.J *** L.e., p. 16. **** Gray, Lectures on Money etc., p. 1 82. ** ** * L.e . , p. 169. *
•
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Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
theY must prove t.hat they are general social labour, in other wo�ds, on the basIs of commodity production labour becomes . ' sO CI al la bo ur on l as a e unIversal alienation of ·IndIV" IduaI k'mds Yf labourre. suB ltut ofas th G ra y pr es up po s that the . l�bour ti' me contam' ed m commodities is immediately se so ci bour t�me, he p.resupposes t.hat it is communal labour time oral lalabo ur Im e of dI ectly .assoCIated individuals. In that case it UId � ; I�deed be ImpossIble for a specific commodity, such 'as g�� r SI �er, to confront other commodities as the incarnation �f u�lVersal lab�)Ur and exchange value would not be turned into pr�e; but neither .would use value be turned into exchange value an th e. product .mto a commodity, and thus the ver baSIS. of Y bourgeoIs produc . ti on would be abolished. But thi'S IS bY no means . . h t Gray has mmd --:-.goods are to be produced commodities but :.ot exch�nged com.modttzes. Gray entrusts the realisation of this pIOUS WISh to a national bank. On the one hand, SOCI.ety m. the sha�� . f the b.ank makes the individuals independent of the con ItIons f .pnvate exchange" and on the other h and It. causes them to contmue to produce on the basis of private �xchan e Althoug� Gray merely wants "to reform " the mone evolved � . co�modIty exchange, �e is compelled by the intrinsi[logic of th sU Ject-matter to repudIate one condition of bourgeois productio � n . . . after an ot h er . Thus he turns capItaI mto natIOnal capital ' * and . . I and mto national property ** and . if h I ' S b k IS' exammed carefuIIy It' WI'II. be seen ��at it not only receives an co m s with �n e h:n d . an� Issues certIfICates for labour supplied wmithodthiteieot �t t a� It �!rccts production itself. In his last work Lecturesheor� oney, ;n � Ich G:ay seeks timidly to present hi s la bo �r money as reform, he gets tangled u p in even more ;Ia��::/absu��1���� r c�:;��d�7 is i��ediately money; this is Gray's thesis wh�;� he s �m �IS mc.o�plet� and hence incorrect analysis of commodities; T e , organIc prOject of "labour money" "nat'IOna.I bank' and "warehouses " IS. merely a fantasy in whichanda dogma IS rnade to app�ar as a Iaw f unIv' ersal validity. The . mediately mon dog�a that a commodIty IS. Im e or th at th e o � a � ri va te in d iv id u al co � f ���f:;el:���ra� Ia our, oes not of course becontm�enetrdueinbecait is use 0
III
0
as
as
0
0
* "The business of every country ought . to b e co n uc d te d on a na tional capital" (John Gray, 'T' " he Son.aI System etc" p 1 7 1 ) . [Marx qu . ' EnglIsh ] otes In ** "Th I d 0 be transformed' into na tional property" (I. e., �. 29 8) . [Marx quotes in �n 17sh.
; ;
323
bank believes in it and conducts its operations in accordance with this dogma. On the contrary, bankruptcy would in such a case fulfil the function of practical criticism. The fact that labour money is a pseudo-economic term, which denotes the pious wish to get rid of money, and together with money to get rid of exchange value, and with exchange value to get rid of com modities, and with commodities to get rid of the bourgeois mode of production, this fact, which remains concealed in Gray's work and of which Gray himself was not aware, has been bluntly expressed by several British socialists, some of whom wrote earlier than Gray and others later. * But it was left to M. Froudhon and his school to declare seriously that the degradation of money and the exaltation of commodities was the essence of socialism and thereby to reduce socialism to an elementary misunderstanding of the inevitable correlation existing between commodities and money.**
it
2. MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE
When, as a result of the establishing of prices, commodities have acquired the form in which they are able to enter circulation and gold has assumed its function as money, the contradictions latent in the exchange of commodities are both exposed and resolved by circulation. The real exchange of commodities, that is the social metabolic process, constitutes a transformation in which the dual nature of the commodity commodity as use value and as exchange value manifests itself; but the transformation of the commodity itself is, at the same time, epitomised in certain forms of money. To describe this transformation is to describe circula tion. Commodities, as we have seen, constitute fully developed exchange value only when a world of commodities and conse quently a really developed system of division of labour is presupposed; in the same manner circulation presupposes that acts of. exchange are taking place everywhere and that they are being continuously renewed. It also presupposes that commodities enter into the process of exchange with a determinate price, in other words that in the course of exchange they appear to confront one another in a dual form really as use values and nominally (in the price) as exchange values. * See, e.g., W. Thompson, An Inquiry into the Distribution of Wealth etc., London, 1824; Bray, Labour's Wrongs and Labour's Remedy, Leeds, 1 839. ** Alfred Darimon, De la reforme des banques, Paris, 1856, can be regarded as a compendium of this melodramatic monetary theory.
324
325
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
The busiest streets of London are crowded with shops whose show . cases display all . the riches of the world, Indian shawls, Ame!"ICan revolvers, ChInese porcelain, Parisian corsets, furs from RussIa a.nd spice� from the tropics, but all of these worldly things bear .OdIOUS, whIte paper labels with Arabic numerals and then l�comc .symbols £ s. d. This is how commodities are presented in CIrculatIon.
the other phase, and the entire circuit forms the curriculum vitae of the commodity. But the cycle C M C represents the complete metamorphosis of an individual commodity only because it is at the same time an aggregate of definite partial metamor phoses of other commodities. For each metamorphosis of the first commodity is its transformation into another commodity and therefore the transformation of the second commodity into the first; hence it is a double transformation which is carried through during a single stage of the cycle. To start with, we shall separately examine each of the two phases of exchange into which the cycle C M C is resolved. C M or sale: C, the commodity, enters the sphere of circulation not just as a particular use value, e.g. a ton of iron, but as a use value with a definite price, say £3 17s. 10 i/2d., or an ounce of gold. The price while on the one hand indicating the amount of labour time contained in the iron, namely its value, at the same time signifies the pious wish to convert the iron into gold, that is to give the labour time contained in the iron the form of universal social labour time. If this transformation fails to take place, then the ton of iron ceases to be not only a commodity but also a product; since it is a commodity only because it is not a use value for its owner, that is to say his labour is only really labour if it is useful labour for others, and it is useful for him only if it is abstract general labour. It is therefore the task of the iron or of its owner to find that location in the world of commodities where iron attracts gold. But if the sale actually takes place, as we assume in this analysis of simple circulation, then this difficulty, the sal�o mortale of the commodity, is surmounted. As a result of thIS alienation that is its transfer from the person for whom it is a non-use value to the person for whom it is a use value the ton of iron proves to be in fact a use value and its price is simultaneously realised, and merely imaginary gold is converted into real gold. The term "ounce of gold", or £3 17s. lO i/2d., has now been replaced by an ounce of real gold, but the ton of iron has gone. The sale C M does not merely transform the commodity which by means of the price was nominally turned into gold reall� into gold, but gold, which as measure of value was only nomInally money and in fact functioned only as the money . name of commodities, is through the same process transformed Into actual money.* As gold became nominally the universal equivalent,
a. The Metamorphosis of Commodities
Clo�e� examination .sho�s that the ci�culation process comprises ' two dIStInct types of CIr.cUIt: If commodIties are denoted by C and money by M, the two CIrCUIts may be represented in the following way: C
M
M
C
C
M.
In this secti?n w� are solely concerned with the first circuit, that is the one �hI�h dIrectly expresses commodity circulation . The CIrCUIt C M C may be divided into the movement C �, the exchange of commodities for m on ey , or opp�s�te movement M C, the exchange of money fosarle;cothme modItIes, or purchase; and the unity of the two movements C M C, exchange f co modities for m on o. ey � so as to change . money for cOmmOdItIes: In �ther words, selling in ex order to purchase. The outcome In whICh the tran sa ct io . n terminates is C C, I.e . exchange of one commodity fo r an ot he r, actual exchange of matter. C M C, �hen considered from the poin t of de rture of the first com�odIty, represents . its conversion into mpa on ey reconversIOI? fr0t? money Into commodity; that is to ansady itas mov�ment In WhICh at the outset the commodity appears as a partICular use value, then sheds this form of existence and ass�mes t�a.t of exch�nge value or universal equivalent which is entIrely dIStInCt from ItS natural form finaJly it sheds this as well and e� erges as a �eal use value which can serve particular needs. In thIs last form It drops out of the sphere of circulation and enters that of consumption. Thus to begin with, the whole circuit of C M .C represe�l ts �he entire series of metamorphoses through w�Ich every IndI.VIdual commodity passes in order to become a d�rect use value �or its owner. The first metamorphosis takes place In C M, the fIrst phase of the circuit; the second in
M
C,
* "Money is of two kinds: ideal and real; and it �s us.ed for two �lif.ferent purposes: to valuate things and to buy them. For valuatIon, Ideal money IS Just as
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because the values of all commodities were measured in term gold, so now, as a result of the u niversal alienation of commod s of in . exch�nge for i� - a?d t�e sale C - M is the procedure by ities thIS umvers�l alIenatIOn IS accomplI. shed - does it becom which absolutely alIenated commodity, i.e. real money. But gold b e the real mo��y through sal�, onl� because the exchange va ecomes comI?odltIes expressed m pnces were already convertedlues of into nommal gold. . During the sale C M, and likewise during the purchase two commodities, i. e . units of exchange value and use M C' confront . each other; bu� in the case o� the commodity ex value value eXIsts merely nommally as It. S pnce, whereas in th chang� gold, although it has real use value, its use value merely ree case of p re se n ts x ch an g e va lu e and is therefore merely a formal use value which � IS not related to any real individual need. The contradictio val.ue and exchange-value is thus polarised at the two n of use pomts of C M, so that With regard to gold the co extreme represents use. value whose n?mm. al exchange value, the pmmodity has to be realIsed m. gold; wIth regard to the commodit rice, still other h�nd, gold represents exchange value whose foy, on the value st.IlI . has t? acqUIr. e a material form in the commo rmal use contradICtIons mherent m. the exchange of commo dity. The resol�ed only by reason of this duplication of the comdities are that It appears a.s comm?dIt. y and �old, and again by wmodity so dual a?d oppo�Ite . relatIon m. WhICh each extreme is ay of the �here Its OpposIte IS real, and real where its opposite is nnoommininaall, m other. �ords t�ey are resolved only by means of p resenting cOmmOdItIes as bIlateral polar opposites. So far . we . have regarded C M as a sale, as the convers commodIty mto money. But if we consider it from the ion of a then the same transaction appears, on the contrary, asother side M u r h as e, the c�nversion of money into a commodity. A saleC, is� p � mevItab�y and sImultaneously its opposite, a purchase; it is the �ormer If on� looks at the transaction from If one sees It from the other. In other wonoerdsis,dethane d the latter difference ?e.t�e� n the transactions is in reality merel mI�IatI�e comes fr?m the side of the commoyditthyatorinofC M the whIle m M C It comes from the side of money the seller or of the good ,as real. money, and pr<:>�ably even ?etter. The other use of money is to buy th� very �hlJ�gs for the prICing of whICh it serves.... Prices and contracts are estImated In Ideal money and are realised in real money" (Galiani, I.e., p. 1 1 2 et seq.). [Marx quotes in Italian.]
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
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purchaser. When we des�rib� the first metamorphosis of �he commodity, its transformatIon mto money, as the result of the fIrst phase of the circuit, we simultaneously pre�uppose that anoth�r commodity has already been converted . mt� money and IS therefore now in the second phase of the CIrc�I� , M C: W.e . are thus caught up in a vicious circle of presuppoSItIOns. Th.IS VICIOUS circle is indeed circulation itself. If we do not regard A! m C M as belonging to the metamorphosis of another c�mmo�lty, then. w� isolate the act of exchange from the process of CIrculatIon. But If It is separated from the process, . �he p�ase C M disappears and there remain only two commodltles WhICh �onfront e�c? other, for instance iron and gold, whose exchange IS not a dIs�mct part of the cycle but is direct barter. At the place. where gold. IS produced, it is a commodity like any other COmm?dI�y, Its relatIve valu.e and that of iron or of any other commodIty IS there reflected m th.e quantities in which they ar� exchanged for o�e ano�her. But thIS transaction is presupposed m the process of CIrcula�I?n, the value of gold is already given in the prices of cOI?�odltles. It would therefore be entirely wrong to assume that w.l�hln . the framewo:k of circulation, the relation of gold and commodltles . IS that o� dIrect barter and that consequently their relative value IS determlI�ed by their exchange as simple commodities. It seems as though m t?e process of circulation gold were. ex:cha? ged � erel� as a commodIty for other commoditi�s, but thIS IllUSIOn anses sImply because a definite quantity of a given commodity is e�lu.ali.sed by means . of prices with a definite quantity of gold: that IS It IS compa:ed WIth gold as money, the universal equivalent, and co�equently It can ?e directly exchanged for gold. In so far as the pnce of a commodIty is realised in gold, the commodity is exchanged f?r gold .as a commodity, as a particular materiali�ation of. labou.r u�e; but m so far as it is the price of the commodIty that IS realIsed m gold, the commodity is exchanged for gold as mon�y . a�d not as a comm' odity, i.e. for gold as the general m�tenalIsauon of l�bo�r time. But the quantity of .gold !or . w.hICh the commodIty IS exchanged in the process of CIrculatIon IS m both cases determmed not by means of exchange, but the exchange is determine? by the price of the commodity, by its exchange value calculated m terms of gold.* This does not, of course, prevent the market price of commo?ities from rising , outSide the sphere f above or falling below their value, But this consideration hes ,? , simple circulation and belongs to quite a different sphere to be exa� Ined later, In which context we shall discuss the relation of value and market pnce, *
32 8
.
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
•
W�thin the process of circulation gold seems to be always a�qUIred as the result of a sale C M. But since C M, the sale, is sImultaneously M C, a purchase, it is evident that while C the com�odity which begins the process, undergoes its first meta�or phOSIS: the other commodity which confronts it as M from the ?pposlte extreme undergoes its second metamorphosis and accord mgly passes through the .second phase of the circuit while the first commodity is still in the first phase of its cycle. T�e outcome of the first stage of circulation , of the sale, �rovIdes money, the poin� of departure of the second stage. The flrs� form of t?e commodIty has now been replaced by its golden eqUIvalent. T.hls outcome may to begin with involve a pause, since the com�odIt� has now assumed a specific durable form. The commodIty WhICh was not a use value in the hands of its owner exists now in a form in which it is always useful because it can always be exchanged, and it depends on circumstances when and �t whi,ch poi.nt in the world of commodities it will again be thrown mto CI�culatIo�. The golden chrysalis state forms -an independent phase m the lIfe of the commodity, in which it can remain for shorter or longer period. The separation and independence of tha acts of purchase and sale is a general feature of the labour whi e c�eates exchange value, whereas in barter the exchange of onch d�screte use value is directly tied to the exchange of anoth e er dIscrete use value. The purchase, M C, is the reverse movement to C M and at the sa�e time the second or final metamorphosis of th commod�ty. Regard�d as gold or as the general equivalent, the commodIty can be dIrectly expressed in terms of the use values e all ot�er commodities, al� of which through their prices seek goof as �helr hereafter, and sImultaneously they indicate the key ld note WhICh must be sounded so that their bodies, the use values, shou change. over to .the money side, while their soul, the exchan ld value, IS . t�rn�d mto gold. The general result of the alienation ge c?mmodltIes �s the absolu�e!y alienated commodity. The conv of SIOn �f &,old . m�o commodItIes has n o qualitative limit but onlyer quantItatIve �ImI� , �he fact that the amount of gold, or the valu a e it represents, IS lImIted. Every�hing �an be obtained with read money. Whereas the commodIty realIses It, s own price and the u y se al u e of so m ' eone else s money through its alienation as a use value � m the movement C Af' it realises its own use value and the pri of the. other commodIty through its alienation as an exchan ce va�ue m the move�en� M C. Just as by the realisation of ge pnce, the commodIty SImultaneously turns gold into real moneyits ,
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so by its retransformation it converts gold into its (the commo�i ty's) own merely transitory money forT?' , ,Because commodIty circulation presupposes an advanced dIVISIOn of .lab?�r and therefore also a diversity of wants on the part of the mdlvI�ual, a diversity bearing an inverse relation to ,the nar:ow scope ?f hIS own production, the purchase . M C wIll , at tImes consIst . of. an equation with one com� odIty �s the eqUIvalen� , and at other tIm�s of a series of commodIty eqUIvalents determmed by the buyer s needs and the amount of money at his disposal. Just as a sale must at the same time be a purchase, so the purchase must �t th� same time be a sale; M - C is simultaneously C M, but m thIS case gold or the purchaser takes t�e i� itiative. . Returning to the complete CIrCUIt C M C, �e can �ee that �n it one commodity passes through the �ntIre sen�s of . ItS metamorphoses. But at the same time as thIS com�odIty begms the first phase of its circuit and undergoes the fIrst metamor phosis, another commodity commences the se�ond phase of the circuit, passes through its seco�d metamorphosIs and drops out of circulation; the first commodIty, on the other hand, enters the second phase of the circuit, passe� throug.h its se�ond metam�r phosis and drops out of circulatIon, whIle a thIrd. commodIty enters the sphere of circulation: passes through �he fIrst phase of its cycle and accomplishes the fIrst metamorphosIs. Thus th� total circuit C-M C representing the complete metamorphosIs of .a commodity is simultaneously the end of a c?mplete metamorphosIs of a second commodity and the begmnmg of a compl�te metamorphosis of a third commodity; it is. therefore . a. ser�es without beginning or end. To demonstrate thIS and to dIStIl1:gUIsh the commodities we shall use different symbols to denote C m the two extremes, e.g. C' M C". Indeed, the first term C' ft! presupposes that M is the outcome of anot�er .C M, and �s accordingly itself only . the l�,s� ter.m of t�e �IrcUIt C. M" C , while the second term M C Imphes that It wIll result m C - M, and constitutes the first term of the circuit C' M Cm, and so on. It is moreover evident, that, although M is the outcome of a single sale, the last term M C may take the for.m of M C' + M C"+ M Cm + and so forth; in other words It may be divided into numerous purchases, i.e. into numerous sales and hence numerous first terms of new complete metamorphoses of commodities. While in this way the complete metamorphosis of a single commodity forms not only a link of just one sequence of metamorphoses without beginning or end, but of � any s.uch sequences, the circulation of the world of commodItIes smce •
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Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
every individual commodity goes through the circuit C M C constitutes an infinitely intricate network of such series of mo�e��nts, which cons�antly end and constantly begin afresh at an mfImte number of dIfferent points. But each individual sale or purchase stands as an independent isolated transaction, whose complementary transaction, which constitutes its continuation does not need to fol.low immediately but may be separated from i� temporally and spatIally. Because every particular cycle C- M or M C representing the transformation of one commodity into use value. an� of another into money, i.e. the first and second phase of the CIrcUIt, forms a separate interval for both sides, and since on the �ther hand all commod�ties begin their second metamorphosis, �hat IS turn up at the startmg point of the circuit's second phase, m the form of gold, the general equivalent, a form common to them all : in the real �rocess of circulation any M C may follow , M, I.e. the second section of the life cycle of any any part�cular Ccommodity mar follow the first section of the life cycle of any other commodIty. For example, A sells iron for [2, and thus C- M or the first metamorphosis of the commodity iron has taken place, b�It for the time being A does not buy anything else. At the same time B, who had sold two quarters of wheat for [6 two weeks ago, buys a coat and trousers from Moses and Son with the same [6, and thereby completes M C or the second metan:orphosis of the commodity wheat. The two .transactions M- C and C M appear to be parts of the same sequence only because as M [mon�y or] gold, all co� modities look alike and gold does not look any dIfferent whether It represents transformed iron or transformed wheat. In the real process of circulation C- M C, theref�re, represents an exceedingly haphazard coincidence and SucceSSIOn of motley phases of various complete metamorphoses. The actual process of circulation appears, therefore, not as a complete metamorphosis of the commodity, i.e. not as its movement through opposite phases, but as a mere accumulation of numerous purchases and sales which chance to occur simultane ously or su �cessively. The process accordingly loses its distinct f?rm, espeCIall� as eac� individual transaction, e.g. a sale, is sImultaneously Its opposite, a purchase, and vice versa. On the other hand, the metamorphoses in the world of commodities constitute the process of circulation and the former must therefore b� reflected in the total movement of circulation . This reflection wIll be examined in the next section. Here we shall merely observe that the C at each of the two extremes of the circuit C M- C has a different formal relation to M. The first C is a particular
33 1
un�versal commodity which is compared with money asas the the umversal commodity, whereas in the second phase money mo dity. The commodity is compared with an individual com abstract formula C M C can therefore be reduced �toormthes the t logical syllogism P U I, w?ere particularity dle term firs and extreme, universality characterises the common mId individuality signifies the final extreme. " rely The commodity owners entered the sphere of Circulation me front one as guardians of commodities. Within this sphere they con one another in the antithetical roles of buyer and sells er, � g�r-l
* The following extract from M. Isaac Pereire's Lefons sur ['industrie et ,tes finances, Paris, 1832 , shows that delicate spirits can be deeply hurt even by the qUIte
superficial aspect of antagonism which is re�resented by pur��ase a� ? ��le. The fact that the same Isaac is the inventor and dictator of the Cred�t mob�her and as such a notorious wolf of the Paris stock exchange points to the .real significance of such sentimental criticism of political economy. M. Pereire, at that time an apostle , the ano one from d rate sepa and ted � isola are als vidu indi ce "Sin : says on, Sim of St. r thei of ts duc pro the e ang exch they n, ptio sum con r thei or ur labo r thei in ther whe . respective occupations. The necessity o.f exchanging things entails the necessity of e efor t�er re ge ha exc � an e valu of s Idea The e. � valu � tive rela r thei ning rmi dete . and ahsm vldl mdl of IOns ress exp are both form ent ! pres r thei in and ed link ely clos antagonism.... The value of products is �etermine� only because . there IS sale and s ber mem eren dlff een betw lsm go anta IS e � ther ause bec ds, wor er oth in � se, cha pur of society. Preoccupation with price a�d �a!ue eX.lsts only where there . IS sale and er to purchase, that is to say, where every m?lvldual IS co�pelle.d to fl,�ht m ord obtain the things necessary for the mamtenance of hiS eXistence (I.e. , pp. 2, 3 passim). [Marx quotes in French.]
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merely that the relations o f individuals to one an ot her should be those of commodity owners. An examination of the outcome of the circuit C that it dissolves into the exchange of C C. Com M C shows m exchanged for commodity, use value for use odity has been va lu e, and the transformation of the commodity into money, or th money, is merely an intermediary stage which h e commodity as el p s to bring about this metabolism. Money emerges thus as a mere medium of exchange o f commodities, not however as a m ed iu general, but a medium of exchange adapted m o f exchange in to th e process of circulation, i.e . a medium of circulation .* If , because the process o f circulation o f com modities ends in C C and therefore appears a s barter m er el y m ed ia ted by money, or because C M C in general does not only isolated. cycles but is simultaneously their d fall apart into two yn conclusIon were to be drawn that only the amic unity, the u n it y and not the separation o f purchase and sale exists, th m a�mer of thinking the criticism o f which belois would display a n lOgIc and not o f political economy. The divis gs to the sphere o f io n o f exchange into purchase and sale not only destroys locall traditionally pious and sentimentally absurd y evolved primitive, o b the way o f s�ial metabolism, but it also stacles standing in er� fragmentatIon of the assoCI.ated facto represents the gen rs theI� c�mstant confro? tation , in short it of this process and co n ta ins the general . . possIbihty of commercIal cnses, essentially b tion of commodity and money is the abstract ecause the contradic all contradictions inherent in the bourgeo and general form o f is m ode o f labour. Alt. hough circulation of money can occur ther cnses cannot occur without circulation o f efore without crises, m means that where labour based on individ oney. This simply even got as far as the formation of money, ual exchange has not able to produce phenomena that presuppose it is naturally still less a fu ll development of the bourgeois process of production. This g the degree o f profundity o f a criticism whic ives some measure o f h p ��e . : 'mal��ies" of bourgeois production roposes to remove b y abolishing the . p�Ivdeges o f preCIOUS metals and by intr ratIonal monetary system. A proposition repu oducing a so-called te d to be exceedingly clever may on the other h a n d serve as an example o f economic * "Money is only the medium and th e agency, whereas commodities that benefit life are the aim and purpos e. " Boisguillebert, Le detail de la France, 16 97 , in Eugene Daire's Economistes financiers du X VIII siecle, Vol. I, Paris, 1 84 3, p. [Marx quotes in French.] 2 l O. e
33 3
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
apologetics. James Mill, �he father of the well-known English economist John Stuart MIll, says: There can never be a lack of buyers for all commoditie.s. Who.ever offers a mmodity for sale wants to obtain another in exchange for It, and IS therefore a er through the mere fact of being a seller. Thus, t�e buyers �nd sellers of all co modities taken together must, through a metaphysICal necessity: balance each other. Hence if there are more sellers than buye�s �f one commodity, there must be more buyers than sellers of another commodity.
�� �
Mill establishes equilibrium by reducing the pr�)C�ss of circula tion to direct barter, but on the other hand he �nsmu�tes b� yer and seller, figures derived from the process of cIrculatIon, mto . ' direct barter. Using Mill s confusmg language one may .s�y that there are times when it is impossible to sell all commodItIeS, for instance in London and Hamburg during certain stages of the commercial crisis of 1 857/58 there were indeed more buyers than sellers of one commodity, i.e. money, and more sellers t��n buyers as regards all other forms of money, i.e. c�mmo�lt1es. The metaphysical equilibrium of purchases and sales IS confmed to the fact that every purchase is a sale and every sale a purc��se, but this gives poor comfort to the possessors of commodItl�s w�� unable to make a sale cannot accordingly make a purchase eIther. * A P�mphlet by William Spence entitled Britain Independent of Commerce was
•
' h ed m London I'n November 1 807 ' its thesis was further elaborated by publIS .. ' ' "Per�' sh William Cobbett in his Political Register under t�e more militant headm � Commerce". Against this James Mill wrote hiS Defence of Commerce: 2 .whlCh appe�red I'.n 1 808 '' in that work he already advances the argument whICh IS als? contamed I n the p assage quoted above from his Elements of Political Economy. ThiS ' h'IS P,?Iemic ingenious invention has been appropriated by J. B. Say, a�d u �ed � . . · di and Malthus on the question of commercial cnses, and agamst SIsmon . smce It ' ��e-whose me:1t consists was not dear which new idea this comical princ� de Ia sne rather in the impartiality with which he consistently. mlsmterpret�� hiS contem. poranes M alth us, Sismondi and Ricardo-has contnbuted to political economy, ' erer of the continental admirers have trumpeted him ab.r?ad. as the dISCOV invaluable proposition about a metaphysical eqUl�lbnum of purch;s�s and sal�� . ** The way in which economists describe the different aspects 0 t e commo Ity may be seen from the following examples: ' order t0 "With money in possession, we have but one exchange to rnak e m . secure the object of desire, while with other surplus pro�u�ts we ave t�o, the fI �� of which (securing the money) is infinitely more difficult t an t e secon (G. Opdyke A Treatise on Political Economy, New York, 185 1 , pp. 287-88). "The su�erior saleableness of money is the exact effect or natu.raI conseq ence of the less saleableness of commodities" (Thomas Corbet, An InqUiry mto the auses and Modes of the Wealth of Individuals, etc., London 184 1 , p. 1 1 7). . "Money has the quality of being always exchangeable for what It measures (Bosanquet, Metallic, Paper, and Credit Currency, etc., London, 1842, p '. �OO) . "MoneY can always buy other commodities, wheareas other commodmes can not aIways b uy money " (Thomas Tooke, An Inquiry into the Currency Prmclple, Second
�
�
�
"
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culation ir C le p im S r o ey n o M . o w T r Chapte
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
. The separation of sale and purchase rnakes possible not only commerce proper, but also numerous. pro J orma transactIOns, ' between producer and before the final exchange of commodlUes consumer takes place. It th s e�ables I�rge numbers of parasites to �� r;: take advantage
.
s
b. The Circulation of Money
. In the first instance real circulation fonslsts of a mass of random . purchases and sales taking pi;ce slmu t;neously. In both purchase c and sale commodities and oth�r :Iways in the same way; the seller repr;s��s �: :��;���Ity, t e uyer the money. As a means of circulation money therefore appears always as a means of purchase and th1S' " 0bsc�res the fact that it fulfils different functions in the antithetIcaI p ases of the metamorphosis of commodities. . Money passes into the hands 0f �he . seller In the same transaction which transfers the �::modIty .Into the . han�s of the buyer. Commodity and moneY S move /n opposite directions, and this change of places in the course 0 WhICh the commodity crosses sid one to over th the to money d an e 0 .slmuI taneously at an indefinit� ���b�r of POInts . alongerthe occurs entire . surface of bourgeois society ? e I �St i"0ve of the commodity in the sphere of circulati�n IS aIS? ItS �s� move. * No matter whether the commoditY changes . It� posItion because gold is attracted by it ( C- M) b:c�use It IS at�racted by gold ( M C), in consequence of the sf� I . o�e� the. sIngle change of place, it falls out of the sphere of c���:��� Into that of ��nsumption. t of cOmmO�ItleS, though . Circulation is a perpetual always of different commodities: and each commodity makes but one move. Each commodit be s the s���nd phase of its circuit not as the same commodhy' f� as a i erent com �odi.ty, i.e. gold. The movement of the m�tamorphosed commodity IS thus Ed., London, 1 844' p" 1 0) [Marx quotes from Opdyke, Corbet, Bosanquet and Tooke in English.] . . * A commodity may be several times bou 1ht a�d sold agaIn. It CIrculates, in this . case, not as a mere commodity, but fulfil s un�tIo� whlc? do�s not yet exist from the standpoint of simple circulation and 0tthe simp e antitheSIS of commodity and money.
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ld o g f o it b l a c ti n e id e th r o in o c e m sa e h T . ld o g f o t n e m e v y it d o the mo m m o c a h it w s e c la p d e g n a h c M C n o ti c sa n a tr which in the n the starting point of M C, and thus for the becomes in tur ges places with another commodity. Just as it second time chanhands of B, the buyer, into those of A, the seller, passed from the from the hands of A, who has become a buyer, so now it passeC.s The changes in the form of a commodity, its into those of to money and its retransformation from money, transformation inthe movement of the total metamorphosis of a in other words rdingly appear as the extrinsic movement of a commodity, acco h changes places twice, with two different single coin whicwever scattered and fortuitous the simultaneous commodities. Ho s may be, a buyer is always confronted by a purchases and saleculation, and the money which takes the place of seller in actual cir ld must already have changed places once with the commodity so y before reaching the hands of the buyer. On another commodsoitoner or later the money will pass again from the the other hand, er who has become a buyer into those of a new hands of the sell eated changes of place express the interlocking seller, and its rep oses of commodities. The same coins therefore of the metamorphin the opposite direction to the commodities proceed always e point of the circuit to another; some coins moved from onuently, others less frequently, thus describing a move more freq curve. The different movements of one and the longer or shorter follow one another only temporally, just as same coin can ltiplicity and fragmentation of the purchases and conversely the mud in the simultaneous and spatially concurrent sales are reflecte of commodity and money. changes of place rm of commodity circulation , C M C, takes The simple fo passes from the hands of the buyer into those place when monefry om the seller who has become a buyer into the of the seller and seller. This concludes the metamorphosis of the hands of a new ence the movement of money in so far as it is the commodity and his metamorphosis. But since there are new use expression of th continuously in the form of commodities, which values producedbe thrown continuously afresh into the sphere of must therefore ircuit C - M C is renewed and repeated by the circulation , the c owners. The money they have spent as buyers same commodity when they · once more become sellers of returns to theme perpetual renewal of commodity circulation is commodities. Th fact that over the entire surface of bourgeois reflected in theot only circulates from one person to another but society money n e time it describes a number of distinct small that at the sam
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n o ti la cu ir C le p im S r o y e Chapter Two. Mon
' J Economy I Ica Contribution to the Critique of PoI't
' and returning to circuits, starting from an infinite varieth, 0f pomts the same points, in order to ��eat t e m�)Vement afresh. As the change of form f � comI?o�Ity appears as a mere change in place of mone� :nd t � contmUIty of .the movement of circulation belongs enti 1 to t e musly, sIde by. side, or successively when the same com rea Ises the pnces 0f dIfferent ' . . commodItIes one after another. If, for e::,ampie, one examines G M G' M Gil M Gil' ' �tcbi �d dIsregards the qualitative aspects, which become unrecogmsa e m actual circulation, there . , emerges only the same monotonous operat'I�:>ll. After reallSlng ' the pnces of G' " Gil etc., ' of G' M. . successively realIses the pnce and the commodItIes G ' ' Gil, Gill , etc., mvanably take the. place vacated . money It th by m us appears that causes clrculamey � . thelr' pnces. While It'theserves .tIon of commodities by real'Ismg to . . . ' Iates contin�ousIy, s�metlmes movrealIse pnces' money I'tself CIrcu .mg merely t ther .urnes tracmg a curve or to a different pi describing a , small cycle in ���� t�e pOlI�tS of departure and of ' of cIrculation . it has a cirreturn are Identical As a medmm culation of its ow�. The movement and changmg forms of " the CIrculatmg commodities th appear �� the m �)Vement of mon ey mediating the exchange otcommodltIes, whIch are in themselves. .immobile . Tlie movement of the�ircuiatIon ' process of commodItIes is therefore represented b� t e, mOv�ment of money as latwn of money. the medium of circulation ' i .e , by e . . ' Just as commodity owners presented the produ�ts of mdlvldual I abour as products of soci I I b r, �y transf?rmI?-g a thing, i.e. gold, into the direct embo�ir�e��,0f abour tIme m general and therefore into mone so now �helr own universal movement by which they bring abI�t th exc �nge o� �he material elements of their labour confronts the� as t e speCIfIc movement of a th'lng, "
CZTCU
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e th r fo is t n e m e v o m l ia c so e h T . ld o g f o n o ti la u c i,e . as thitey coirwners, on the one hand, an external necessity and, h c a e g commod n li b a n e ss e c o r p y r ia d e m r te in l a m r o f a ly e r e on the other, ombtain different use values of the same total value as individual to value which h e has thrown into circulatio n . The that of the usegins to function as a use value when it leaves the commodity be lation, whereas the use value of money as a means sphere of circuonsists in its very circulation . The movement of the of circulation c the sphere of circulation is only an insignificant commodity in perpetual rotation within this sphere becomes the factor, whereas ney. The specific function which it fulfils within function of mo money as the medium of circulation a new and circulation gives t, which now has to be analysed in more detail. distinctive aspec is evident that the circulation of money is an First of all, it movement, for it reflects the infinite fragmenta infinitely dividecdess of circulation into purchases and sales, .and the tion of the pro tion of the complementary phases of the metamor complete separa odities. I t is true that a recurrent movement, real phosis of comm takes place in the small circuits of money in which circular motionp, arture and the point of return are identical; but in the point of de there are as many points of departure as there are the first place, d their indefinite multitude balks any attempt to commodities, anand compute these circuits. The time which passes check, measure parture from and the return to the starting point is between the de in. I t is, moreover, quite irrelevant whether or not equally uncerta described in a particular case. No economic fact is such a circuit isknown than that somebody may spend money more widely g it back. Money starts its circuit from an endless without receivinints and returns to an endless multitude of points, multitude of poence of the point of departure and the point of but the coinciditous, because the movement G M G does not return is fortu ly that the buyer becomes a seller again. I t would necessarily impcorrect to depict the circulation of money as a be even less ich radiates from one centre to all points of the movement wh returns from all the peripheral points to the same periphery and alled circuit of money, as people imagine it, simply centre. The so-ce fact that the appearance of money and its amounts to thits perpetual movement from one place to another, disappearance,visible . When considering a more advanced form of is everywhere mediate circulation , e .g. bank notes, we shall find money used to ions governing the issue of money determine also that the condtitas regards simple money circulation it is a matter of its reflux. Bu r a particular buyer becomes a seller once again. chance whethe
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Contribution to the Critique of P olitical Economy
Where actual circular motions are taking place con sphere of simple money circulation, they merely retinuously in the fundamental processes of production, for instance, flect the more which the manufacturer receives from his bank with the money pays his workers on Saturday, they immediatelyer on Friday he larger part of it to retailers, etc., and the latter hand over the return it to the banker o n M o n d a y . We have seen that money simultaneously realises prices comprising the motley purchases and sale a given sum of space, and that it changes places with each comms which coexist in But, on the other hand, in so far as the movem odity only once. metamorphoses of commodities and the conca ents of complete metamorphoses are reflected in the movement o tenation of these coin realises the prices of various commodities fa money, the same larger or smaller number of circuits. Hence, if nd thus makes a process of circulation in a country during a d we consider the instance a day, then the amount of gold efinite period, for realisation of prices and accordingly for threquired for the commodities is determined by two factors : on e circulation of sum total of prices and, on the other hand, the the one hand, . the circuits which the individual gold coins makeaverage number of circuits or the velocity of money circulatio. The number of determined by, or simply reflects, the avera n is in its turn commodities passing through the various ge velocity of the metamorphoses, the speed with which the m phases of their stituting a chain follow one another, and theetamorphoses con new commodities are thrown into circulation to speed with which have completed their metamorphoses. Wherea replace those that mination of prices the exchange value of s during the deter nominally turned into a quantity of gold of theall commodities is the two separate transactions, M C and C same value and in exists twice, on the one hand, in the shape of c M, the same value the other, in the form of gold ; yet gold as a meommodities and, on is determined not by its isolated relation todium of circulation commodities, but by its dynamic existence in individual static commodities. The function of gold is to represethe fluid world of tion of commodities by its changes of place, nt the transforma indicate the speed of their transformation by thin other words, to it moves from one point to another. Its functioe speed with which a whole thus determines the actual amount of gn in the process as old in circulation , or the actual quantity which circulates. Commodity circulation is the prerequisite of mo money, moreover, circulates commodities which ney circulation ; have prices, that is
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
339
. co��odities ��Ich have aIr;�d/ be:n equated nominally with det rmination of the prices of defImte quantItIes of gOId' commodities presuPposes th� �h lue of the quantity of gold which serves as the standar . �a:�re or the. value of gold, is given: Acco�din� t? this as�u m p� ��, ::e� ;:���y f ld required t�e��fore by the e for CIrculatIon IS I . the � t � �u� o; ��e � ��� r �:: t� be realised. This sum, ho�ever, is I S u . � ::. n � by the following factors: 1. the pnc� .lev�l, the relatlve agn u e f th xchange values of commodItIes terms f g?r:;, an� .�' t�e q�a�tity of commodities circulatin� at definite pnces, that IS th number f purchases and sales at gIven prices.* If a 9uarter o.f w�eat cos�s �O. s., then twice as much gold is required to cIrculate It. or to real�e It� Price as would be required d is needed to circulate 5 0 0 u if it cost only 30s. T�lCe quarters at 60s. as IS e:�� �o ��culate 250 quarters at 60s. Finally o�ly ha�f s m�c� ld ' needed to circulate 10 quarters at a �� quarters at 50s. It follows therefo100 s. as IS nee e� t<.> CIrcuY�e re that the quantIty of g�ld re. 9uired for the circulation of commodities can fall despIte nSIllg prices, if the mass of co�mo.dities in circulation d re s � :? � �o�al m of :� ��: : ::: �n :t � :n f �Yrc lapnces Increases, and �onv ers y � . .tIon can Incre se while. the mass f commodities in circulatIon � decreases provIded the�r ag�egate p rices rise to an even greater . . extent. Thus excellent In stI�at ons �:�n�d �t in great detail by Englishme� ha�e sho.wn t�at m �n�l h or� stance the amount of money m CIrculatIon grows dur n. g t e early stag�s of a grain smaller supply of f the shortage, because the aggregate pnce o . . . of the bigger supply aggregate pnce gram IS. larger than was the . ther commodities continue to h t e o of gram, and f r some tIme . . circulate as before at theIr ld Prices' The amount of money m circulation decreases, ho�e e at later stage of the grain shortage, beca�se alon� wIt� t� gr �n either fewer commodities are sold at theIr old pnces, or t;e sa�e amount of commodities is sold at lower pnces. III
III
0
0
0
0
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. . * The amount of mo�ey IS a mat�er Of indifference "provided there is enough commodities". BoisguiIIebert, Le of it to maintain the pnces determIned by the . detail de la France, p. 209 [M rx quotes In French .I "I f the ci. rc. ulation of commodities of four hundred ml�10n re uired a currency of forty millions, an? . ... this proportion �f one-tenth was h � i v I " then if the value of commodltles to be circulated Increased to fou . un��e�. �d fifty �illions, from natural cau�es I ' I must be increased to forty-five ... the currency, in order to conu�ue at ' cts Produced by the Expenditure of ml'11'Ions. William Blake, Observatwns on e e;.,: 1Jf; Government, etc., London, 1 823, p. 80 . .
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Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
But the quantity of money in circulation is, as we have seen, determined not only by the sum of commodity prices to be realised, but also by the velocity with which money circulates, i.e. the speed with which this realisation of prices is accomplished during a given period. If in one day one and the same sovereign makes ten purchases, each consisting of a commodity worth one sovereign, so that it changes hands ten times, it transacts the same amount of business as ten sovereigns each of which makes only one circuit a day.* The velocity of circulation of gold can thus make up for its quantity: in other words, the stock of gold in circulation is determined not only by gold functioning as an equivalent alongside commodities, but also by the function it fulfils in the movement of the metamorphoses of commodities. But the velocity of currency can make up for its quantity only to a certain extent, for an endless number of separate purchases and sales take place simultaneously at any given moment. If the aggregate prices of the commodities in circulation rise, but to a smaller extent than the velocity of currency increases, then the volume of money in circulation will decrease. If, on the contrary, the velocity of circulation decreases at a faster rate than the total price of the commodities in circulation, then the volume of money in circulation will grow. A general fall in prices accompanied by an increase in the quantity of the medium of circulation and a general rise in prices accompanied by a decrease in the quantity of the medium of circulation are among the best documented phenomena in the history of prices. But the causes occasioning a rise in the level of prices and at the same time an even larger rise in the velocity of currency, as also the converse development, lie outside the scope of an investigation into simple circulation. We may mention by way of illustration that in periods of expanding credit the velocity of currency increases faster than the prices of commodities, whereas in periods of contracting credit the velocity of currency declines faster than the prices of commodities. It is a sign of the superficial and formal character of simple money circulation that the quantity of means of circulation is determined by factors such as the amount of commodities in circulation, prices, increases or decreases of prices, the number of purchases and sales taking place simultaneously, and the velocity of currency all of which are contingent on the metamorphosis "It is the velocity of the circulation of money and not the quantity of the metals, that causes the amount of money to be large or small" (Galiani, I.e., p. 99). [Marx quotes in Italian.] *
•
n o ti la cu ir C le p im S r o ey n o M Chapter Two.
34 1
n r tu in is h . ic h w . s, ie it d o m m o c f o ld r o w e h t m e th proceedmg , n o ti c u d o r p f o e d o m e th f t n 1 ene r th on gen �atl�on, �e :e���o� of town and countryside, the contin t size of the popfuthe me ns 0f t�ans ort the more or less advanced development o r, cred�lt, tc., m �ort 'o n circumstances which lie division of labou work 0f sI�mp1e �oney circulation and are merely outside the frame mirrored in it. of circulatl. on IS. g,IVen, the n the quantity of the . ed bY the prices of If the velo.city ' on IS. simply determm ss means of Clrc�laetls a e thu� hIg le r o re o m se u a c e b t o n w ' lo h c P s. commod�tie. Clr � culatl� n, ut the�: is more or less money in � m IS ey mo e n o th of on e is Th is . low .Clrculatl' on because pnces are h Igh or . . . d se a b It f o n . o tl a tl n a st b su d e il ta e d h t d � s, la lC m o n o c � IS er�aps the only achievement of the principal e on the hist?ry of gph�shcesPoh. u�cal economY . Empirical data show post-Ricard. Ian Enporary fluctuatl. ons, and sometimes. very intense em . r o that, desplte tove y c n e r r u c c lh ta e m f o l e v le e th s d I e 10n r fluctuations,* try cou � : n � � � ? ula r par tic a in lati on cir cu n il a d � o g f o l v the volum� le e g a r e v a e � th m o fr s n o ti ia v e d le b a st 1 0 � w e t n o m IS may re�a n n e m o n e h p � is h � T s. n o ti la . il sc ll a m � to · ly e r e m g g m amountm m ' m r te e d s r to c fa e th f � e r tu a n \ i" t0 lC d a r n o c e th to � . cu a . on. Changes occurring simultane simply due lr C m y e n o m f � o e m lu o v g e in th th y r e v e d n a ts c e ff e ir e th e Is a l tr u e n s r to c fa se ously in t�e . remains as It wa� the speed 0f circulation of money and the sum The law that, If odl. y pn. ces are given the amount of the . e , can at's0 be ex ressed in the total of the comlatl�on IS� determm medium of circ� � h and d t itie e s o com m of e e g n a h c x e e t If : y a w � g in w o ty ll ti fo n a u q e th n e th , n e iv g e r : s :s : h p r o m ta e m n e th f o d average .spee. tl' on depends on It. S own value . Thus, if the value of gold m Clrculalabour t. me qUl. d for its production, were of gold, i.e. the ease, t�en ;�e p��es of commodities would rise increase or to decr to
. e ag er av s it w lo be cy en rr cu ic ll ta e m e h t f 0 ll fa le ab k r m re a
•
culation ir C le p im S r o ey n o M , o w T r te Chap
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' I Economy Contribution to the Critique of PoIl'tlCa
' ed or fall in inve�se proportion and, provided the velocity re";1am unchanged, thIS general rise or fa11 ;n inc�s �o�ld n ecessItate a larger or smaller amount o f gold fo tl e clrcu atlon 0f the same " 1ar I'f the amount of commodl'tl'es . The resu1t would be sImI previous standard of value were to be replaced by a more valuable . ' ItS to or a. less valuable metal . For mstance n f d i when erence e ' ' credItors and impelled by fear f th ffe� t�e �, scovery of gold in California and Australia mi�ht �a�e' . 0 an repl�ced gold currency by silver currency 14. tO IS tImes more sIlver was �qUIred 0f gold to circulate the same required than formerly r was . ' volume of commodItles. . . Since the quantity f g Id ' clr�ulatIOn ��pend � upon two variable factors, the t�tal �mo��t O com� Ity �nce and the velocity of circulation , it follows that i � .must e possl�le to reduce and expand the quantity f �e�al I� currency; m . short,. in � i c o acc rdan e with the requ re en f e pro�ess 0f CIrculatIOn, . circulat' means as gold, of b sometImes must lOn, e put mto . ' and .sometimes wI'thdrawn from It' . We sh� 11 see . 1ater CIrculatIOn how these condItions are realised in the process 0f CIrculatIOn. "
c.
Coins. Tokens of Value
. ' Money functioning as a �edI' �m 0f CIrculatIo � ass.umes a specific shape, it becomes a coin t prevent .tts c.lrculation from being hampered by tech�ical �if��urtIes, gol� IS mmted according to the standard of the mone f account. o gold of pieces are Coms Y . . whose sha e and im ' t s :;:at they contain weights of gold as i�dicate� by the :a::s �1��� account, of pound as !ch s � l . . � sterlIng, shilling, etc. Both the esta ��shmg of the mmt pnce and the technical work of mint'n g d�vo ve upon t�e State . Coined ' char cter, It ses di�ferent money assumes a local n� r leal � � national languages and w:ars �rf}erent �atIonal umforms, Just as does money of account. . Coined mOney cIrculates therefore in the , ' 0 f co mmod'mes, internal sphere o f CIrculatIon cirIS whICh . . ' . 0f a glven commumty and cumscribed by the boundanes separated from the universal CIrculatIon ' 0f the world of commodities. ' the form f b llion and But the only differe e bet e gold m � <;> gold in the form of c�i� is t;;a� �:��een . the denommatlOn of the c<;>in and denomination of its m t weIght. What appears as a dIfference of denomination ' th� latte: case, appears as a difference of shape in the for:::er. 0Id COIns can be thrown into
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s a st ju , se ra h p s n sa ld o g to in in a g a d e n r tu s u th d n a e b to the crucible t in m e th to t n se e b to ly n o e v a h s r a b ld o g e n o conversely f o n o si r e v n o c e r d n a n o si r e v n o c e h T . in o c to in transformed . n o ti a r e p o l a ic n h c te ly e r u p a s a s r a e p p a r e th o e th t a r a form into -c 2 2 f o y o tr s e c n u o 0 0 ,2 1 r o s d n u o p 0 0 1 r fo e g n a h c I n ex e th m o fr s n ig e r e v so ld o g 1/ 2 7 ,6 4 2 r o 1/ 2 7 ,6 4 2 £ s e iv a gold one rece f o e d si e n o n o s n ig e r e v so se e th ts u p e n o if d n a t, o E n glish min tw e th , r e th o e th n o s r a b ld o g f o s d n u o p 0 0 1 d n a s le a f o pair of sc ty ti n a u q a ly p m si is n ig e r e v so e th t a th s e v o r p is h T . e c n f o will bala t h ig e w e th t in r p im ic if c e sp a d n a e p a sh ic if c e sp a e h gold with T . le a sc y r ta e n o m sh li g n E e th in e m a n is th y b d te o n e t n e which is d r fe if d t a n o ti la u c ir c to in n w o r th e r a s n ig e r e v f o 4 ,6 7 2 1 /2 gold so r e b m u n in ta r e c a e k a m y e th t, n e r r u c e th in e c n o e points and, th If . ss le s r e th o d n a e r o m s n ig e r e v so e m so , y a d h c a moves e a g in r u d ld o g f o e c n u o e n o y b e d a m s e v o m f o r e b m u n l ta average to a se li a e r ld u o w ld o g f o s e c n u o 0 0 ,2 1 e th n e th , 5 2 day were ten ,7 6 4 r o s e c n u o 0 0 ,0 2 1 to g n ti n u o m a s e ic r p y it d d n of c o m m o a t is tw y a m e n o w o h r e tt a m o n , ld o g f o e c n u o n A s. n f o sovereig ss e c o r p e th in e r e h t u B s. e c n u o n te h ig e w r e v e n e th turn it, will n I s. e c n u o n te to t n u o m a d e e d in s e o d e c n u o e n o ld o circulation, g f o ty ti n a u q e th to l a u q e is in o c a n o ti la u c ir c f o In process s. e k a m it s e v o m f o r e b m u n e th y b d e li ip lt u m it a f contained in o ld o g f o e c ie p l a u id iv d in n a s a e c n te is x e l a tu c a s it h ic addition to h w e c n te is x e l a in m o n a s e ir u q c a s u th in o c e th t, h ig e n ig certain w e r e v so e th r e th e h w t u B s. m r fo r e p it n o ti c n fu e it le arises from th sa r o se a h c r u p r la u c ti r a p h c a e in s, e v o m n te r o e th makes o n e is t c e ff e e h T n ig e r e v so le , g n si a s a ly e r e m ts c a ss le s e c neverthe la p e r le tt a b f o y a d e th n o o h w l a r e n e g a f o se a c e l ia c same as in th u r c e th t a s e c la p t n e r fe if d n te t a g in r a e p p a y b ls a sa ten gener li a in m o n e h T t. in o p h c a e t a l a r e n e g e m sa e th s in e th time, but rema f o lt su e r a s a s e is r a h ic h w , n o ti la u c ir c f o m iu d e m g in n tion of the o ti c n fu e th ly n o s n r e c n o c , y it c lo e v y b ty ti n a u q f o t n e e th replacem t c e ff a t o n s e o d t u b n o ti la u c ir c f o ss e c o r p e th of coins within s. in o c l a u id iv d in e th . f o s e th statu d n a t n e m e v o m l a n r te x e n a is y e n o m f o n o ti la u c ir c e , in But th o c e h T . y n a p m o c d e ix m s p e a e k t, le o n o n h g u o h lt s, se r sovereign, a u p s, g a b s, d n a h f o ts r so ll a h it w t c ta n o c to in s e m f o le which co c ti r a p a s e v a le , y a w a s r a e w s, e x o b d n a s st e h c s it f pouches, tills, o e r o m ly g n si a e r c in g n si lo s u th , e r e th r e th o n a d n a f o se gold here r u o c e th in d e in a st su n o si a r b a f o lt su e r a s a t n s u t e intrinsic conte L . p u d se u g in tt e g is it se u in e il h W . r e e r a c its worldly Ed, a It does not smell (Vespasian),•
I I , •
343
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tion la cu ir C le p im S r o ey n o M . o w Chapter T
Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
f ry to is h a is ry tu c th n e te h � ig e e ? � th to in ll e w l ti n u s e g A Middle s l d o st u C d a , g ln lt fe r te n ? u o c c ti is n o g .IS largely ta n a d n a l a r te a il b such ts Is m o n co e n a li a It f o s k r o w f voluminous collection o . t. c je b . su is th h it . . w d e concern s It f o s e fm n o c e th I h It W ld o g f o � ce n te is x e l" a e id " e th t Bu e rs u co th In . e c n te Is X � e l a e r s it h it w t ic fl n o c to in s e m co function l ta e m Ir e th f o re o m st lo e v a h s in co ld o g e m so n o ti la u of circ re o m h r o w ? e e d in � w o n is n ig re e v so e n o d n a , ss le rs e th o t, n te con y e th e Il h w d lI a v y ll a u q e r e v e w o h re a y e th ce in S . r e than anoth e c n u o n a f o r e rt a q a s h i e w t a th � n ig re e � v so e th in o c s a function ts n se e r p e r ly n o h Ic h W n Ig e r e v so e th n a th ly h ig h e r o m o n d e is valu m r fo r e s r e n w o s u � lo u p u r sc n u e m so e c n u o .Ight to achIeve the n a f o r te r a u q a e w d r a d n a st f o s n ig re e v surgical operations o n so t u o b � t h g u o r b s a h n o ti la u c ir c h ic h w y ll .lg S are clIpped ia c fi ti r a lt su e r ame e r e v o S s. in o ? c r te h g li f o se a c e th in y sl u � ontaneo n e h W t. o p g In lt e e th to in s e o g � ld o g s lu p r su e th d n a d se a a�d deb e g ra e v a e th n o h Ig e w s le a sc e th n o d e c la p s n ig e r e v so ld o g 4 67 2 1/ f o s e c n u o 0 0 8 ly n o y u b l il w y e th , 0 0 ,2 1 . f o d a e st in s e c n u o 0 0 8 l o� ld g f o e Ic r p t e k r a m ? e th s, d r o w r e . th o in t: e k r a m ld o g e . th ol� on g m m ta e r se th n e v s, n Ig e r e � v so ll A � . e ic r p t in m e th e v o b a n e � as ris e p a sh e th m n a th m o c s a ss le th r o . w e b ld u o w t, h ig e w d r a d n a st the to m d te r e v n o c e r e b ld u o w t h ig e w d r a d n a st f o s n ig e r e v o S of b a r s ' r te a e r g a s a h ld o g f o ty ti n a u q r te a e r g .lme of the a h ic h w in m r fo a bars c e d e th n e h W . ld o g f o ty ti . n a u q r e ll a sm a n a th � valu to s n Ig r e v so f o r e b m � u n t n ie ic ff . su a d te c e ff a s a h t n te n o metal c t m m S It r e v o ld o g f o e ic r p t e k r a m e th f o e is r t n e n a m r e a cause se e th t u b t n u o c c a f o s e m a n e m sa e th in ta e r l il w s in o c rice ttfe r e th o In . ld o g f o ty ti n a u q r e ll a sm a r fo d n a st th r fo e c n �ill he h r fo e c n e h d n � a , d e g n a h e b l il w y e n o m f o d r a d n a st e th .Ith t�l1� S new standa�d . Thus, �n s, d wor w e c n a d r o c c a in .lrcula lOn gold m d te in m e b old will C f o m � IU d e m . a : s a n o ti sa li a e id s it f o e c n e u q �onse h iC h w m o tI la e r d e sh li b � a st e y ll a g le e th d e g n a h c e v a h l 'tS turn wil ld u o w n o tI lu o v e r r a il m � s A . e ic r f o d r a d n a � st e th s a d e n o e �t functi h s a th o � ld � g ; m tI f o d Io r ? e p � in ta r e c a r e ft a d te a e e r g be m e b y a w IS th 10 n o tI la u c ir c f o m iu d e m e th d .10 the one aspect n a e ic r p f o standIrd e g n a h c a t a th so s, e g . n a � h c s u ts subject to c ntinuo n u c c a IS h T . sa r e v e ? ic v d n a r e th o e th in e g n a h c a se u would ca ry to Is h th s a t, a t ly e � m a n � r, ie rl a e d e n o ti n e m n o n e m o n e h p e to � for th e u tm n o c s e tl tI ry ta e n o m e m sa . e th s, w o sh s n o ti a n n r e d n O of all mo tI IC d a tr c e h T t. n te n l o c �)l l ta e m g in h is in im d y il d a e st s stand for a e m o c; e b e Ic r p f o d r d n a st e th s a � ld o g d n a in o c s a ld o g n e e tw e e b th s a ld o g d a m o c s a ld o � g n e e tw e .m the bounb n o ti ic d a tr n o c e th also h It w ly n o t o n s te la u c ir c h ic h universal equivalen t, w
consider a sovereign at a moment when its original solid features are as yet hardly impaired. "� baker who rec�ives a brand-new sovereign straight from the bank today, and pays It away to the miller tomorrow, does not pay the same veritable sovereign; it is lighter than when he received it.... " *
"It being obvious that the coinage, in the very nature of things, must be for ever, unit by unit, falling under depreciation by the mere action of ordinary and unavoidable abrasion. It is a physical impossibility at any time, even for a single day, utterly to eliminate light coins from circulation." **
t Jacob estimate hat of the £380 million which existed in Europe � . had completely disappeared as a result .m 1809, £19 mIllIon of abrasion by 1829, that is in the course of 20 years.*** Whereas the commodity having taken its first step, bringing it into the sphere of circulation, drops out of it, the coin, after making a few steps in the sphere of circulation, represents a greater metal content than it actually possesses. The longer a coin circulates at a given velocity, or the more rapidly it circulates in a given period of time, the greater becomes the divergence between its existence as a coin and its existence as a piece of gold or silver. What remains is magni nominis umbra, the body of the coin is now merely a shadow. Whereas originally circulation made the coin heavier, it now makes it lighter, but in each individual purchase or sale it still passes for the original quantity of gold. As a pseudo-sovereign, or pseudo-gold, the sovereign . continues to perform the function of a legal gold coin. Although friction with the external world causes ?ther entities to lose thei� idealism, the coin becomes increasingl¥ Ideal as a result of practIce, its golden or silver substance being reduced to a mere pseudo-existence. This second idealisation of metal currency, that is, the disparity between its nominal content and its real content, brought about by the process of circulation �tse!f,. has been taken advantage of both by governments and mdIvIdual adventurers who debased the coinage in a variety of ways. The entire history of the monetary system from the early a
J
i.�,
* Dodd,
London, 1854 [po 16]. ** flue a Banker, Edinburgh, 1845, p. 69 etc. " H a shghtly worn ecu were to be considered to be worth somewhat less than a quit� new one, �rculation would be continually checked, and every payment would prOVide an occasion for dispute" (G. Garnier, Histoire de la monnaie, tome I, p. 24). [Marx quotes in French.] *** W. Jacob, An Historical Inquiry into the Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals, London, 183 1, Vol. II, Chapter XXVI [po 322]. The Curiosities of Industry etc., '[he Currency stion Reviewed etc. By
The mere shadow of a mighty name (Lucanus, "De bello civili" ' 135).- Ed. a
Pharsalia,
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
daries o f a given territory but also on th e w orld market. As a measure o f value gold has always retained it has served only nominally as gold its full weight, because . When serving as an equivalent in the separate transaction C M, gold reverts from movement immediately to a state o f rest ; but when it serves as a coin its natural substance comes into co n function. The transformation o f gold sove stant conflict with its re ig n s into nominal gold cannot be en tirely prevented, but legisla ti the establishment of nominal gold as coinon attempts to preclude circulation when the coins in quest by withdrawing it from io n h ave lost a certain percentage of their substance. Accord instance, a sovereign which has lost m in g to English law, for o re than 0 .74 7 grain of weight is no longer legal tender. B e tw e e n 1 844 and 1 84 8 , 4 8 million gold sovereigns were weighed which possesses scales for weighing gold b y the B a n k o f England, in This machine is not only able to detect vented by M r . Cotton . a d if ference between the weights o f two sovereigns amounting to but like a rational being it flings the ligh one-hundredth of a grain, tw from which it drops into another mach eight coin onto a board in e th at cuts it into pieces with oriental cruelty. Under these conditions, however, gold t? circ�late at all unless they were confi coins would not be able n e d to a definite sphere of CIrculatIOn where they wear out less q coin in circulation is worth a quarteruickly. In so far as a gold weighs only a fifth o f an ounce, it h o f an ounce, whereas it a s in deed become a mere token or symbol for one-twentieth o f an way the process of circulation convert ounce of gold, and in this s extent into mere tokens or symbols re all gold coins to some p re se nting their substance. But a thing cannot be its own symb symbol o f real grapes, but are imaginol. Painted grapes are n o a ry grapes. Even less is it possible for a light-weight sovereign to be the symbol o f a standard-weight sovereign, just as an e m a ci a te d h o rs e cannot be h e sy m b o l of a fat horse. Since gold thus beco � mes a symbol of Its�lf but can�lOt serve as such a sym e.xlstence qUIte separate from its own bol it assumes a symbolic e sIlver or copper counters in those sphe xisten ce - in the shape of re s o f circulation where it wears out most rapidly, namely where mInute amounts go on continuously. A purchases and sales o f ce rt ain proportion o f the total number of gold coins, although n perpetually circulate in these spheres. ot always the same coins, T h is proportion of gold coins is replaced by silver or copper to can thus serve as coin alongside gold, kens. Various commodities a lt h commodity can function as the measure ough only one specific o f value and therefore
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also as money within a particul:'lr country. These subsidiary means of circulation, for instanc� sIlv�r . or co� per t?kens, represent definite fractions of gold COInS wlthm the ClrculatI�n . .The amount of silver or. copper these tokens themselves con �am IS, .therefore, not determmed by the value of silver or copper m relatIon to that ' .ued of gold, but is arbitrarily established �y law: They may be Iss onlY in amounts not exceeding those m WhICh t?e small f�actIons of old coin they represent would constantly CI�culate, eIther . as 11 change for gold coin of higher denomInatI�ns or to reahse �:r:es pondingly low prices of coI? modities. The sdve.r tokens an? It spheres of retaIl trade. IS copper tokens wI'll belong to distmct . . , . If-evident that their velocity of CIrculatIon stand s m mverse rat10 " �� the price they realise in each individual purchase and sale, or �o the value of the fraction of the gold COlI? �hey r� pr��ent: T e relativeI insignificant total amount of SubSIdIary COInS �n Clrcul� tion ineJ'cates the velocity with which they perpetually CIrculate, � one bears in mind the huge volume of retaIl t�ade dally �ransacte in a countr like England. A recently pubhshe� parl�ame� tary re ort a shoJs, for instance, that in 1 857 the Engh�h Mmt cOl? ed old to the amount of £4,859,000 and silver havmg a nommal �alue of £373,000 and a metal value of £363,000. In the ten-year total amount of gold ending December 3 1 , 1 857, the period . . COlned came to £55 "239 000 and that of . sIlver to, only £2,434,000. was on Iy The nominal value of copper coins Issued � n 1 857 . £6 ' 720 : while the value of the copper contamed. m them was £3 492 of this total £3, 136 was issued as penme� , £2,464 as hait e�nies and £ 1, 1 20 as farthings. The total nommal value of the �opper coin struck during the last ten years ca� e. �o £ 1 4 1 ,477d and their metal value to £73,503. J.ust as gold com IS preve?�e from perpetually functioning as com by th: �tatutory p:ov�sIOn that on losing a certain quantity of metal It . IS demonetIse , so conversely by laying down the price level WhICh they ca� le�ally realise silver and copper counters are preven�ed. from mOVI?g mto the s'phere of gold coin and from estabhsh �ng themse ves as money. Thus for example in England, copper IS le �al ten�er for sums u to 6d. and silver for sums up to 20s. The Is�ue 0 SI'lver and co�per tokens in quantities exceeding the reqmreme.nts ?f their s heres of circulation would not lead to a n�e m commodity-prices but to the accumulation of these toke� m th� hands of retail traders, who would in the. end be forc� to se them as metal. In 1 798, for instance, Enghsh copper coms to the
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a The Economist. No.
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. amounts of £20, £30 and £50 ' sPen t bY . pnvate . people, had accumulated in the tills of shopkeepers and , SInce theIr attempts t " agaIn into circulation failed, they finally had t0 se� pU t the COInS them as metal on the copper market. * The metal content of the silver n d �ohper t�kens, . whic� � p s 0 orne CIrculatIon, represe.nt gold coin in distinct s he IS . . . determIned by law '' but when t �!rcu1atI<.>n they wear away , just as gold coins do and because o t e velOCIty and cons�ancy of their circulation, th�y ar� reduced even faster to a merely Imaginary, or ' shadow eXIstence. If one were to establish that SI'lver and copper tokens also, on losing a certain amount of metal, should cease to . the ' function as coin it would b e necessary to replace turn In m In ' . . certaIn sections of their own he�; ff �I' rculatIO� by �ome other dn ea �. and In thIS way the symbolic money, such as ir repres�ntation of one type of symbolic �ney by other types of srmbohc money would go on f r. he. nee?� of currency CIrculation itself accordingly com ;;l :rtcountnes wit a developed circulation to ensure that silver and copper tokens function as coin independently of the percentage of . metal they 1 ose. I t thus becomes evident that the� ar: b�:��Ir ;ery nature, symbols of gold coin not because t y ;e 0 sIlve � or copper, not because they have value ' but they are symb0ls In so far as they have no value. . Relatively worthless things' such .as pape�, can functIOn as · symbols of gold coins . SubSI· dIary COInS conSIst 0f m�ta1 , SI' 1ver, ' most. coun�nes the less copper, etc., tokens principally beca� se In valuable metals circu. lated as mo ey-e.g. sIlver In England ' copper in the anCIent Roman Republic' Swed en, Scotland, ' ' I atIon etc. before the process of CIrcu reduced them to the status of small coin and ut � more valuable metal in their place. It is in the nature of thi�gs oreover that the monetarY symb. 0I wh'lCh ' the fIrst place, ' d h I !rectly arises from metallic currenc y s ou be, In d . . once again a metal Just a th� KortIon o� gold which would � i t s ly e con ant hav to c rculate s s a cha�ge IS r�placed by metal tokens, so the portion of gold which ;:�OlI� rema.Ins always in the sphere of home circulation ' and m.us �re <.>re. CIrculate perpetu ally, can be re laced b tOkens WIthout IntnnsiC value. The level below which t6e volun!e 0f c��ency nev�r . falls is established in each country by experien e. at was ongInally an insignificant divergence of the. nominaf content from the actual metal content . * David Buchanan, Observations on the S;/ b ·ects Treated of zn Doctor Smith's Inquiry on the Wealth of Nations etc., Edinburgh , 1 4, p. 3 1 .
349
o tw e th e r e h w e g a st a h c a e r e r fo e r e th n a c y c n e r r u c s u th e m o of metallic c e b s in o c f o s e m a n e h T . d e c r o iv d ly te le p m o c e r in it m o fr things a t r a p a t is x e d n a y e n o m f o e c n a st b su e th m o fr e th detached s a y a w e m sa e th n I . r e p a p f o s p a r sc ss le th r o w f o a s a y e the shape n o m ld o g to in d e is ll a st y r c is s ie it d o m m o c f o e lu a v to in exchange d te a m li b su is n o ti la u c ir c in y e n o m ld o g so , e g n a h c x e f o e th result in n e th , in o c ld o g n r o w f o e p a sh e th in st r fi l, o b f o e p its own sym a sh e th in y ll a n fi d n a , in o c l ta e m y r ia d si b su shape of e. lu a v of s en k to e r e m , r e p a p f o s p a r sc s, r te n u o c ss le th r r o e w p a p to n e th d n a ic ll ta e m to st r fi e is r e v a g in o c ld e But the go it sp e d in o c a s a n o ti c n fu to d e u n ti n o c it st! u a c e b ly n o , n r o substitutes w s a w it se u a c e b t o n d te la u c ir c It . d e r r u c in it l ly n O the loss of meta . te la u c ir c to d e u n ti n o c it se u a c e b l o b m sy a to n r a s e but it was wo m o c e b y c n e r r u c ld o g n o ti la u c ir c f o ss e c o r p e th in s e b e in so far a lu a v f o s n e k to e r e m n a c e lu a v n w o s it f o n e k mere to e th substituted for it. f o y it n u ic m a n y d e th is C M C it u c ir c e th s a h c In so far a e to in e g n a h c y tl c e ir d h ic h w , C M d n a M C ts e r ti n two aspec e e th s e o g r e d n u y it d o m m o c e th s a r fa so to in other, or in d n a e ic r p to in e lu a v e g n a h c x e s it s e lv o v e it s, si e m o metamorpho c e b to in a g a s m r fo se e th s n o d n a b a ly te ia d e m im t e g n a money, bu h c x e e h T . e lu a v se u a r e th a r r o , y it d o m m o c t en d o n c e more a en ep d in ly g in em se a ly n o s e ir u q c a s u th y it d o m m o c it n e value of the h w , ld o g t a th , d n a h r e th o e th n o , n e se e v a h e in y existence. W ll a tu e p r e p is it n .e h w is t a th , ie c e sp s a e th f functions only o g in k n li r te in e th ly e r e m t n se e r p e r d e e d in s e o d as ce n circulation , te is ex l a er em h ep ir e th d n a s ie it d o m m o c f o s se o h to r e metamorp d r o in ly n o y it d o m m o c e n o f o e ic r p e th s se li a e a in e money. Gold r lu a v e g n a h c x e s a s r a e p p a r e v e n it t u b , r e th o n a f o ty li a e realise that r e h T . st e r f o te a st a in y it d o m m o c a n e v e s, e m state of rest or u ss a s ie it d o m m o c f o e lu a v e g n a h c x e e th ss e c o r p ty li a e which in this r e th ly e r e m is , n o ti la u c ir c in ld o g y b d e ss e r p x e is s a ly e and which r e m s n o ti c n fu it , ld o g l a e r is it h g u o h lt A . k r a sp n a c lf of a n ele�tric se it f o n e k to a e r fo e r e th n o ti c n fu is th in d n a , ld o apparent g a s a s be substituted for it. n o ti c n fu h ic h w , r e p a p f o e c ie p a y sa , e lu a v f o e th f The token o e m a n e th y b d te a ic d in ld o g f o ty ti n a u q e th h c su s coin, represents a ld o g f o ty ti n a u q e it n fi e d A . ld o g of en k to a s u s e k ta coin, and is th h ic h w n e k to e th s e o d r o n , n o ti la e r e lu a v a e it n fi e does not express d a s a r fa so in e lu a v ts n se e r p e r n e k to ld o g a s e ss its place. The e ss o p , e m ti r u o b la d e fi ti c je b o is it se u a c e b n e k to quantity of gold, e th h ic h w e lu a v f o t n u o m a e th t u B . e f o ty ti definite valu n a u q e th f o e lu a v e th n o p u se a c h c a e in s d n e p e d represents •
35 0
A Contribution to the Criti que o f Political Economy
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
gold represented by it. As far as c o m m odities are concerned, the token o f value represents the reality of their price and constitutes signum pretii a a n d a token o f th a e ir v a lu e only because their value is expressed in their price. I n the c expresses merely the dynamic unitircuit C M - C, in so far as it y the direct transformation of one of the two metamorphoses or m e ta and this is how it appears in th morphosis into the other which the token o f value opere sphere o f circulation, within a commodities assumes in the price tes the exchange value of m e r e ly a nominal existence and in money merely an imaginary o value thus appears to be some r symbolic existence. Exchange th imagined entity but possessing ing purely conceptual or a n n o reality except in the com modities, in so far as a defin objectified in them. The token of vite amount of labour time is a lu the value of commodities directly, si e there fore seems to represent o f gold but a token of the excha nce it appears to be not a token n the commodity and is merely e ge value which exists solely in x p r appearance is deceptive. The toke essed in the price. But the n of value is directly only a token of price, that is a token of gold, a n d value of the commodity. Cold, unli only indirectly a token o f the k e its shadow, but uses its shadow as Peter Schlemihl, has not sold token of value is effective only w a means of purchase. Thus the h signifies the price of one commen in the process o f exchange it o d ity compared with that o f another or when it represents gold w it h regard to every commodity owner. First of all custom turn s object, a piece of leather, a scrap a certain , relatively worthless o f p aper, etc ., into a token of the material of which money consists, only if its function as a symbo but it can maintain this position l in tention of commodity owners, is guaranteed by the general legal conventional existence and in other words, if it acquires a Paper money issued by the statehence a legal rate of exchange. a nd given a legal rate is an advanced form of the token of v money which directly arises from alue, and the only kind o f paper m e commodity circulation itself. C tallic currency or from simple advanced stage of the social procredit money belongs to a more e to very different laws. Symboli ss o f production and con forms c p a p er money indeed does not differ at all from subsidiary meta sphere of circulation. Even the l coin except in having a wider m e r ely technical development of the standard of price, or of the int price, and later the external transformation of gold bars into m g o ld coin led to state intervention and consequently to a visible se paration of internal circulation a
35 1
completed by. the Money as a SImple medium of circulation can after all acqu.Ire an independent eXIstence onIy WI'th'm the sphere of internal CIrcula rion . . . Our e�pos�tIon ?a� ����� � hat old in the shape of coin, that is � o s it a u a d r n s v o e u r t b g v ig in d e 0 c e a n e s lf e s in t tok s , . . . the process of CIrculatI�m Itself and does not come about by arrangement or state mtfrvent'on Russia affords a striking example . of a spontane��� :v��ved token of value. At a time s money in that country, t�e e when �Id.es and furs contra. dICtIOn betwee n the perishable and unwieldy material and Its . ' Ied to the custom. of functIon as a med'. Illm of CIrcuIatIon substituting small pIeces of s:a�l:d leather for it'· these pIeces in hides and furs. Later �hey thus became money o��ers y P ;;ere tokens representing fractIons were called kopeks an ecame of the silver ruble and as suc were used here and there until 1 70 O , wh �n P.eter the Creat ordered their replacement by small copper coms Issued by the State. * In antiquity writers, who were able to observe only �he henomena of metallic currency, among them Plato ** and AnstotPIe, *** aIready understood that gold coin
�
. " C l que etc avec des notes par J . B. Say, * Henry Storch, ours d economl� P l"ti Paris' 1 823, tome IV, p. 79. Storch pu rIS �d his w�rk in French in St. Petersburg, .
. J . B. Say Immed'lateIy brou&ht out a repnnt m Parl' s, supplemented by so-called . ' bu t latitudes. Storch's reaction to the notes, which in fact contam �?th . . de la cience" was not at all polite (see hiS annexation of hiS work by the pri . m Co idirations sur la nat�re du rev a � Paris 1 824) � h i is a to en o f xchange " ( Opera omnia ** Plato, De Repu,bhca, 1 . 11. 304). [Marx quotes in Greek.] Plato etc., ed. G. StallbaumlUs, London, 1850 eY as a standard of value and a token analyses only two aspects of money, i" e . of value; apart from the token 0 f vaIue clrcuIatl'ng within the country he calls for . . . another token of value servmg m the commerce of Greece with other countnes (cf. book 5 of his Laws). . . *** . Aristoteles, Ethlca Nlcoma�hea, I . V, c . 8 [P . 98]. "But money has become by of demand ,' and this is why it has the name convention a sort 0f representatIve . . . . IS t d ' b nature but by 'law' [volJ.w] , an It m 'money' [vOIJ.L
:�
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
IS a symbol or token of value. Paper mone with a Ie exchange an. ses early in countries such as �ina whIe . �� rate of av e not evolved a credit system. * Later advocates of ' ey also refer exPressly to the transformation of the �!:r : token 0f value which is br h� abou � by /he c�rcu�at ?: m t0 a io n process itself. Such references occu:�! t e wor s 0 BenJamm Franklin ** and Bishop B erkeley. *** . How many reams of paper cu t m t fragments can circulate as ? . money? In this form th questIOn IS absurd. Wor become tokens of value o�l when they r present gothless tokens ld � process of circulation and th ey r present It only t th within the e � am ount o f � gold which would cir�ulate a� com, an amount whI ch depends on the value of gold if the exc ange vaIue 0f the com modities and
Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
35 3
•
and easily applicable to the purposes f rf� e, for example, Ir
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of ber num e Th en. giv are es hos orp tam me ir the of city velo e th in d use be ld co ch whi £5 of tion ina ?m a den h wit er pap f � s ece � pi er pap of ces pIe of ber num the of th -fIf one be uld wo n atIo cul cir be to e wer nts me pay all if and , 1 £ of tion ina om den a with transacted in shilling notes, then twenty times more shilling notes e wer coin d gol If te ula circ . to e hav ld wou es not nd pou an th £1 es, not £5 . , e.g tion ina om den nt ere diff of es not by d nte ese epr r notes and lOs . notes, the number of the different types of tokens of value needed would not just be determined by the quantity of gold required in the sphere of circulation as a whole, but by the quantity needed in the sphere of circulation of each particular type of note. If £14 million were the level below which the circulation of a country never fell (this is the presupposition of English Banking legislation, not however with regard to coin but to credit money), then 14 million pieces of paper, each a token of value representing £ 1 , could circulate. If the value of gold decreased or increased because the labour time required for its production had fallen or rise n, then the number of pound notes in circulation would increase or decrease in inverse ration to the change in the value of gold, provided the exchange value of the same mass of commodities remained unchanged. Supposing gold were superseded by silver as the standard of value and the relative value of silver to gold were 1 : 15, then 2 10 million pound notes would have to circulate henceforth instead of 1 4 million, if from now on each piece of paper was to represent the same amount of silver as it had previously represented of gold. The number of pieces of paper is thus determined by the quantity of gold currency which they represent in circulation, and as they are tokens of value only in so far as they take the place of gold y. ntit qua ir the by d ine erm det ply sim is ue val ir the cy, ren cur Whereas, therefore, the quantity of gold in circulation depends on the prices of commodities, the value of the paper in circulation, on the o.ther hand, depends solely on its own quantity. The intervention of the State which issues paper money with a legal rate of exchange and we speak only of this type of paper money seems to invalidate the economic law. The State, whose e nam a h wit d gol of t igh we e init def a ed vid pro y rel me ce pri nt mi and whose mint merely imprinted its stamp on gold, seems now to the se cau Be nt. pri im its of gic ma the by d gol o int er pap orm transf pieces of paper have a legal rate of exchange, it is impossible to of er mb nu sen cho rily itra arb any ing ust thr m fro te Sta the t preven them into circulation and to imprint them at will with any tes no the ce On 0. £2 , or £5 , 1 £ as h suc n tio na mi no de rv neta mo ,
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Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
are in circulation it is impossible to drive them out, for the frontiers of the country limit their movement, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, they lose all value, both use value and exchange value, outside the sphere of circulation. Apart from their function they are useless scraps of paper. But this power of the State is mere illusion. It may throw any number of paper notes of any denomination into circulation but its control ceases with this mechanical act. As soon as the token of value or paper money enters the sphere of circulation it is subject to the inherent laws of this sphere. Let us assume that £14 million is the amount of gold required for the circulation of commodities and that the State throws 2 1 0 million notes each called £ 1 into circulation: these 2 1 0 million would then stand for a total of gold worth £14 million. The effect would be the same as if the notes issued by the State were to represent a metal whose value was one-fifteenth that of gold or that each note was intended to represent one-fifteenth of the previous weight of gold. This would have changed nothing but the nomenclature of the standard of prices, which is of course purely conventional, quite irrespective of whether it was brought about directly by a change in the monetary standard or indirectly by a increase in the number of paper notes issued in accordance with a new lower standard. As the name pound sterling would now indicate one-fifteenth of the previous quantity of gold, all commodity prices would be fifteen times higher and 2 1 0 million pound notes would now be indeed just as necessary as 14 million had previously been. The decrease in the quantity of gold which each individual token of value represented would be proportional to the increased aggregate value of these tokens. The rise of prices would be merely a reaction of the process of circulation, which forcibly placed the tokens of value on a par with the quantity of gold which they are supposed to replace in the sphere of circulation. One finds a number of occasions in the history of the debasement of currency by English and French governments when the rise in prices was not proportionate to the debasement of the silver coins. The reason was simply that the increase in the volume of currency was not proportional to its debasement; in other words, if the exchange value of commodities was in future to be evaluated in terms of the lower standard of value and to be realised in coins corresponding to this lower standard, then inadequate number of coins with lower metal content had been issued. This is the solution of the difficulty which was not resolved
355
b
Y the controversy between Locke and Lowndes. The rate at which whether it consists o or b us gold of paper d a. token of value � �? .IS qUi'te l'rrelevant can take the place of defImte . quantities stiver . . f gold and silver calculated according to the mmt pnce depend s �n the number of tokens in circulation and by no means . on th.e material of which they are made. The diffic.ulty in graspmg thIS relation is due to the fact that the t�o fun�tIons of money as a standard of value and a medium of CIr�ulatIon are governe� not onl b conflicting laws, but by laws WhiCh app�ar to be at vanan�e with the antithetical features of the two functions. [As regards ItS function a] as a standard of value, when mo� ey serves �ol�ly �s mone of account and gold merely a.s nommal gold, It IS t e hysi�al material used which is the cr�CIal fac�or. Exchange values �x ressed in terms of silver, or as sIlver pnce�, look of course qulte different from exchange values expressed �n term� of gold, ' On the other hand, when. It functions as a or as gold pnces. . medium of circulation, when money is not just Imagmary b�� m� st be resent as a real thing side by side with other comm<:>d ltIes, Its ma£erial is irrelevant and its quantity becom�s the crUCial facto�. Although whether it is a pound of gold, of sIlver or of copper .1S decisive for the standard measure, mere number makes the c�m an adequate embodiment of any of t?e�e stand�rd me�sures, qUite irrespective of its own material. But It IS at vanance WIth com�on sense that in the case of purely imaginary mon�y everyt mg should depend on the physical substance, whereas m the case. o� the corporeal coin everything should depend on a numenca relation that is nominal. . The rise or fall of commodity prices correspondmg to an increase or decrease in the volume of I?aper note.s �h� latt�r where aper notes are the sole medIUm of CIrcu atI<:>n-ls accordi �ly merely a forcible assertion by the process of Circula tion. of a law which was mechanically infringe� by. extra?eo� s ' the I aw that the quantity of gold m Circulation IS action,. l.e. . . determined by the prices of commo.dltles and the voIume of tokens of value in circulation is �eterm.med by th� amo� nt of gold currency whl'ch they replace in Circulation. The CIrculauon process . ' will, on the other hand, absorb or as It wer� dIgest any number of a er notes, since, irrespective of th� �old utle borne by the token �f �alue when entering circulation, .It IS co� pressed to a token of the quantity of gold which could Circulate mstead. These words are missing in the original. Marx added them in his own copy.- Ed. a
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Chapter Two. Money or Simple Circulation
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
the governing In of tokens of value all the laws circulation th � . CIrculatIon of :eal money seem to be reversed and turned upside down. Gold c�rc�lates because it has value, whereas paper has v�lue because It c.Irculates. If the exchange value of commodities is gIven, the quantIty of gold in circulation depends on its value wherea� th� valu.e of paper tokens depends on the number of tokens m CIrcul�tIon. T�e amount of gold in circulation increases or decre.ases �Ith the nse or fall of commodity prices, whereas commo.dIty . pnces. seem to ri �e or f�ll with the changing amount of paper m CI�culatIon . . The CIrculatIon of commodities can absorb �nly a certam qu �nuty of gold currency, the alternating contrac tIon . an� e�panslOn of . the volume of money in circulation mamfestmg Itself accordmgly as an inevitable law, whereas any amount �f pap er money seems to be absorbed by circulation. The Sta.te WhICh Issues coins even 1/ 1 00 of a grain below standard weIg�t debases g
Money as distinguish� d from coin is the result of th e cir cu it C M- C and constitutes the starting point of the circuit . M C - M, that IS the exchange of money for comm
od iti to exchange commodities for money. In the form C M esCso1· as· t . · that IS the beginning and the end of thIS the co� mod. Ity e transactIOn ; m the form M C - M it is money. Money mediat es
357
y i od m co the , uit cir st fir � the in s � itie od mm co of � ge an the exch . t. rcu c d }ll sec the I y ne m o mt y � ne � mo of � n tio olu ev � the � tes dia me lt, cU CIr st fIr the m m dlU me a as y lel so s ve ser ich Money, wh the s a ere wh , nd sec the in ion la cu cir of M it � cu
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irculation C e pl m Si or ey on M o. w T er pt Cha
A Contribution to the Critique of Political E
359
e h T . ey on m as � e rv se it n e h w d re o st re is r u o d .m g becomes the n le sp n e ld o g Its r e d n u re e m e h T .* r e st a m e th s e servant becom · , ** god of commodlUes.
standard of value. In the first place, a commodity in which the functions of standard of value and medium of circulation are united accordingly becomes money, or the unity of standard of value and medium of circulation is money. But as such a unity gold in its turn possesses an independent existence which is distinct from these two functions. As the standard of value gold is merely nominal money and nominal gold; purely as a medium of circulation it . is symbolic money and symbolic gold, but in its simple metallic corporeality gold is money or money is real gold. Let us for a moment consider the commodity gold, that is money, in a state of rest and its relations with other commodities. All prices of commodities signify definite amounts of gold; they are thus merely notional gold or notional money, i.e. symbols of gold, just as, on the other hand, money considered as a token of value appeared to be merely a symbol of the prices of commodities. * Since all commodities are therefore merely notional money, money is the only real commodity. Gold is the material aspect of abstract wealth in contradistinction to commodities which only represent the independent form of exchange value, of universal social labour and of abstract wealth. So far as use value is concerned, each commodity represents only one element of physical wealth, only one separate facet of wealth, through its relation to a particular need. But money satisfies any need since it can be immediately turned into the object of any need. Its own use value is realised in the endless series of use values which constitute its equivalents. All the physical wealth evolved in the world of commodities is contained in a latent state in this solid piece of metal. Thus whereas the prices of commodities represent gold, the universal equivalent or abstract wealth, the use value of gold represents the use value of all commodities. Gold is, therefore, the material symbol of physical wealth. It is the precis de toutes les choses " a (Boisguillebert), 74 the compendium of social wealth. As . regards its form, it is the direct incarnation of universal labour, and as regards its content the quintessence of all concrete labour. It is universal wealth in an individual form. ** Functioning as a medium of circulation, gold suffered all manner of injuries, it was clipped and even reduced to a purely symbolical scrap of paper.
a. Hoarding
m iu d e ; e th m o fr ed rc o iv d ce la Gold as money was in the first p rp� osis of the commo Ity was o m ta e m e th se au ec b n o ti . la u of circ
� rysa IS .
n a d m u ss a y e n o m � as ld o g t a The fact th h � � � o : ss re p : e � l ib g n ta � ll a e o ab s u th is ce n e � ,,: � � e d � � : n : p e :�� . on 0f the process of Clrculauon or 0 t e me a . o the �eparau s . n o cu sa n a tr te ra a p se d n a " t 0 two discrete m s e lU d o m m co f o phOSlS as n o so as y e n o m s e m co e b lf se it in co e h T . e d si y b e d si t is x e h IC · h w . movement is interrupted . I n the h �nds of the seller wh. 0. ��ceives it in return for a comm?dity it IS money: andncenot����' o m co a s e m c e b It s d n ? .ICh he pr�d ces bu� but when it leaves his ha h w y .u It d o m m co r la u ic rt a p . e th s ll se y d Everybo w o H i g n � e a Cl o s a as s d e e n e h t a th he b. uys 'all other commodities as a seller depend s on t e abour ears o n the market h � 7 � r � f a s � P h s a re e h w , y it d o m m � d to produce his co � �;�e; re�u��� t i 0 a w e n re t n a st n co e th y as a . buyer is determined b le to buy without sell.Ing, he mu�t b a e b to r e rd o In . cUl. t C M C IS t s. n e m e lr u q re . lr C e h T . g m y . u b t u o h it w g in th e m ld O h It s a r fa so in ly n o se a h rc u p d n a le sa f o y it n u ic m a n y � e th J e : � i: n, 16 22 . do on L h, is or Fl ade Tr e ak M to ns * E. Misselden, Free Trade, Or . th� Mea d' WHICH MERCHANTS FROM THE END rcha erce IS
money, � � � � is erce com m of 1 mat ter i fi IES. T e ar IT OD M M CO ED IL ST VE HA E AD it be TR gh OF ou th n M � ' T � : : �� ; O :S N � �� OF WAR�� which has obtained the title OF SI �EW USE HAS IN :.v :� � I T Ise, �T an c er m r te af e tim d an re tu na in ey with on m d an y it od m m co of on ti si P� mpa �s BECOM E THE CHlEFE" (p. 7) . � e �o crost hi� � , � hildren Grand c � his blessin g o aco , J l O of s nt de en sc de e th of that d on the elder " The natural matter of Comm
'
is left han h d an r, ge un yo e th on nd ha . "Thus the slave o f hands , and laid his right . s se es h C TI d es re La na.tu ur s n ' tO t a rt e tss ' D , 5 rt be lle ui sg oi 1 B 7 ( .e .). to the fact e u d is s le p eo p e th f o . The 1 . . . er as m its e m � co be s ha ce er m 5, 399). com 39 p. (p " nt ra ty a to in r he at a maste to m d e rn tu en be s ha ve sla e th that into an [Marx quotes in French.] ed rn tu en be e av h ) er I lv si d (go d an ** Boisguillebert, I .e. "These metals to fulfil in ed d n te in e er w y h e d idol, and isregarding the g al they �ere r, trans fe cal recip ro a e I� ge p as e rv se to . I.e . , ce er m m ed mto co rm o sf an tr . be to er rd o I in y e I mo ent1 a e Ic rv se I th S n do an ab to ed w allo sacrificed e er w gs n ei b an m u h n e lua es an va s, od go or m m ho � w to s tie ni vi di ities even in iv . d e ls fa e th to ed ic if sa er were ev . and continue to be sacnflce d, than m French . 1 es ot qu x ar [M . 5) 39 . (p in blind antiquity ... .. .
� �;7
�
* "Not only are precious metals tokens of things . . . but alternatively things ...
are also tokens of gold and silver." A. Genovesi, Lezioni di Economia Civile, 1 7 65, in Custodi, Parte Moderna, t. VIII, p. 28 1 . [Marx quotes in Italian.] ** Petty: Gold and silver are "UNIVERSAL WEALTH " . Political Arithmetick, p. 242.
a "Summary of all things."- Ed.
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360
culation ir C e pl m Si or ey on M o. w T er Chapt
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
��:::����e���� �h� cofI�:u�us
process of .their separation. So ' uously, com must continuously a i <;>ntm . . congeal into money . {he contmual movement of. com · ImprIes Its in larger or amounts m reserve perpetual stagnation smaller funds . ' I of. c0in wh'ICh. anse everywhere within framework the <;>f CIrcu a. . . tIOn and whICh are at the 'sam a �n ���� �� ��culation . � � ; � � � u o , s ti ib I n e a , is a o n h tr f n m d i r these ti o T form dis . . . exIstmg funds disappear continuously fund s constantly ch ' . . and their disappea:�;�: is a contmuous fact . Thi. s un�easmg transformation of coin into mone and 0 f mo ?ey m �� com was expressed by Adam Smith when �e said that, I� addItIon to the particular commodity he sells ' every commodIty owner must always keep in stock a certain amount of the general commodity with which he buys . We have seen that M . C' the second member . of the CIrcuit C-M C �I " s U P mto � sf nes of purchases, which are not effected all at o�� �ut successIve. y over a period of time, so that one part of M circ�Iates. as com, while �h� other part remains at rest as mone n thIS case, money IS m fact only suspended coin and the vaJ�us ����onent pa:ts of the coinage �n circulation appear, constantl c g �g, now m . one for� , now. m �nother. The first transfor�ation o �he medll�m of CIrculatIon mto money constitutes therefore mere y a techmcal aspect of the circulation of money. * ; � �ir�� s��::::n ��usly evolve� form of wealth consists of an ov r u P�� ���d I.e. of the portion of products which are not directly �s use . vaIues, . or else of the possession of products whose use �lu; he � �)U tsIde the range .of mere necessity. When considering ransItIon rom commodIty f e t . . . to money t st h t m l roduc tion it of is this � overplus . �;:x� :s o; p���:c:: ��:;h :!a�1Y orms the sphere of commodIty ex h S e1��ou� products become e.xchangeable t � � � � r:; � d s t r o i c c it a equate form of thIS surplus is pr u o
�
�
rr;
�
. * Boisguillebert suspects that the first im obT I Is t)(:m of �h� perpet1!um mobile, i.e. . he negation of its function as the medium O Clrcu aUon, wIll ImmedIately render it � . mdependent in relation to commod"lUes. Money ' he says ' must be ,,'m contmual . . . . . I n ovement, whIch only the case so I l as S S mobIle, but as soon as it becomes � . Immobile all is lost" (Boisguillebert e t � e Ia F.ranc.e, p . 2 13 ). [ Marx quotes in . . � mac French. ] What he overlooks is hat t ls uvlty I S the prerequisite of its . movement. What he actually wants is that the val ue form " of commod'lUes should . . . . . be . � qUIte mSlgmflCant aspect of their m etab0rIsm, but should never become an end m Itself.
;: ! � � '
/�
" The original has "exchange value" instead 0f "value form"; changed in Marx's own copy.- Ed.
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36 1
l a ci so ct ra st b a s a h lt a e w h ic h w in rm fo t rs fi e th r, e lv si d n gold a e th in s ie it d o m m o c re o st to le ib ss o p ly n o t o n is It t. p e k is h t wealt u b , y e n o m f o e p a sh l ia r te a m e th in . e i. , r e lv si d n a ld o g form of se u y r e v E . m r fo d e v r se e r p in h lt a e w te u it st n o c r e lv si d n a gold is t a th , d e m su n o c g in e b is it e il h w n o ti c n fu s it s il t value fulf n se e r p e r to is y e n o m s a ld o g f o e lu a v se u e th t u b , d e destroy s a e m ti r u o b la l sa r e iv n u f o t n e im d o b m e e th e b to , e lu a v e g n e excha lu a v e g n a h c x e l ta e m s u o h p r o m a s A l. ia r te a m w ra s u o h a n amorp s u th y e n o m s a r e lv si r o ld o G . m r fo le b a h is r e p im n a s possesse ly e r u p h it w s n o ti a n f o se a c e th n I . rd oa h a s te u it st n o c d e is il b immo a s e m o c e b g in d r a o h , ts n ie c n a e th s a h c su , y c n e r r u c metallic , te ta S e th to l a u id iv d in e th m o fr g in d n te x e e c ti c a r p l sa u n iver ir e th g in r u d t, p y g E d n a a si A n I . d r a o h te ta S s it s d r a u g h whic s st ie r p d n a s g in k f o y d o st u c e th in re e w s d r a o h se e th , d io early per d n a e c e e r G In . r e w o p ir e th f o e c n e id v e s a ly in a m d e v r and se c li b u p f o le ip c in r p a e m a c e b s d r a o h te ta S f o n o ti a e r c Rome the e b n a c d n a fe sa s y a lw a is m r fo is th in h lt a e w ss e c x e r policy, fo y b s d r a o h h c su f o r e sf n a tr id p a r e h T t. n e m o m y n a t used a n e d d su ir e th d n a r e th o n a to y tr n u o c e n o m o fr conquerors f o s c ti is r te c a r a h c e r a n o ti la u c ir c f o e r e h sp e th to in t r a p in effusion the economy of antiquity. old is a pledge for its own magnitude g e m ti r u o b la d ie f ti ec bj o As , e m ti r u o b la l sa er iv n u f o t n e im d o b m e e th is it e c n si , d n a e of value, th y b r fo d e h c u o v is e lu a v e g n a h c x e s a n o ti c n fu s u o u n ti r its con e n w o y it d o m m o c e th t a th t c fa le p m si e h T . n o ti la u c ir r process of c o , e lu a v e g n a h c x e f o m r fo e th in s ie it d o m m o c is h in ta e r e is able to g n a h c x e e th s e k a m s, ie it d o m m o c s a e lu a v e g n a h c x e e th in , to reta ld o g to in d e m r o sf n a tr m e th r e v o c e r to r e d r o in s, ie it m of commod o c f o s si o h p r o m ta e m e h T . n o ti la u c ir c f o e v ti o m ic if c s, the spe si o h p r o m ta e m ir e th f o e k sa e th r fo e c la p s e k ta M modities C to in h lt a e w l a c si y h p r la u c ti r a p g in m r o sf n a tr f o se o p r u f for the p o e g n a h c x e f o d a e st in m r fo f o e g n a h C . h lt a e w l ia c so l s genera a w h ic h w , e lu a v e g n a h c x E . lf se it in d n e n a s e m o c t. matter be n e m e v o m e th f o t n te n o c e th to in d e n r tu is , m r fo ' a y e merely th e il h w ly n o s, ie it d o m m o c is t a th , h lt a e w in a m e r s is Commoditie th in in a m e r y e th d n a , n o ti la u c ir c f o e r e h sp e th in h y e keep wit h T . ld o g d n a r e lv si to in y if ss o y e th s a r fa so in ly . n liquid state on o ti la u c ir c f o ss e c o r p e th f o n o ti a is ll a st y r c e th s a id u s a remain liq r fa so in ly n o y e n o m s a s e lv se m e th sh li b a st e r e lv si d n a ld y B u t go e n o m e m o c e b y e h T . n o ti la u c ir c f o s n a e m s a n o ti c n fu t m they do no o fr s ie it d o m m o c f o l a w a r d h it w e h T ." n o ti la u c ir c f o s n a e -m as non _
' s own copy.- Ed. x ar M in ed n li " Under
362
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
circulation in the form of gold ' thus the only means of keeping them continuously in circulatio�� The owner of commodities can r�cove� �s money from circulation only as much as he put u�to It m the form of commodities. Looked at from the �and!om� of the circulation of �ommodities, the first condition" of �:>ar I� g IS constant selling, the mcessant throwing of comm�d1�les m �o CIrculation. On the other hand, money as a medium o �7cul.atlOn . c�nstantly disappears in the process of circulation itse �n�e It IS all the time being ' {ve m ephemeral enjoyments. It realised in use values and dIsso ' must, therefore' be withdrawn from the. stre�m 0f CIrculation; in other words, commodities must be retamed m the first stage of . . their metamorphosis in order to prevent mone� f. rom functIomng as means of purchase. The owner 0f commodItIes who has now become a hoarder of mon m��t �ell as much as possible and buy as little as possible as ev:� O . at� preached patrem familias vendacem, non emac;m esse a p rsl�o.n y IS t� � negative pre-condition t d d t , The of hoar ing jus as i n us If' IS . Its posItIve pre-condition. . IatIon ' t h smaller the proportion th a IS wIt rawn fro m CIrcu as d an . . . . . " Ient for the comm0d lUes [ thrown mt0 It] conslstmg of eqmva . parucuIar commodities or use vaIues' the larger the proportion that consIsts ' of money or ex h n e v�lue. � The appropriation of wealth in its general form t�e�ef°re Im�hes renunciation of. the t . h reality of wealth H ence material e motIve p ower 0 f h oardmg is . " but exchange avance, wh'Ieh desires not commodlUes as use values, . value as. a commodity . S0 as to. take possessIOn 0f superfluous . weaIth m ItS general form pa:ucuIar n.eeds must be treated as luxuries and superfluities ' For mstance, m 1 593 the Cortes sent a petition to Philip II ' wh Ie · h among other matters contains the . foIIowmg passage: . . "The. Cortes of Valladolid requested Your Majesty In 1 5 �6 not to permit the f�r�her Importation into this kin dom �� �an�les, glassware, Jewellery, knives and s!milar articles coming from abn�'ad w IC , t ough they are of no use to human life, have to be exchanged for gold, as though the Spaniards were Indians . " b The h oarder of money scorns the worldly, temporal and ephemeral enjoyments in order to chase after the eternal treasure *
lation u c ir C le p im S r o y e n o Chapter Two. M
. ' more decreases stock wares, the It IN TREASURE. " The more is increased the in . ,,
E. Mlsselden, I.e., p. 23.
363
is h ic h w d n a , t s u r y b r o n s h t o m y b r e h it e n d e h c u o t e b n a c h ic wh ne. munda y wholl and tial celes ly hol : s e it w r w n e ld e s is M k r o w d e t o u q e v o b a e I n th e great excess of this
th is ld o g f o t n a w r u o of s u se u a to c e v te o o r p m e h r ic l h a r w e n s, e ie g tr coun "The n ig e r fo f o s ie it d o m , e m r o c su a e e th tr g h c in u m m su n so o c f o in s ering u d in h Kingdom in , S IE IT D O M M O st C g n n o a m a th e r m e th su a n r o , c S IE e T W I toys. se o th D IS C O M M O D f o u e li in , in t h t, g n u a o v r e b L e e b th ld f u o , o e w in e h is R w r e of th , e c n a r which othe F f o , in a p S f o s e n ) and e f the win n o li e n e c fi n f a o d n t u r b so a (a t a s e r n g w e la th t, liS a n a v e L e th f o , s s th ie d in r In o c st e e th W , e in th a f p o S o f c bac to d n a s r a g the raisins o su e th , ly a It f are lks o yet si e th and , lt u us, a n n a unto H f o necessity s cambric of no are which all ; Indies East the of es spic e th * " money. ready with bought able because
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h is r e p im is r e v il s d n a ld o g f o e p a h s d e n a h t l n a t e m le Wealth i ib t c u r t s e d in n a y b d e t n e s e r p e r is g in e n lu io a t v c n e u g f n a m o r f exch d e t n e v e r p e r a r e v il s d n a ld o g t e s n u ie a s c n e a b r t y ll ly e ia r c e e p m a es g in m o c e b m o r f s u h t d n a n io t la u thus c ir c is f o nt s n a conte e m le s a erishab p The es. moditi com monetary aspect of form. le rishab non-pe sacrificed to the e who spends the same in
I
I ,
on m o fr n e k ta e b x ta f o e y m a sa w e y b th y s e y n lo o p m m t e a o th h w ther o n a " Suppose to d e r e v li e d d n a , e g n o in k to in r r d o d e r n a tu c g fa n u ti n a a e , in m s e in m superfluous f o g in k r o w in , shing to the fi e g in ta , n d a n v d la a n f a o g s y in a v o lw r a p re is in im e th se a c is th in n e v and e ts a s; e e m th lo s c a n n o o so it s so w h o is st r e e er p that b th e g o lt a t o n o d s e little th a lo t c e y se u is a e c g e b ta n , a h v lt d a a e e w th n o ouses, Comm h f o e r u it n r fu in t and n e p gold s e g b e m bringin sa e in th if all, t u of B most drinks. but ete.; more, yet es, , but le b hous a h is r of e p ng t o n buildi ly n in o t if o more; are n e n lo a s g in th se o are th se u things a c e b ; y other tr n u all o c s e th wherea to ere; silver in everywh and times, all at are esteemed for wealth a " ** nunc. et hic pro but wealth, money from
raw withd to desire e th of n ssio of expre ange ard exch l socia An outw the m fro it save to and tion an circula into of am turned stre is the wealth l socia that so it, matter is the burying ofean hoard with an entirely furtive private imperishable subterran modity owner. Doctor Bernier, who spent com nts, the ercha to m onship that s relati relate , Delhi at rt ' cou s eb some time at Aurangz heathens , in whose hands nearly the entire m Mosle their nonbury cially etly secr espe ted ntra conce are ey mon all and merce com nd, grou the in deep ey their mon silver they hide during and gold the that belief the . *** " th a e d ir "being held in thrall to e th r e ft a ld r o xt w e n e th in m e th e v r se lifetime will
assim. p 3 1 11 . p p ., e I. , n e ld E . Misse p. 196. metick , d Mogol, Gran Arith du al etats Politic des Petty, tion ** descrip la nant conte s Voyage *** Fran�oi s Bernier, 3 12- 14. pp. d. 1 , t. 1 830, Paris edition of time .- Ed. ular partic a and place ular partic a At a
,
*
,
a
The head of the family should be eager to sell, not eager to buy. Cato the Eld;r, De ;e rtlStica, II, 7.- Ed. , Considerations sur Les causes de La grandeur et de La decadence de La Sempere, monarchie espagnoLe , Vol. I , pp. 275 76.- Ed. _
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a is buried m u r re s u erv n l ia c so e h T t. n e m e v o m l ia c so from the . e r a y e th s w e n si se o h alongside the body w t constantly in tension with circulation, it l If the hoard were no u so y r ta e n o m s it l, ta e m ss le se u f o p a e h a e b ly p f o s e would now sim sh a t u o tn r u b t u b g in th o n d n a d e r a e p p a is d e g n a would have h c x e . e i. , y b e n o M . in a m e r ld u o w , m u tu r o m t u p ca s it e r tu a circulation, n y b is , e c n te is x e t n e d n e p e d in n a d e m u ss a s y n a , value which ha d n a h r e th o e th n o t, u b ; h lt a e w t c a r st b a f o t n e . e lu a the embodim v f o e d u it n g a m e it n fi ly e v ti ta ti n a u q a is y e n o m f o s it h given sum it w ts ic fl n o c e lu a v e g n a h c x e f o n o ti a it m li e d e a s a The quantitativ n o ti a it m li e th s d r a g e r r e d r a o h e th d n a , ty li sa r e iv . e i. , qualitative un n o ti ic r st e r e v ti ta li a u q a o ls a s e m o c e b t c fa in h ic h w f o n restriction , o ti ta n se e r p e r d e it m li ly e r e m a to in d e n r y tl c e the hoard is tu ir d e b y a m t n le a iv u q e l sa r e iv n u e th s a y e n o M . h it h ic material wealt h w in , n o ti a u q e n a f o s m r te in , n e se e v a h e w s f o s ie expressed, a r se ss le d n e n a f o s st si n o c e d si r e th o e th e il h e g n a forms one side w h c x e f o n o ti sa li a e r e th h ic h w in e e r g e d e h T it r fa commodities. w o h s, d r o w r e th o in s, ie r se e it n fi in n a h c su s e h c a s it n o value appro s d n e p e d , e lu a v e g n a h c x e f o t p e c n o c e th n a s a corresponds to , h c su s a e lu a v e g n a h c x e f o t n e m e v o m , ll a r e ft in t u B magnitude. A s. it m li e v ti ta ti n a u q s it f o n o si n a p x e e b ly n o n a c s n o ti ic automaton, r st e r w e n d r a o h e th f o s it m li e v ti ta ti n a u q f a s a s r passing one set o a e p p a t a h W . d e sh li o b a e b t us m n r tu in h ic h n o ti a it are set u p , w m li y n a t u b , d r a o h e th f o it m li r la u c ti r a p a t o n o n s, it restriction is m li c si in tr in o n s a h e r fo e r e th s d r a o h f o n o ti a lt su e r of it. The form r la u c ti r a p h c a e , ss e c o r p g in d n e n u n a is t u b , lf e th h g u bounds in itse o h lt A . g in n in g e b w e n a r fo e ls u p im n a s e id v o r r e th o e of which p th n o , d e v r se e r p g in e b y b d se a e r c in e b hoard can only . d se a e r c in g in e b y b d e v r hand it can only be presebject of the passion for enrichment, it is o n a st ju t o n is y e e h n T o M .c es m a f a cr sa ri u a y ll a ti n e ss e is e g r u is h T . it e ir u q c a the object of to e g r u e th h it w st a tr n o c y b t n e m h s, e th lo c passion for enric s a h c su , s e lu a v se u . e i. , h lt a e w l ia r te l a r e n e g particular ma n e h w ly n o le ib ss o p s e m o c e b ., tc e , le tt a c e b s u th jewellery, herds of n a c d n a g in th ic if c e sp a y b d te n se e r p e r th o b s r a wealth as such is e p p a e r o f e r e th y e n o M . y it d o m m o c r la u c ti r a p e h T * . s e retained as a h ic r r o f e ir s e d e th f o e c r u so e th d n as the object a
b' com so far as the oar er of money Incidentally, in h d mes . . . . . . ascetICIsm with assiduous diligenc he IS mtrmslCally a Protestant by religion and still more a Puri �n.
. . bu "It cannot be denied that n nd selhn� are ne�e�sary practices, which cannot be dispensed with and ma!su�e:y be �sed m a ChrIstIan manner, especially as regards things that serve necessity �nd �nour; for thus the patriarchs also bought and sold cattle wool corn butte ' ml'I and other goods. These are gifts of God, which He produ�es fr�m th� �OI'1 and \ha��s among men. But foreign trade, which brings merchandise from CalI��� and. n I � .a�d other places-merchandise such as exquisite silks and jewellery spICes, w IC are only for ostentation and serve no need-and drains mone fro; t�e country and the people, should not be permitted if we had a governme:t:n prmces. But I do not want to. write of this I think that eventually now, for '11 cease of we ave no more h h , en m oney, It WI . . . as f"mery and gluttony ' for II t g and preaching will be in vain until itseIf, Just I � , ':t � ; we are compelled by necessity nd p ve . ,n., Even in advanced bourgeois sOCI"�t�es hoards of money are buried at times of upheaval in the . SOCIa exchange of matter. This is an attempt to save social coh eSlOn for the commod'Ity owner thIS" cohesIOn is represented by th. e commod�' ty �nd the adequate embodiment of the commod't I y IS money m ItS compact form
Kaufhandel und Wucher, 1524. Luther . * D?Ctor Martin Luther, Bucher . WrItes m the same passage ' "God has brou�ht It �bout that we Germans must thrust our gold and silver i�to forei!n��u���les makmg all the �orld rich while we ourselves remain beggars. England o l ely have less gold If Germany refused to take her cloth, and the King O f PortugaI , too, w0l!ld have less, if. we refused to take his spices. If you calculate how muc h money IS extracted, Without need or . cause, from the German territori s durIng .one. fai� at Fr�nkfurt, you will wonder how it comes about that even a si� �Ie ��t��ng IS .stIll left m .Germany. Frankfurt is th� silver and gold drain through hi ery\hmg �hat arIses and grows, that is minted or struck here flows out of th� Gern:�n a�d ; If the hole were plugged, one would not hear the present complain that ere IS everywhere sheer debt and no money, that the entire country and all th. e to.wns are despoilt by usury. But never mind things will nevertheless contl'nue m thIS,, way '' we Germans have to remain Germans, we do not desist unless w;; have to [pp. 4-5. � In the above-quoted work M'�:I � ��?�S gold and sIl.ver to be retained at all events within the bounds of Chir nd m he o;her f?relgn remote causes of the want of money, are the trades maintain�d . out. o ChrIstendom to Turkey, Persia and the East Indies, which trades e mamtamed for �he most part with ready money, yet in a different manner fr::n the trade.s of ChrIstendom within itself. For . ' ' although the trades within Chrl st d are rIven d en om th ready IJ?omes, yet those WI " ��mes are still contained and continued wi' thm' the bounds of ChrIstendom. There IS mdeed a fluxus and refluxus�� fl�od a7d ebb o� the monies of Christendom trade� within itself; for someti s here s more one part of Christendom ' sometImes there is less in another, as one country wants and another abounds .' It . comes and goes' and whirls about the ClrcI e 0f Chri stendom, but IS" stIll contained . . with' the compass thereof. But th: money that IS traded out of Christendom into the parts aforesaid is continually is ued out and never returns again " [pp. 1 9-20]. vom
f o d in k a to in s e g a st y b s w ro g is th ce ri a v a s g n ri sp t rs fi y e * " B u t from mon . d E s. g in th ll a f o r e w o p e v ti o m : ly e v ti ra u g fi s; g in th f o e rv e n Literally : the ue.- Ed. b Worthless resid . d E ). 7 5 I II , , id e en A , il g c The accursed greed for gold (Vir 0 0 '
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· to the Critique of Political Economy A Contn· butIon
underlying reason is in fact that exchan ge . value as such becomes the goal, and consequent! I�o �: expanslOn of exchange value. � d r s Ava�ice cling to the hoa a d s not allow money to become a medIUm of circulation ' but gr.eed . for .go�d preserves the monetary . . constant tensIOn with d soul maintaInS It In of the hoard a n . . CIrculation. . The activity which amasses h°�rds IS, on the one hand, the withdrawal of money from circulatIon by constantly repeated sales ' and, on the other : sim PIe. piTln&" up, accumulation. I t. is indeed only i n the sphere of slmple ClrcuIatIon and speClTICaIIy In the form of hoards, that accumulation of weal�h �s such takes place, whereas I II accumu atIon the. other so-called forms of as h we s a see later, are . ' . . qUIte Improperly, and onl b analogy ��th Simple accumulation of " money, regarded as ac!u1uIatIon. other commodities are . accumulated either as use v I ' and In this . �ase the manner of their accumulation is deterr::i �:� by the speCifiC. features. of their use value. Storing of corn, for example' reqUIres speCIal equipment; collecting sheep make� a person .a shepherd; accumulation . . t and land neces t of slaves Sl a es re atlons 0 f d omInatIon and l . . servItude, and so on · Unrk up � e the Simple act of piling the ' . formation of stocks of partIcular types of . wl.aI�h reqUIres special methods and develops special traits in the In IVI ual. Or wealth in the shape of commodities maY be accumulated as .exchange . value ' . · and in this case accumulatlon becomes a commerCla I or speCIfically . . · economIC operation . The one concerned In It becomes a corn merchant, a cattle-dealer and s forth . . �old and silver constitute money not as the res�lt of �n y actIvlty of the person who . accumulates them but a I , s crysta s 0f the process 0 f Circulation . . whICh takes place without h ·s :s��tance. He need do nothing but pu � �hem aside, piling one lo� p another, a completely senseless · activity, which appll ed t 0 any oth er com mod·Ity would result in if . Its devaluation. * .. m�dn�ss, no longer merely avarice but a posItIve hunger for gold. " (Plinius . Hzstona naturalis, I. XXXIII ' c III .) [The Enghsh translation is from Pliny, Natural . . History, Vol. IX, Book xxxII i , pp. 39 -49 , London ' 1 952 . ] [Marx quotes In LatIn.] . * H orace, therefore, knows nothin� of the phIlosophy of hoarding treasures, when he says (Satir., 1 . II, Satir. 3): ' f � a� were �o buy harps, and soon as bought . were to pile them together' thoug Teehn � no Interest in the harp or any · M �se; If, though no cobbler he dI·d the same WIth shoes, kmves a d lasts; with � ' shlps sal·1s, .though set against a trader's life- ;veryone would call hIm crazy and mad, and nghtly too. How differs from these he man who hoards up silver and . gold, though he knows not how t us hIs store, and fears to touch it as though � � r:S poetlca, London, 1942, p. 1 63.] [Marx hallowe�i? " [ J:I orace, Satires, Epist es quotes In LatIn.] '
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d te a e s c ti e c s a ly o h a , e lu a v e g n a h c x e to r ty r a m a l ia c o s s it Our hoarder is in ly n o h lt a e w r o f s e r a c e H . n m lu o c at the top of a metal he hides it away from society. H e wants ly g in d r o c c a e h d n d a n a , te m la r u fo c ir c s y a lw a n a c y e th h ic h w in m r o f e g n a h c x e s e commodities in a r o d a e H . n o ti la u c ir c m o r f m e th s id u q li e h T therefore withdraw . e g n a h c x e m o r f s in a r f e r y tl n e u q e s e th d n a e f li value and he con f o ir x li e e th , n o ti a ic if tr e p s it d n ' a s t is m e h lc a form of wealth n a e k li r e th e g to d e ix m ly d il w e r a e n to s s e s u a c t n e m philosophers' y jo n e r o f t s ir th s s le d n u o b y r a in g a ll a y f s ti a s apparitions. H is im to s e ir s e d e h e s u a c e B t. n e m y jo n e ll a l a ic s y h p t n e g him to renouce r u t s o m e th s ie f s ti a s ly e c r a c s e h social requirements, to wealth in its metallic corporeality the g in g n li c e f il o h n W o ti . la ts u n a m w u c c a e th t u B . a r e im h c e r e m a to it f o m r o f ic r hoarder reduces a b r a b e th t c a f in is y e n o m f o money for the sake of production, i. e . the development of the e k a s e th r o y f r a n o m ti to c s u u d c o f r o p s it m li e th d n o y e b r u o b la l ia c o s f o s m o c f o n o productive power ti c u d o r p e th is d e c n a v d a s s le h ic h w in m r requirements. The o f t s ir f e th g in d r a o h is t n ta r o p im d n a y e n o m modities, the more s a e c n te is x e t n e d n e p e d in n a s e m u s s ia s A in , s n o ti exchange value a a n t n ie c n a g n o m a le o r t n ta r o p im it therefore plays an ng contemporary agrarian nations, where o m a d n a . , n w o o ti c n u d o t o r p p f u o s n o ti la e r ll a d te a tr e n e p t e y t exchange value has no ining the specific economic function that m a x e , r e v e w te o o h n , s e u r o f t le Be , y c n e r r u c ic ll ta e m to n o ti la e r hoarding fulfils in ing. d r a o h f o c m ti r e o f th s r e e a th ir e ano th f o e v ti c e p s e r ir e it u q , s le c ti r a h ic h w f o l ia r Gold and silver te a m e th e c in s , y e n o m to in d e n r u t e b ld o g d n a s in properties, can o c ld o g s a t s ju , y e n o m f o l ia r te a they consist is the m ed into such articles. Since gold and silver bars can be transform tract wealth, their employment as concrete s b a f o l ia r d te n a a m , e h lt th a e w are f o n o ti ta s e if n a m g in ik tr s t s o m r e n w o y it d o use values is the m m o c e th n o ti c u d o r p f o s e g ta s in y it d o m m o c r although at certa e th o to w o h s to d e ll e p im is e h hides �is treasures, t: c je b su e th t u o is b a it e r d o n m a l; s w sa r o e n k iv n r u io is en S e r Mr. e desi th h ic h w r fo t c je b o ly n is o h e l th il w e b t a to s y m sf e ti se sa y e y n a o "M or m ss e ss o p s It . h lt ea w ct ra ue, q st b ti a li o p is ie y m e o n n o co e m l' e d se u x a u c e ta so, b ndamen fo es p ci n ri P ." be y a . m h c y n e e r th F r e in v s te a te h o w u q ts x n r e a m [M e . ir requ p. 2 2 1 , 6 3 8 1 , is r a P , e n e b a iv r d r n A A n a .] e 7 J 2 . te p m , o 0 C 5 Ie 18 r y, a p om it n u trad tical Eco li o P , r io n e S m o fr n e to k ly ta n o is s e d g e a e ss n a e p n o sh , li h g lt n a e E w The s of m r fo r e th o ll a ts n se e r p e r (i .e ., y " e n th o r a m e s n A o " t : is ll x e e w t s a a th h h Storc f wealt o s d in k r e th o ll a in ta b o accumulate it in order to t. II , p . 1 3 5 ).
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A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
owners that he is a rico hombr a h�nevf� �� can �afely do so. H e : � : it o ' n ASia, and India in bedecks himself and his hou particu!ar, where the formation or. h oards does not play a . ' n, as It does subordmate part in the total m ech amsm. of prod uctlO m bourgeois economy ' but wher� this f?rm of wealth is still considered a final goal gold �:d Sll,:er artI�les are in fact merely hoards in an aesthetic f�rm T law �? �e�laeval Englan d treated m ? treasur�-hoard, since gold and silver articles si�ply as d the rough labour applied to them : dd I e Itt I e to theIr value. They . . . were intended to be thrown agam m � CIrculation and the fineness of the metal of which th w rr;a e ;;as . theref?re specified in the same way as that of c�n ;:�� a�: t a� mcreasmg wealth leads to an increased use of gold an Sl ver m the form of luxury articles is such a sim PIe matter that ancient thinkers clearly ' put forward the understood it' ** whereas modern econo.mlsts mcorrect proposition that th� us� o.f sIlver and . gold articles increases not in proportion to he . nse m wealth but m proportion to the fall in the value Of � reCIous metals. There is therefore r always a flaw in their other t la io a g a t p n r g n a i x e n e r d � � � f� � ; : : t�e use of Californian and A ra go d , for accordmg to their views the increased em I ?f �old as raw material is not justified by a correspo�fJ;�a�1 ln I �S value. As a. result of the ' fight between the Amencan co. Iomes and Spam 76 and the mterruption of mining by revoIutIons' the average annuaI output . of preCIous metals decreased .by �ore than . one-half between 1810 and 1830 . The amount 0f com CIrcul ating m E urope decreased by almost one-sixth in 1829 s ompared �ith 1 809 . Although the � s p d r t t u e c n u s u h e a t�� t�OductlOn cost� (provided they t o d ea �hanged at all) increased, neve t : ��s an �xceptIonally rapid ri �e m the use of precious metals as r cIes 0 lu:,ury took place m England even during the war and on t�e contment following the 0 Their use i reased wlth the growth of wealth in 7 Treaty of Paris. . J : general. *** I t may be regard as a general law that the conversion ·
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. ' . * How little the inner man of th� lll dIVldual owner of commodities has . . . ' changed even when he has become CIVIlIsed and turned into a capItalIst is for . . ' of a� lllternatIonal i�stance proved by a London refresentatIve bankin'g house who dIsplayed a framed [ 1 00 000 n e s an . pprop.nate family coat of arms. The point ' in this case is the deris�ry an s perCi lous aIr with which the note looks down upon circulation. see he passage from Xenophon quoted later. * Jaco , l .e., Vol. I I , ch. 25 and 26. __ a Rich man.- Ed.
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f o s e m ti in s te a in m o d e r p s d o o g y r u x lu to in in o c r e lv si d ly n o in o of gold an c to in o ls a d n a s r a b to in n o si r e v n o c e r ir e th e il h r o p o r p peace, w a le b a r e d si n o c w o H * s. d io r e p t n le u b r tu in s y r u x predominate lu f o e p a sh e th in ts is x e k c o st r e lv si d n a ld o g e th e th y tion of b n w o sh is y e n o m s a d se u t n u o m a e th h it w d e r a p in 1 articles com to 2 s a s a w o ti a r e th , b o c a J to g in d r o c c a , 9 2 8 1 in t n e c fact that r e p 5 2 , a ic r e m A d n a le o h w a s a e p o r u E in e England, whil s. in o c in n a th s d o o g y r u x lu in d se u s a w l ta e m s u io c e r p a more ly e r e m is y e n o m f o n o ti la u c ir c e th t a th n e se e v W e ha e th f o r o s, ie it d o m m o c f o s si o h p r o m ta e m e th f o n o ti a . r e manifest tt a m f o e g n a h c x e l ia c so e th s ie n a p m o c c a h ic h w n o e r transformati fo e r e th st u m n o ti la u c ir c in y e n o m f o ty ti n a u q l g in The tota y r a v e th h it w e c n a d r o c c a in se a e r c e d r o se a e r in perpetually inc is t a th , n o ti la u c ir c in s ie it d o m m o c e th f o e ic r ir e aggregate p th f o e m lu o v e th h it w , d n a h e n o e th n o , e r e accordanc th o e th n o , d n a y sl u o e n a lt u m si e c la p e k ta h ic h w s is is metamorphose h T . n o ti a m r o sf n a tr ir e th f o y it c lo e v g in il a v e r p e n o h a n d , with th ti la u c ir c in y e n o m f o n o ti r o p o r p e th t a th d e id v o r p le s ie r only possib a v y tr n u o c n e iv g a in y e n o m f o t n u o m a is n to the total io it d n o c is th s d r a o h f o n o ti a m r fo e th to s k n a h T . n e continuously th s, se a e r c in n o ti la u c ir c f o y it c lo e v e th r o ll fa s e ic r p If y b fulfilled. d e b r so b a is n o ti la u c ir c f o e r e h sp e th m o fr d te c f o the money eje y it c lo e v e th r o e is r s e ic r p if ; s r e d r a o h f o s ir m e the reservo th f o t r a p a d n a n e p o s d r a o h se e th n e th s, se a e r c e d n g n ti circulatio la u c ir c f o n o ti a ic if d li so e h T . n o ti la u c ir c to in n o ti streams back la u c ir c to in s d r a o h e th f o g in w o fl e th d n a s d r a o h e th money into d n a t, n e m e v o m g n ti la il sc o d n a g in g n a h c y sl u o u n ti y b d is a con e in m r te e d ly le so is d n e tr r e th o e th r o e n o e th f t c a prevalence o s u th s d r a o h e h T s. ie it d o m m o c f o n o ti la u c ir c e th in so , variations y e n o m g n ti la u c ir c f o l a w a r d h it w r o ly p p su e th r fo ls e n st ju as c h a n s y a lw a is in o c s a g n ti la u c ir c y e n o m f o t n u o l ta to that the am e th If . n o ti la u c ir c f o ts n e m e ir u q e r te ia d e m im e le sa adequate to th f o y it n u id u fl e th d n a s d n a p x e ly n e d d su n o ti la u c ir to s e volume of c ic r p f o t n u o m a l ta to e th t a th so s, te a in m o d e r p se a h c n o ti la a n d pur u c ir c f o y it c lo e v e th s e o d n a th r e st fa n e v e s w o r l a be realised g m r o n b a n a r e v e n e h w ; ly ib is v le d in w d s d r a o h e th n e e th n of money, th e h w is t a th , le o h w a s a t n e m e v o m e th in s il a m iu d stagnation prev e m e th n e th s, te a in m o d e r p se a h c r u p m o fr le sa separation of l a rn te in g n ri u d y ll a ci e sp e curity, se in d n a n o ti a it g a at ; re y g e n o m to in d e rt ve * " In times of n co ly id p s are ra le ic rt a r e lv si d n a ld o g s, n o late si p a to in d e rt ve n co is commotions or inv y e n o m , erity sp ro p d n a ty li il u q n a tr f o s d o .] sh whilst, during peri li g n E in s te o u q rx a [M ). 7 p. 3 5 and jewellery" (I .e ., Vol. I I ,
n tio la cu ir C le p m Si or ey on M o. w T r te Chap ,
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d e extent an the solidifies into money to a remarkabl of circulation . . reservOirs . 0f the. hoarders are filled far above then average level I; coun ¥Ie� wh;Ch have purely metallic currency or are at an earl; eve opment of production, hoards are extreme!y s age 0 fragmented and scattered throughout the country ' whereas m advanc�d bourgeOis" countnes they are concentrated in th ���e�;o�; of. ban �: : �ards must n�t be confused with reserv: com, w IC o� m . a constItuent element of the total � �����f m�ney a�ways m �Ircula�ion, whereas the active relation tn medIUm of CIrculatIon presupposes that the total T amou �'lt 0 m�:mey decreases or increases. As we have seen ° and .sIlver artICles also act both as channels for the withdra�.!J �� precIOUS metals and latent sources of su pp1y ' . V nder ordmary circumstances only the former function pIays an Important role in the economy of metallic currency. * b. Means of Payment
tO n?w two forms of money which differ from the medium of CIrculatIOn have been considered , name1y suspended coin and hoard. The first form, the teJ?porary transformation of coins into money, reflects the fact that m a certain sphere of circulation the . secon d term 0f C M C, that IS M C, the purchase, must V I?
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. * I n the folIowing passage Xenophon discusses money and hoard, two speCIfIC ' . . . . , I am acquainted, this and dlstmct aspects of money ' "Of �II tpera�IOns WIth whICh is the only one in which no s�rt ofjt��u:l �� felt �t a further development of the s ;ere and the greater the amount of i�dustry ... the larger the quantity SIlver extracted, the greater the numbe: pers<:>ns ready to engage in the operation.... No one when h h ����u ���le�t ��rnIture for his house dreams of making further purchases : th�: Sl ver no one ever yet possessed so ' much that he was forced to cr 'Enough'. °n th.e contrary, if ever anybody does ' . , become. possessed of an immod�rate amount he fmds as much pIeasure ' dIggmg a h Ie m the ground and hoarding it as an �ctuaI employment of it. .. . When a state is prosperous there is nothing whl'ch peop e so muc? desire as silver. The men want money to expend on beaut·IfuI armour and fme horses, and houses and sumptuous paraphernalia of alI sorts' The women betake themselves to expensive apparel and ornaments of gold Or when stat�s are sick, either through barrenness of corn and other fruits or thro�ghr war, t e de�and for current coin is even s un�roductIve), to pay for necessaries or more imperative (whilst �he gr . De �e��gal:� s! c military aid." (Xenophon, n H . G . Dakyns , London ' by V ra [t : us, ' De 1 89 2, Vo! II , p p . 33 5 - 36) . [ M arx quotes m Greek' ) In Ch . 9 B k I f hIS ' '. ' . ' f . CIrculatIon Repubi'lea, Aristotle sets forth the two CIrcUIts C - M - C and ' h he calls "economics" and "ChrematIstIcs" , and their differences M C M, whIC The two forms under the names 1\' d XEP' Il are contrasted with each other by th� Greek tragedians, especialIy Eur\;1:�. .0
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r, e v e w o h , g in d r a o H s. se a h c r u p e iv ss e cc su f o s e ri se a to in p u k brea M C n io ct sa n a tr e th f o n o ti ra a p se e th to e u d ly p m si r e h it e is t n e d n e p e d in n a ly re e m is it r ,o C M to d e ce ro p t o n s e o d h whic , y e n o m s, ie it d o m m co f o s si o h rp o m ta e m t rs fi e th f o t n developme ct n ti is d s a s ie it d o m m co ll a f o ce n te is x e f o rm fo d te a n e li a or the le b a le sa s y a lw a e th ts n se re p re h ic h w , n o ti la u rc ci f o s n a e m from s rd a o h d n a e rv se re in ld e h in o C . y it d o m m o c e th form of re a d n a , n o ti la u rc ci f o s n a e -m n o n s a ly n o y e n o m te u constit . te la u rc ci t o n o d y e th se u ca e b ly re e m n o ti la u rc ci f o s n a e -m non s te la u rc ci r e d si n co w o n e w h ic h w y e n o m f o rm fo e iv ct n The disti f o s n a e m s a n io ct n fu t o n s e o d t u b , n o ti la u rc ci rs te or en f o s n a e m s y a lw a s a w n o ti la u rc ci f o s n a e m s a y e n o M . n o ti la circu . ty ci a p ca t a th in e rv se t o n s e purchase, but now it do t n e im d o b m e e th s e m co e b y e n o m g in d r a o h f o lt su re a s a When l ca si y h p f o e v ti ta n se e r p e r l a ri te a m e th d n a h lt a e w l a ci so ct ra st o f ab e th in h it w s n o ti c n fu c fi ci e sp s e ir u cq a y e n o m f o ct e sp a is wealth , th s n a e m a s a ly p m si s te la u rc ci y e n o m n e h W . n o ti la u rc ci f o process s se o p p su re p is th , se a h rc u p f o s n a e m a s a e c n e h d n a n o ti la u rc of ci in ; y sl u o e n a lt u m si r e th o h c a e t n o fr n o c y e n o m d n a y it d o m m o c t a th y it d o m m o c a s a , e ic tw le b a il a v a is e lu a v e m sa e th t a th s, d r o other w s d n a h e th in y e n o m s a d n a , le o p e n o t a r e ll se e th f o s d n a h e in th e th f o ce n te is x e s u o e n a lt u m si e h T . le o p r e th o e th t a r e y of the bu f o e g n a h c s u o e n a lt u m si ir e th d n a s le o p te si o p p o t a ts n le a iv two equ r e ll se 