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How do Marxists interpret value?
This week, the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY examines the various definitions of value and how capitalism distorts it
Pic by Lars Ploughman

A GOOD question, and one that Marx explored 150 years ago in the first volume of Capital (published in September 1867).

Value can be understood and measured in at least three different ways. A common use of the term is how much something might sell for or cost to buy.

Marx called this “exchange value” — the “worth” of something, measured by what it can be exchanged for — if the measure is money, its price.

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