Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Introduction
- Part I The Development of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part II The Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part III The Underdevelopment of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part IV The Value Theory of Labour
- Conclusion to Part IV
- Conclusion
- Appendix: On Social Classes
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
15 - The Rate of Profit and the Rate of Surplus Value in Capital, Vol. I, Ch. 9, Section 3, and Vol. III, Parts I and III
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2021
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Introduction
- Part I The Development of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part II The Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part III The Underdevelopment of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part IV The Value Theory of Labour
- Conclusion to Part IV
- Conclusion
- Appendix: On Social Classes
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
We have already seen that the formula Marx gives for the rate of profit is r=s/(c+v) (in which r equals the rate, s stands for the visible surplus, or profit, c stands for what Marx calls ‘constant capital’, the cost of reproducing the enterprise, and v stands for what Marx called ‘variable capital’ or wages). The formula for the rate of surplus value, on the other hand, is simply r=s/v. These two formulae are therefore distinguished solely by the fact that, while Marx includes the cost of renewing constant capital (c) in his calculation of the rate of profit, he does not include this factor in his calculation of the rate of surplus value. Chapter 5 of this study explains the reason why he does this. It is because, while the cost of renewing worn-out constant capital is undoubtedly a loss to the capitalist when considered from the point of view of the capitalist's profit, and although the cost of reproducing constant capital is clearly a loss to the capitalist when viewed from the perspective of the absolute profit capitalists might otherwise take if they were to liquidate their capital entirely, Marx regarded the actual expense of reproducing the worn-out constant capital not as a cost to the capitalist but as a loss to the labourer. That is, he saw it as an additional part of the unpaid work that labour provides for capital over and above what they are paid for, and, therefore, as something which should legitimately be regarded as a part of the surplus value of the enterprise. According to Marx then, it is not the capitalists, but the labourers, who pay for the replacement of constant capital in the form of wages they do not receive and who reproduce the substance of worn-out constant capital in the form of their surplus labour. Capitalists count the cost of renewing constant capital as a loss to themselves, and this is correct in so far as the profit that the capitalists might otherwise take if they did not replace wornout constant capital and, in doing so, renew their claim to be the owners of the enterprise in question.
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- Karl Marx's 'Capital': A Guide to Volumes I-III , pp. 125 - 132Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2021