The Subjectivity of Theory of Value: A Refutation of Marxist Economic Theory

For Marxism, the labor theory of value is the general law that explains not only the capitalist system but also the foundation that justifies the exploitation and oppression of workers, since all the profit obtained by the capitalist comes from the unpaid labor or surplus labor of the workers–that is, surplus value. In this sense, it is also from the labor theory of value that Marxists justify the tendency of capitalism toward collapse. However, all these inferences from Marxism are erroneous. The reason is that the value of labor is determined by the law of supply and demand. In other words, the value of labor is subjective because it depends on its usefulness and scarcity in the market. This is because it is consumer demand that ultimately determines the price of goods in the market. Finally, the subjective value of market prices implies that the economy is not a material structure but an ideological one.