Why has Capitalism failed to produce optimal value everywhere?

[Kidlicious]

So according to capitalists value is equal to price in a free market. So then if the cost of something goes up, and the price goes up then value has been created? Just the opposite is true. Value is created by decreasing costs.

[GePap]

Wha??

[Kidlicious]

Oh, this is a continuation thread. Apologies.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by GePap
Wha??

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by GePap
Wha??

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by GePap
Wha??

[Kidlicious]

I guess you guys can't handle this.

[Tattila the Hun]

Corruption, i say.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Kidicious
I guess you guys can't handle this.

Kid, if you are attempting to explain something and literally everyone has trouble following what you are saying then the problem likely isn't everyone else.

[Kontiki]

According to commies (well, at least kid), all work is of equal value, and pricing is just a problem of supply. So a surgeon working on you for an hour in a life-saving procedure has done something of equal value as a person assembling washing machines for an hour. It's only because there aren't enough surgeons (or are there too many washing machine assemblers?) that your life is more valuable than a washing machine, apparently.

Also, value is never relative, there's always a fixed social value. A loaf of bread is equally valuable to a starving person than it is to me right after I've stuffed myself at a buffet table.

[Colon™]

Originally posted by GePap
Wha??

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Kidicious
I guess you guys can't handle this.

I thought I handled the continuation in the continuation thread very nicely, thank you very much.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Kontiki
According to commies (well, at least kid), all work is of equal value, and pricing is just a problem of supply. So a surgeon working on you for an hour in a life-saving procedure has done something of equal value as a person assembling washing machines for an hour. It's only because there aren't enough surgeons (or are there too many washing machine assemblers?) that your life is more valuable than a washing machine, apparently.

Also, value is never relative, there's always a fixed social value. A loaf of bread is equally valuable to a starving person than it is to me right after I've stuffed myself at a buffet table.

Well, Kid is wrong. There is an obvious difference in an hour of labor requiring a long education vs. an hour of basic manual labor.

As for the loaf, there the value is created by the individual, not the other way around. someone who is starving will value a loaf of bread more than a person who is stuffed. The actual value of the loaf has not changed thought- its not like if a starving man walked into a supermarket he would all of a sudden be charged more than someone who is not hungry.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

The value is a summation of the individual values at any given time and is a function of time. The aggregate value changes for any given number of reasons but one thing holds is that it changes over time.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by GePap


Well, Kid is wrong. There is an obvious difference in an hour of labor requiring a long education vs. an hour of basic manual labor.

As for the loaf, there the value is created by the individual, not the other way around. someone who is starving will value a loaf of bread more than a person who is stuffed. The actual value of the loaf has not changed thought- its not like if a starving man walked into a supermarket he would all of a sudden be charged more than someone who is not hungry.

While I agree with you on the face of it, that's not the point. It has nothing to do with education or skills involved - it's that working on saving your life is more valuable than working on a washing machine. It doesn't matter if I could walk into any corner store and find someone that can perform life-saving surgery, the act of saving my life is always more valuable to me than a washing machine. Therefore, an hour of labor saving my life is always worth vastly more to me than an hour assembling a washing machine, even if you needed an MIT doctorate to assemble that washing machine.

As for the loaf, kid's whole point is that price doesn't equal value. So while you're right that the price wouldn't change for either person, the value would. If the value changes, then there isn't an inherent value to that loaf of bread.