Why has Capitalism failed to produce optimal value everywhere?

[Kidlicious]

For crying out loud. Get a job spambot!

[Bereta_Eder]

TRUTH HURTS

k bye

[ZEE]

Paiktis is such an awesome name. It's too Bad you Prefer Banana_Eater.

[Kidlicious]

[Sava]

The whole point of capitalism is to get people to pay a lot more for things than they are worth (cost of production). It's a scammer's economic system designed for fraud. The only "optimal value" in capitalism is as much as you can squeeze/steal from consumers.

[giblets]

But it's not possible for everything to cost more than it's worth at the same time.

[Aeson]

It is if you're in the mall.

[Fake Boris]

But it's not possible for everything to cost more than it's worth at the same time.

Yes it is, plus-value results in asset inflation.

[giblets]

Yes it is, plus-value results in asset inflation.

Inflation doesn't count.

[Fake Boris]

[giblets]

How does inflation affect the real value of commodities?

[Fake Boris]

It's not just possible for "everything to cost more than it's worth at the same time" - it is an essential feature of capitalism.

The plus-value is accumulated in the form of capital. Assets are not typical commodities, their prices reflect the relative value of wages and capital to one another. Think of gold, art, real estate, etc...

In other words, it's impossible for have-not consumers to continually pay for profits, which is the driving force behind the cycle of debts and busts.

[giblets]

If you're a Marxist, then capitalism is defined by labor getting paid less than their labor is worth. It's not defined by things costing more than they're worth. According to Marx, exchange value tends to fluctuate around a level determined by the labor necessary to produce something. If something takes 1 hour of labor to make, then its price will fluctuate around the wage for 1 hour of labor plus the typical rate of profit for 1 hour of labor.

[Fake Boris]

This isn't the point. From an aggregate perspective, the value of labor is lower than the value of its output. Thus, consumers have to pay for the plus-value. The plus-value is accumulated (rather than consumed) by the capitalist class, which causes the price of assets to rise faster than the real economy. Exhibit A: real estate.

[giblets]

Sava was saying that capitalists are getting consumers to pay a lot more for something than it's worth and exploiting consumers. That's not synonymous with saying workers are exploited because consumers aren't a class since all human beings have to consume.