Grundrisse

Karl Marx (1818-1883). The core of Marx's economic analysis found early expression in the Ökonomisch-philosophische Manuskripte aus dem Jahre 1844 (Economic and Political Manuscripts of 1844) (1844). There, Marx argued that the conditions of modern industrial societies invariably result in the estrangement (or alienation) of workers from their own labor. In his review of a Bruno Baier book, On the Jewish Question (1844), Marx decried the lingering influence of religion over politics and proposed a revolutionary re-structuring of European society. Much later, Marx undertook a systematic explanation of his economic theories in Das Kapital (Capital) (1867-95) and Theorien über den Mehrwert (Theory of Surplus Value) (1862).

• Introduction (Notebook M)1. Production in general2. General relation between production, distribution, exchange and consumption3. The method of political economy4. Means (forces) of production and relations of production, relations of production and relations of circulationThe Chapter on Money (Notebooks I and II, pp. 1-7)Darimon's theory of crisesGold export and crisesConvertibility and note circulationValue and priceTransformation of the commodity into exchange value; moneyContradictions in the money relation:(1) Contradiction between commodity as product and commodity as exchange value(2) Contradiction between purchase and sale(3) Contradiction between exchange for the sake of exchange and exchange for the sake of commodities(4) Contradiction between money as particular commodity and money as general commodity (The Economist and the Morning Star on money)Attempts to overcome the contradictions by the issue of time-chitsExchange value as mediation of private interestsExchange value (money) as social bondSocial relations which create an undeveloped system of exchangeThe product becomes a commodity; the commodity becomes exchange value; the exchange value of the commodity becomes moneyMoney as measureMoney as objectification of general labour time (Incidental remark on gold and silver)Distinction between particular labor time and general labour timeDistinction between planned distribution of labour time and measurement of exchange values by labour time (Strabo on money among the Albanians)The precious metals as subjects of the money relation:(a) Gold and silver in relation to the other metals(b) Fluctuations in the value-relations between the different metals(c) and (d) (headings only): Sources of gold and silver; money as coinCirculation of money and opposite circulation of commoditiesGeneral concept of circulation:(a) Circulation circulates exchange values in the form of prices (Distinction between real money and accounting money)(b) Money as the medium of exchange (What determines the quantity of money required for circulation) (Comment on (a))Commodity circulation requires appropriation through alienationCirculation as an endlessly repeated processThe price as external to and independent of the commodity: Creation of general medium of exchange; exchange as a special businessDouble motion of circulation: C-M; M-C, and M-C; C-MThree contradictory functions of money:(1) Money as general material of contracts, as measuring unit of exchange values(2) Money as medium of exchange and realizer of prices(Money, as representative of price, allows commodities to be exchanged at equivalent prices)(An example of confusion between the contradictory functions of money)(Money as particular commodity and money as general commodity)(3) Money as money: as material representative of wealth (accumulation of money)(Dissolution of ancient communities through money)(Money, unlike coin, has a universal character)(Money in its third function is the negation #negative unity# of its character as medium of circulation and measure)(Money in its metallic being; accumulation of gold and silver)(Headings on money, to be elaborated later)The Chapter on Capital (Notebooks II pp. 8-28, III, IV, V, VI and VII)The Chapter on Money as Capital:Difficulty in grasping money in its fully developed character as moneySimple exchange: relations between the exchangers (Critique of socialists and harmonizers: Bastiat, Proudhon)Section One: The Production Process of CapitalNothing is expressed when capital is characterized merely as a sum of valuesLanded property and capitalCapital comes from circulation; its content is exchange value; merchant capital, money capital, and money interestCirculation presupposes another process; motion between presupposed extremesTransition from circulation to capitalist production "Capital is accumulated labour (etc.)""Capital is a sum of values used for the production of values"Circulation, and exchange value deriving from circulation, the presupposition of capitalExchange value emerging from circulation, a presupposition of ciruclation, preserving and multiplying itself in it by means of labourProduct and capital. Value and capital. ProudhonCapital and labour. Exchange value and use value for exchange valueMoney and its use value (labour) in this relation capital: Self-multiplication of value is its only movementCapital, as regards substance, objectified labour. Its antithesis, living, productive labourProductive labour and labour as performance of a serviceProductive and unproductive labour. A. Smith etc.The two different processes in the exchange of capital with labourCapital and modern landed propertyThe marketExchange between capital and labour. Piecework wagesValue of labour powerShare of the wage labourer in general wealth determined only quantitativelyMoney is the worker's equivalent; he thus confronts capital as an equalBut the aim of his exchange is satisfaction of his need. Money for him is only medium of circulationSavings, self-denial as means of the worker's enrichmentValuelessness and devaluation of the worker a condition of capital(Labour power as capital!)Wages not productiveThe exchange between capital and labour belongs within simple circulation, does not enrich the workerSeparation of labour and property the precondition of this exchangeLabour as object absolute poverty, labour as subject general possibility of wealthLabour without particular specificity confronts capitalLabour process absorbed into capital(Capital and capitalist)Production process as content of capitalThe worker relates to his labour as exchange value, the capitalist as use valueThe worker divests himself of labour as the wealth-producing power; capital appropriates it as suchTranformation of labour into capitalRealization process(Costs of production)Mere self-preservation, non-multiplication of value contradicts the essence of capitalCapital enters the cost of production as capital. Interest bearing capital (Parentheses on: original accumulation of capital, historic presuppositions of capital, production in general)Surplus value. Surplus labour timeValue of labour. How it is determinedConditions for the self-realization of capitalCapital is productive as creator of surplus labourBut this is only a historical and transitory phenomenonTheories of surplus value (Ricardo; the Physiocrats; Adam Smith; Ricardo again)Surplus value and productive force. Relation when these increaseResult: in proportion as necessary labour is already diminished, the realization of capital becomes more difficultConcerning increases in the value of capitalLabour does not reproduce the value of material and instrument, but rather preserves it by relating to them in the labour process as to their objective conditionsAbsolute surplus labour time. RelativeIt is not the quantity of living labour, but rather its quality as labour which preserves the labour time already contained in the materialThe change of form and substance in the direct production processIt is inherent in the simple production process that the previous stage of production is preserved through the subsequent onePreservation of the old use value by new labourThe quantity of objectified labour is preserved because contact with living labour preserves its quality as use value for new labourIn the real production process, the separation of labour from its objective moments of existence is suspended. But in this process labour is already incorporated in capitalThe capitalist obtains surplus labour free of charge together with the maintenance of the value of material and instrumentThrough the appropriation of present labour, capital already possesses a claim to the appropriation of future labourConfusion of profit and surplus value. Carey's erroneous calculationThe capitalist, who does not pay the worker for the preservation of the old value, then demands remuneration for giving the worker permission to preserve the old capitalSurplus Value and ProfitDifference between consumption of the instrument and of wages. The former consumed in the production process, the latter outside itIncrease of surplus value and decrease in rate of profitMultiplication of simultaneous working daysMachineryGrowth of the constant part of capital in relation to the variable part spent on wages=growth of the productivity of labourProportion in which capital has to increase in order to employ the same number of workers if productivity risesPercentage of total capital can express very different relationsCapital (like property in general) rests on the productivity of labourIncrease of surplus labour time. Increase of simultaneous working days. (Population)(Population can increase in proportion as necessary labour time becomes smaller)Transition from the process of the production of capital into the process of circulationSection Two: The Circulation Process of CapitalDevaluation of capital itself owing to increase of productive forces(Competition)Capital as unity and contradiction of the production process and the realization processCapital as limit to production. OverproductionDemand by the workers themselvesBarriers to capitalist productionOVerproduction; ProudhonPrice of the commodity and labour timeThe capitalist does not sell too dear; but still above what the thing costs himPrice can fall below value without damage to capitalNumber and unit (measure) important in the multiplication of pricesSpecific accumulation of capital. (Transformation of surplus labour into capital)The determination of value and of pricesThe general rate of profitIf the capitalist merely sells at his own cost of production, then it is a transfer to another capitalist. The worker gains almost nothing therebyBarrier of capitalist production. Relation of surplus labour to necessary labour. Proportion of the surplus consumed by capital to that transformed into capitalDevaluation during crisesCapital coming out of the production process becomes money again(Parenthesis on capital in general)Surplus Labour or Surplus Value Becomes Surplus CapitalAll the determinants of capitalist production now appear as the result of (wage) labour itselfThe realization process of labour at the same time its de-realization processFormation of surplus capital ISurplus capital IIInversion of the law of appropriationChief result of the production and realization processOriginal accumulation of capitalOnce developed historically, capital itself creates the conditions of its existence(Performance of personal services, as opposed to wage labour)(Parenthesis on inversion of the law of property, real alien relation of the worker to his product, division of labour, machinery)Forms which precede capitalist production. (Concerning the process which precedes the formation of the capital relation or of original accumulation)Exchange of labour for labour rests on the worker's propertylessnessCirculation of capital and circulation of moneyProduction process and circulation process moments of production. The productivity of the different capitals (branches of industry) determines that of the individual capitalCirculation period. Velocity of circulation substitutes for volume of capital. Mutual dependence of capitals in the velocity of their circulationThe four moments in the turnover of capitalMoment II to be considered here: transformation of the product into money; duration of this operation. Transport costs. Circulation costs. Means of communication and transportDivision of the branches of labourConcentration of many workers; productive force of this concentrationGeneral as distinct from particular conditions of productionTransport to market (spatial condition of circulation) belongs in the production processCredit, the temporal moment of circulationCapital is circulating capitalInfluence of circulation on the determination of value; circulation time=time of devaluationDifference between the capitalist mode of production and all earlier ones (universality, propagandistic nature)(Capital itself is the contradiction)Circulation and creation of valueCapital not a source of value-creationContinuity of production presupposes suspension of circulation timeTheories of Surplus ValueRamsay's view that capital is its own source of profitNo surplus value according to Ricardo's lawRicardo's theory of value. Wages and profitQuinceyRicardoWakefield. Conditions of capitalist production in coloniesSurplus value and profit. Example (Malthus)Difference between labour and labour capacityCarey's theory of the cheapening of capital for the workerCarey's theory of the decline of the rate of profitWakefield on the contradiction between Ricardo's theories of wage labour and of valueBailey on dormant capital and increase of production without previous increase of capitalWade's explanation of capital. Capital, collective force. Capital, civilization.Rossi. What is capital? Is raw material capital? Are wages necessary for it?Malthus. Theory of value and of wagesAim of capitalist production value (money), not commodity, use value etc. ChalmersDifference in return. Interruption of the production process. Total duration of the production process. Unequal periods of productionThe concept of the free labourer contains the pauper. Population and overpopulationNecessary labour. Surplus labour. Surplus population. Surplus capitalAdam Smith: work as sacrificeAdam Smith: the origin of profitSurplus labour. Profit. WagesImmovable capital. Return of capital. Fixed capital. John Stuart MillTurnover of capital. Circulation process. Production process. Circulation costs. Circulation timeCapital's change of form and of substance; different forms of capital; circulation capital as general character of capitalFixed (tied down) capital and circulating capitalConstant and variable capitalCompetitionSurplus value. Production time. Circulation time. Turnover timeCompetition (continued)Part of capital in production time, part in circulation timeSurplus value and production phase. Number of reproductions of capital = number of turnoversChange of form and of matter in the circulation of capital. C-M-C. M-C-MDifference between production time and labour timeFormation of a mercantile estate; creditSmall-scale circulation. The process of exchange between capital and labour capacity generallyThreefold character, or mode, of circulationFixed capital and circulating capitalInfluence of fixed capital on the total turnover time of capitalFixed capital. Means of labour. MachineTransposition of powers of labour into powers of capital both in fixed and in circulatin capitalTo what extent fixed capital (machine) creates valueFixed capital and continuity of the production process. Machinery and living labour.Contradiction between the foundation of bourgeois production (value as measure) and its developmentSignificance of the development of fixed capital (for the development of capital generally)The chief role of capital is to create disposable time; contradictory form of this in capitalDurability of fixed capitalReal saving (economy)=saving of labour time=development of productive forceTrue conception of the process of social productionOwen's historical conception of industrial (capitalist) productionCapital and value of natural agenciesScope of fixed capital indicates the level of capitalist productionIs money fixed capital or circulating capital?Turnover time of capital consisting of fixed capital and circulating capital. Reproduction time of fixed capitalThe same commodity sometimes circulating capital, sometimes fixed capitalEvery moment which is a presupposition of production is at the same time its result, in that it reproductes its own conditionsThe counter-value of circulating capital must be produced within the year. Not so for fixed capital. It engages the production of subsequent yearsMaintanence costs of fixed capitalRevenue of fixed capital and circulating capitalFree labour=latent pauperism. EdenThe smaller the value of fixed capital in relation to its product, the more usefulMovable and immovable, fixed and circulatingConnection of circulation and reproductionSection Three: Capital as Fructiferous. Tranformation of Surplus Value into ProfitRate of profit. Fall of the rate of profitSurplus value as profit always expresses a lesser proportionWakefield, Carey and Bastiat on the rate of profitCapital and revenue (profit). Production and distribution. SismondiTransformation of surplus value into profitLaws of this and transformationSurplus value=relation of surplus labour to necessary labourValue of fixed capital and its productive powerMachinery and surplus labour. Recapitulation of the doctrine of surplus value generallyRelation between the objective conditions of production. Change in the proportion of the component parts of capitalMiscellaneousMoney and fixed capital: presupposes a certain amount of wealth. Relation of fixed capital and circulating capital (Economist)Slavery and wage labour; profit upon alienation (Steuart)Steuart, Montanari and Gouge on moneyThe wool industry in England since Elizabeth; silk-manufacture; iron; cottonOrigin of free wage labour. Vagabondage. (Tuckett)Blake on accumulation and rate of profit; dormant capitalDomestic agriculture at the beginning of the sixteenth century. (Tuckett)Profit. Interest. Influence of machinery on the wage fund. (Westminster Review)Money as measure of values and yardstick of prices. Critique of theories of the standard measure of moneyTransformation of the medium of circulation into money. Formation of treasures. Means of payment. Prices of commodities and quantity of circulating money. Value of moneyCapital, not labour, determines the value of money (Torrens)The minimum of wagesCotton machinery and working men in 1826. (Hodgskin)How the machine creates raw material. (Economist)Machinery and surplus labourCapital and profit. Relation of the worker to the conditions of labour in capitalist production. All parts of capital bring a profitTendency of the machine to prolong labourCotton factories in England. Example for machinery and surplus labourExamples from Glasgow for the rate of profitAlienation of the conditions of labour with the development of capital. InversionMerivale. Natural dependence of the worker in colonies to be replaced by artificial restrictionsHow the machine saves material. Bread. Dureau de la MalleDevelopment of money and interestProductive consumpion. Newman. Transformations of capital. Economic cycleDr. Price. Innate power of capitalProudhon. Capital and simple exchange. SurplusNecessity of the worker's propertylessnessGalianiTheory of savings. StorchMacCulloch. Surplus. ProfitArnd. Natural interestInterest and profit. CareyHow merchant takes the place of masterMerchant wealthCommerce with equivalents impossible. OpdykePrincipal and interestDouble standardOn moneyJames Mill's false theory of pricesRicardo on currencyOn moneyTheory of foreign trade. Two nations may exchange according to the law of profit in such a way that both gain, but one is always defraudedMoney in its third role, as money(I) Value (This section to be brought forward)Bastiat and CareyBastiat's economic harmoniesBastiat on wages