The Energy Theory of Value

The Energy Theory of Value PDF Author: Tim Watkins
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780993087783
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
What is the basis of all of the wealth in our modern global economy? For some it is merely the product of trade in a free market. The followers of Karl Marx, however, have enshrined the belief that all value, wealth and profit is generated by the working class and then stolen by the capitalist elites. The Marxist "Labour Theory of Value" lay at the heart of the communist revolutions that led to conflict and division throughout the twentieth century. Marx was 90 percent correct when he reasoned that one or more of the inputs into production must be paid far less than the value it generates in order to produce profit or "surplus value" at the end. Marx arrived at the bindingly obvious - and entirely wrong - conclusion that this input was labour. What Marx began to see toward the end of his life was that while labour could be exploited, automation meant that something else must be generating surplus value. In The Energy Theory of Value sociologist Tim Watkins argues that the "something else" that Marx missed was energy - in particular the one-time gift (and curse) of fossil carbon fuels. This understanding leads to a very different - and far more urgent - politics for the twenty-first century.

The Energy Theory of Value

The Energy Theory of Value PDF Author: Tim Watkins
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780993087783
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is the basis of all of the wealth in our modern global economy? For some it is merely the product of trade in a free market. The followers of Karl Marx, however, have enshrined the belief that all value, wealth and profit is generated by the working class and then stolen by the capitalist elites. The Marxist "Labour Theory of Value" lay at the heart of the communist revolutions that led to conflict and division throughout the twentieth century. Marx was 90 percent correct when he reasoned that one or more of the inputs into production must be paid far less than the value it generates in order to produce profit or "surplus value" at the end. Marx arrived at the bindingly obvious - and entirely wrong - conclusion that this input was labour. What Marx began to see toward the end of his life was that while labour could be exploited, automation meant that something else must be generating surplus value. In The Energy Theory of Value sociologist Tim Watkins argues that the "something else" that Marx missed was energy - in particular the one-time gift (and curse) of fossil carbon fuels. This understanding leads to a very different - and far more urgent - politics for the twenty-first century.

The Empire of Value

The Empire of Value PDF Author: Andre Orlean
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262549581
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
An argument that conceiving of economic value as a social force makes it possible to develop a new and more powerful theory of market behavior. With the advent of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the economics profession itself entered into a crisis of legitimacy from which it has yet to emerge. Despite the obviousness of their failures, however, economists continue to rely on the same methods and to proceed from the same underlying assumptions. André Orléan challenges the neoclassical paradigm in this book, with a new way of thinking about perhaps its most fundamental concept, economic value. Orléan argues that value is not bound up with labor, or utility, or any other property that preexists market exchange. Economic value, he contends, is a social force whose vast sphere of influence, amounting to a kind of empire, extends to every aspect of economic life. Markets are based on the identification of value with money, and exchange value can only be regarded as a social institution. Financial markets, for example, instead of defining an extrinsic, objective value for securities, act as a mechanism for arriving at a reference price that will be accepted by all investors. What economists must therefore study, Orléan urges, is the hold that value has over individuals and how it shapes their perceptions and behavior. Awarded the prestigious Prix Paul Ricoeur on its original publication in France in 2011, The Empire of Value has been substantially revised and enlarged for this edition, with an entirely new section discussing the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

Energy Economics

Energy Economics PDF Author: Peter Zweifel
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3662530228
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
This book provides an introduction to energy economics. It shows how to apply general economic theory as well as empirical and advanced econometric methods to explain the drivers of energy markets and their development. Readers learn about the specific properties of energy markets as well as the physical, technological, environmental, and geopolitical particularities of energy sources and products. The book covers all types of energy markets, ranging from liquid fuels, gaseous fuels, and solid fuels to electricity. It also addresses emission allowances, energy efficiency, and nuclear risks. The authors discuss the engineering properties of energy technologies including renewables, the economics of natural resources and environmental protection, market liberalization, and energy trade as well as the experience of the German energy transformation. This book will serve students as a textbook and practitioners as a reference for their understanding of energy markets and their development.

An Energy Theory of Value for Ecosystems

An Energy Theory of Value for Ecosystems PDF Author: Bruce Hannon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Book Description


Labour and Value: Rethinking Marx’s Theory of Exploitation

Labour and Value: Rethinking Marx’s Theory of Exploitation PDF Author: Ernesto Screpanti
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
ISBN: 178374782X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
In this book Ernesto Screpanti provides a rigorous examination of Marx’s theory of exploitation, one of the cornerstones of Marxist thought. With precision and clarity, he identifies the holes in traditional readings of Marx’s theory before advancing his own original interpretation, drawing on contemporary philosophy and economic theory to provide a refreshingly interdisciplinary exegesis. Screpanti’s arguments are delivered with perspicuity and verve: this is a book that aims to spark a debate. He exposes ambiguities present in Marx’s exposition of his own theory, especially when dealing with the employment contract and the notions of ‘abstract labor’ and ‘labor value’, and he argues that these ambiguities have given rise to misunderstandings in previous analyses of Marx’s theory of exploitation. Screpanti’s own interpretation is a meticulously argued counterpoint to these traditional interpretations. Labour and Value is a significant contribution to the theory of economics, particularly Marxist economics. It will also be of great interest to scholars in other disciplines including sociology, political science, and moral and political philosophy. Screpanti’s clear and engaging writing style will attract the interested general reader as well as the academic theorist.

More Heat Than Light

More Heat Than Light PDF Author: Philip Mirowski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521426893
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
The development of the energy concept in Western physics and its subsequent effect on the emergence of neoclassical economics are traced to reveal how economics has sought to emulate physics, especially with regard to the theory of value.

The Physical Foundation of Economics

The Physical Foundation of Economics PDF Author: Jing Chen
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812563237
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
All human activities, including mental activities, are governed by physical laws and are essentially thermodynamic processes. However, current economic theories are not established on these foundations. This pioneering book seeks to develop an analytical theory of economics on the foundation of thermodynamic laws. A unified understanding of economic and social phenomena is presented, an understanding that is much simpler than what mainstream economic theory has to offer. Its aim is to revolutionize thinking in economics and transform social sciences into an integral part of the physical and biological sciences.

Breaking Things at Work

Breaking Things at Work PDF Author: Gavin Mueller
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1786636751
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
In the Nineteenth-century, English textile workers responded to the introduction of new technologies on the factory floor by smashing them to bits. For years the Luddites roamed the English countryside, practicing drills and manoeuvres that they would later deploy on unsuspecting machines. The movement has been derided by scholars as a backwards-looking and ultimately ineffectual effort to stem the march of history; for Gavin Mueller, the movement gets at the heart of the antagonistic relationship between all workers, including us today, and the so-called progressive gains secured by new technologies. The luddites weren't primitive and they are still a force, however unconsciously, in the workplaces of the twenty-first century world. Breaking Things at Work is an innovative rethinking of labour and machines, leaping from textile mills to algorithms, from existentially threatened knife cutters of rural Germany to surveillance-evading truckers driving across the continental United States. Mueller argues that the future stability and empowerment of working-class movements will depend on subverting these technologies and preventing their spread wherever possible. The task is intimidating, but the seeds of this resistance are already present in the neo-Luddite efforts of hackers, pirates, and dark web users who are challenging surveillance and control, often through older systems of communication technology.

Value

Value PDF Author: Diane Elson
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1784782319
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
This republication of a long out-of-print collection of essays, first published in 1979, focuses on the elusive concept of “value.” The field of study surrounding the theory of value remains comparatively sparse in Anglophone circles, and the essays here aim to answer the question, “Why is Marx’s theory of value important?”

An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations PDF Author: Adam Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description