[lbo-talk] Open Letter from a Keynesian to a Marxist by Joan Robin son

Angelus Novus fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com
Sun Jul 17 13:48:08 PDT 2011


Jim Farmelant:


> Joan Robinson abjured the label of Marxist because she rejected both the
> labor theory of value

In a review of Edmund Wilson's _To The Finland Station_ written many decades ago, CLR James remarked that Marx's value theory is more properly referred to as a value theory of labor, not a "labor theory of value".

Jame's distinction is key, and great Marxian thinker that he was, he knew what Marx was getting at.

Anytime some self-proclaimed critic of Marx speaks of an alleged "labor theory of value" by Marx, i.e. anytime they demonstrate that they think "Marx" is the German word for "Ricardo", that's an indication that they have nothing serious to say about Marx.

So thank you for helping me to reach the decision that this lifetime is too short for reading Joan Robinson.



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