Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part I The Development of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part II The Capitalist Mode of Production
- 5 Simple Reproduction in Capital, Vol. I, Ch. 7, 11 and 23
- 6 Extended Reproduction in Capital, Vol. I, Ch. 24
- 7 Simple Reproduction in Capital, Vol. II, Sections 1–8
- 8 Extended Reproduction in Capital, Vol. II, Ch. 21, Section 3
- 9 The Precipitation of Fixed Capital in Capital, Vol. II, Ch. 21, Sections 1–2; Ch. 20, Section 11
- Part III The Underdevelopment of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part IV The Value Theory of Labour
- Conclusion
- Appendix: On Social Classes
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Extended Reproduction in Capital, Vol. I, Ch. 24
from Part II - The Capitalist Mode of Production
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part I The Development of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part II The Capitalist Mode of Production
- 5 Simple Reproduction in Capital, Vol. I, Ch. 7, 11 and 23
- 6 Extended Reproduction in Capital, Vol. I, Ch. 24
- 7 Simple Reproduction in Capital, Vol. II, Sections 1–8
- 8 Extended Reproduction in Capital, Vol. II, Ch. 21, Section 3
- 9 The Precipitation of Fixed Capital in Capital, Vol. II, Ch. 21, Sections 1–2; Ch. 20, Section 11
- Part III The Underdevelopment of the Capitalist Mode of Production
- Part IV The Value Theory of Labour
- Conclusion
- Appendix: On Social Classes
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Marx's discussion of extended reproduction, in Capital, Vol. I, Chapter 24, really only reiterates what he has already said on the subject of simple reproduction in Chapter 23, with however one very important difference. Instead of supposing that capitalists consume unproductively the entire surplus value produced by the process of production in order to reproduce themselves and their families, he now assumes that they reinvest a part of the surplus in order not only to simply reproduce themselves, but to extend the scale of the process of production.
In the main example he gives of this (1974a, 543–9 [1976, 725–33]), Marx supposes that the capitalist has advanced to the process of production a capital, not of £1,000 this time, but £10,000, of which four-fifths (£8,000) is spent on constant capital (means of production, raw materials, etc.), and one-fifth (£2,000) is spent on variable capital (wages). Assuming a rate of surplus value (the ratio of variable capital advanced as wages to the total surplus value produced) of 1:1, or 100%;, where the variable capital is £2,000, the surplus value produced by this process of production will also be £2,000, since r = s/v.
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- Information
- A Guide to Marx's 'Capital' Vols I-III , pp. 50 - 54Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2012