In this article we will explore Labor-time calculation from different perspectives, analyzing its impact on current society, as well as its historical relevance and possible future development. We will delve into its origins and evolution, examining its influence in different areas of daily life. Through interviews, studies and analysis, we will try to shed light on the importance of Labor-time calculation and how it has shaped the world we know. In addition, we will examine different opinions and points of view to offer a complete and enriching vision on this topic. Join us on this journey of exploration and inquiry about Labor-time calculation.
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Labor-time calculation is a method of economic calculation that uses labor time as the basic unit of accounting and valuation. This method of calculation was advocated by the economists Otto Bauer, Helene Bauer and Otto Leichter as an alternative to calculation in kind for a socialist economy.[1] Otto Leichter criticized in-kind calculation on the basis that rational accounting required a general unit for comparing costs of heterogeneous goods.
The basis for labor-time calculation is found in Karl Marx's analysis of value in capitalism. However, Marx was vehemently opposed to any proposal for using labor-time as the basis for socialist calculation because his concept of socially necessary labor time was a conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing value in capitalism. In Marx's view socialism would operate according to its own economic "laws of motion" distinct from those of capitalism.[2]
The author who most convincingly defended the claim that economic calculation in labor hours is possible was Otto Leichter (1923). Paradoxically, in this book, Leichter fiercely criticizes proposals of calculation in kind. His ideas were later developed and refined by Walter Schiff (1932).
Marx is full of scorn for the proposal, advanced by some socialists during his lifetime, to arrange things so that commodities would actually exchange in proportion to the labor-time embodied in them.