Forms of circulation CMC simple commodity circulation MCM

Forms of circulation C–M–C simple commodity circulation M–C–M circulation of capital The first distinction between money as money and money as capital is nothing more than a difference in their form of circulation. (p. 247)

Forms of circulation: commonalities In C–M–C and in M–C–M one finds: the same phases: purchase and sale (M–C and C–M); the same elements: commodity and money; the same economic character masks: buyers and sellers.

Forms of circulation: differences C-M-C M-C-M Money is the mediator. The commodity is the mediator. The money is definitely spent. The money is advanced. The same piece of money changes hands twice. The same commodity changes hands twice. The money does not return. The return of the money is the motor of the movement. Consumption is the goal. Exchange value is the goal. The extremes are different use values. The extremes are only quantitatively distinct Thus the Form M-C-M only makes sense as M–C–M’

The origin of surplus value The transformation of money into capital has to be developed on the basis of the immanent laws of the exchange of commodities, in such a way that the starting-point is the exchange of equivalents. (pp. 268– 69)

The special commodity: labour power Labour power = the ability to work Value of the commodity LP the labour time socially necessary for its (re-)production (like any other commodity); the value of necessary means of subsistence, such as nutrition, housing, clothing, education, etc. ( «historical and moral element» only valid for the value of the commodity LP). Use-value of the commodity LP consists of its power to create value. By a correspondingly long working time, LP can create more value than it has. Price of the commodity LP the wage in money. What is paid is labour power, not the labour performed. labour (creates value) ≠ labour power (has value)

The worker free in two ways The worker sells the capitalist his labour power as a commodity. In order to find labour power on the market, two conditions must be fulfilled: 1. The worker must be formally free to sell his labour power. He is not in a relationship of personal dependency (e. g. slavery or serfdom). 2. The worker must be materially «free» of means of production, so that he is, and remains, forced to sell his labour power.

… to summarize: Surplus value the increment relative to the sum initially advanced (difference between M' and M); the value produced by the worker, minus the value of the commodity labour power. Capital the value that is valorized (increased). Capitalist the bearer of the movement of capital, character mask, capital personified.

What does exploitation mean? Exploitation describes when workers are forced to work longer than necessary for their own reproduction and when others appropriate the fruits of this surplus labour. When we speak of capacity for labour, we do not speak of labour, any more than we speak of digestion when we speak of capacity for digestion. (p. 277)