Exchange itself, not utility or scarcity, creates economic value.

Evidence

One can accordingly say that the scarcity of goods in relation to the desires directed to them objectively conditions exchange, but that it is exchange alone that makes scarcity a factor in value. It is a mistake of many theories of value to assume that, when utility and scarcity are given, economic value—that is, the exchange process—is something to be taken for granted, a conceptually necessary consequence of those premises. In this they are by no means correct. If, for instance, those conditions are accompanied by ascetic resignation, or if they instigated only combat or robbery—which, to be sure, is indeed true often enough—no economic value and no economic life would emerge. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 261

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The whole value-theory inversion — exchange as the source of value rather than its mere consequence — is a paradigm shift that rewards revisiting.
• QUESTION: Could pursue how this anti-substantivist theory of value anticipates later relational/network accounts of worth.
• XREF: connects to: Exchange stands as the purest form of human interaction and rationalizes daily life. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 217; Exchange is a change within each party, not a thing between them. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 223; Two-person exchange is a subspecies of the individual’s internal sacrifice-and-gain. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 226 (+21 more)

Related

• Exchange creates value as genuinely as production does. (similarity 0.95)
• Economic value arises only through sacrifice and exchange (similarity 0.91)
• Exchange creates value such that the sum exceeds what each party held. (similarity 0.90)
• Labor power only becomes a value through the possibility of exchange. (similarity 0.90)
• Exchange stands as the purest form of human interaction and rationalizes daily life. (similarity 0.88)
• Exchange is a change within each party, not a thing between them. (similarity 0.87)
• Exchange value is measured by what a commodity trades for, not by its price (similarity 0.87)
• Two-person exchange is a subspecies of the individual’s internal sacrifice-and-gain. (similarity 0.86)
• Labor is the commodity whose surplus value is expropriated and realized through market exchange (similarity 0.86)
• Economic value emerges through the distance exchange creates between self and object (similarity 0.85)
• Every exchange is individually advantageous given its actual circumstances (similarity 0.84)
• Exchange value is always judged relative to the moment’s circumstances (similarity 0.82)
• Individuality paradoxically emerges through the exchange process that levels it. (similarity 0.82)
• Surplus-value emerges where equivalent exchange opens a gap over reproduction costs (similarity 0.82)
• Exchange value triumphed because it alone can compound into more capital (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Labor is the commodity whose surplus value is expropriated and realized through market exchange #expands (0.75)
• Market ideology conceals exploitation by making exchange stand in for production #complicates (0.70)
• Labor power only becomes a value through the possibility of exchange. #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 258
• The sphere of exchange generates capitalism’s spontaneous commonsense and bourgeois theory #corroborates (0.65)
• Production and exchange form a unity of the diverse, not an identical unity #qualifies (0.60)
• Ideological consciousness arises from phenomenal exchange relations, not directly from production. #corroborates (0.55)