Liberal economists ridiculed the labor theory of value as vulgar sophistry

Evidence

In 1920 Luigi Einaudi wrote a polemic in the Liberal newspaper Il corriere della sera bemoaning Marxist economists and their labor theory of value: “Why should a capitalist profi t only because the machine is his? Why shall he live without doing anything? Is it not obvious that his profi t comes from the exploitation of someone else’s labour?” he asked, sarcastically. “Th is is the celebrated and vulgar sophism of Marx’s Capital… . But it is enough to ask: how much would be produced if the savers did not produce capital? Th e answer: nothing. Without capital, labour produces zero.” — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1126

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the capital-versus-labor productivity contest that recurs across modern austerity debates and supply-side economics. — connects to: Marxist theory has itself ossified into the popular prejudice it critiqued — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1407

Broader Connections

• Marxist theory has itself ossified into the popular prejudice it critiqued #qualifies (0.70) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1407