Labour Value

Labour Value is the time value of the labour that goes into the creation of products and the provision of services. If it takes you one hour to bake a loaf of bread, then the Labour Value of that bread is one hour of your time.

Related Terms

The System > Economic Class, Exploitation, Ideology, Karl Marx, Labour Value, Maya, Money, Neurodecolonization, Proletariat, The Pyramid

Notes

Adam Smith, "father of Capitalism," discusses the labour theory of value in his seminal book, The Wealth of Nations

A few quotes from the book

Money contains "The value of a certain quantity of labour which we exchange for what is supposed at the time to contain the value of an equal quantity..." Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

"The value of any commodity, therefore, to the person who possesses it, and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labor which it enables him to purchase or command. Labor, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities." Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations

"Labor alone, therefore, never varying in its own value, is alone the ultimate and real standard by which the value of all commodities can at all times and places be estimated and compared. It is their real price; money is their nominal price." Adam Smith - the Wealth of Nations

For additional background on the labour value and the role of money, watch the "What is Money" video series

You can also have a look at the video Money Moksha

Finally, the book Rocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy provides an overview of The System and what we can do to change it.

Footnotes

References