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This paper presents a critique of recent efforts, under the rubric of Temporal Single System Marxism, to defend Marx's value theory against the claim that his transformation algorithm is flawed. Although Marx did make a number of errors in elaborating his theory of value and the profit rate, these missteps do not undermine his larger scientific project. Far greater damage has been inflicted by his would-be Temporal Single System defenders, who camouflage Marx's errors by detaching him from his Ricardian roots; in the process they redefine value in a way that trivializes its function in Marx's system. JEL classification: B14; B24 Keywords: Marx; Value theory; Transformation problem; Sraffa

The Production of Commodities: An Introduction to Sraffa. By J.E. Woods, Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, 1990, Pp. xii, 341, index, $49.95. Piero Sraffa's Production of Commodities by Means [...]

In his Critical Sociology essay on Piero Sraffa’s Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, William Jefferies aims to rescue Marx’s labor value analysis by demonstrating the purported inadequacy of the Sraffa model. Jefferies’s argument is untenable, however; for it rests upon a thoroughly confused caricature of Sraffa’s analytical framework. The present comment argues that, far from undermining Marx, Sraffa provides a way to place Marx’s project on solid foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]