Exchange value

In political economy and especially Marxian economics, exchange value refers to one of four major attributes of a commodity, i.e., an item or service produced for, and sold on the market. The other three aspects are use value, economic value, and price.

Thus, a commodity has:

These four concepts have a very long history in human thought, from Aristotle to David Ricardo, becoming ever more clearly distinguished as the development of commercial trade progressed but have largely disappeared as four distinct concepts in modern economics. This entry focuses on Marx's summation of the results of economic thought about exchange-value.

Exchange value and price according to Marx

Strictly speaking, the exchange value of a commodity is for Marx not identical to its price, but represents rather what (quantity of) other commodities it will exchange for, if traded.

Exchange Value

"Exchange Value" (1981) is a short story written by Charles R. Johnson. Set in Chicago, where Johnson himself lived for a time, this story addresses the corrupting power of money and wealth, and the problem of "hoarding," which is accumulating food, money, and other things for future use, as two brothers steal from a deceased woman, whose outward signs of poverty and begging belied her true nature: a rich, yet cheap, woman who hid her wealth away.

Plot summary

Loftis and "Cooter," are two young brothers living in a Chicago apartment, who although do not generally take a part of criminal activity, set out to rob their next door neighbor Miss Elnora Bailey. Bailey, who only leaves her apartment at night to ask for food handouts, is a West Indian woman with all the appearances of a beggar. Having not seen Bailey for several days, and seeing her mailbox full, Loftis and Cooter assumed she had left the neighborhood, and would therefore be an easy mark for burglary.

Upon breaking into her house from her side window, the brothers first have to bypass several surprising booby traps: boxes of glass set beside the window. Entering Bailey's kitchen and apartment, the brothers are greeted by the smell of putrid garbage, roaches, dirty dishes, and aluminum coffee cans filled with fecal matter as Bailey's toilet had stopped working. Cooter feels disgusted at the setting, and stops when he smells an even more putrid stench; Loftis continues further into the apartment, and discovers, to the brother's surprise and excitement, a literal treasure hoard of money, stocks, alcohol, and more. In addition to the easily transported items like money was a nearly complete "Model A Ford," two pianos, multiple sections of a deceased tree, and trash.