▁Marx , ▁economic ▁value ▁in ▁capital ist ▁society ▁was ▁an ▁object ified ▁social ▁characteristic ▁of ▁labour - products , ▁ex changed ▁in ▁an ▁economic ▁community , ▁given ▁the ▁physical ▁reality ▁that ▁products ▁took ▁a ▁definite ▁amount ▁of ▁society ' s ▁labour - time ▁to ▁produce , ▁for ▁a ▁given ▁demand . ▁A ▁product ▁had ▁a ▁value , ▁regardless ▁of ▁what ▁any ▁particular ▁person ▁might ▁think ▁about ▁it , ▁pr iced ▁or ▁un pr iced ▁( see ▁value - form ). ▁Marx ▁regarded ▁the ▁law ▁of ▁value ▁as ▁analog ous ▁to ▁an ▁objective ▁physical ▁law , ▁since ▁people ▁could ▁never ▁escape ▁from ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁the ▁products ▁they ▁consum ed ▁pres upp osed ▁an ▁objective ▁cost ▁in ▁human ▁labour ▁time . ▁Crit ics ▁however ▁argue ▁that ▁economic ▁value ▁is ▁something ▁purely ▁subject ive , ▁i . e . ▁a ▁personal ▁valu ation ▁determined ▁by ▁personal ▁prefer ences ▁and ▁marg inal ▁utility ; ▁only ▁prices ▁are ▁objective . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁Marx - crit ics ▁to ▁argue ▁this ▁was ▁the ▁Aust rian ▁Eugen ▁B ö hm ▁von ▁Ba werk . ▁Marx ▁himself ▁never ▁denied ▁that ▁subject ive ▁valu ations ▁existed , ▁but ▁argued ▁rather ▁that ▁they ▁co - ex isted ▁with ▁objective ▁values ▁which ▁were ▁ultimately ▁not ▁determined ▁by ▁ ▁prefer ences ▁but ▁by ▁real ▁production ▁costs . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁real ▁world , ▁many ▁prices ▁are ▁not ▁" object ively ▁manifest " ▁either — they ▁are ▁only ▁ideal ▁prices ▁used ▁for ▁the ▁purpose ▁of ▁calculation , ▁account ing ▁and ▁estimation , ▁not ▁actually