why is the labour theory of value considered invalid? i see nothing wrong with it. political economists contemporary to marx aimed to derive an objective measure for comparison of unlike objects and it just so happens that labor was such a measure. from the perspective of a consumer, what motivates us to buy a pair of shoes or a carton of eggs? most humans are physically capable of growing their own food or making their own clothes. however, if you made every object you use from scratch, you would have no free time. therefore, commodities can be seen as units of condensed labor precisely because consuming ready made products is the act of saving yourself the work it would take to make them yourself. the labor theory of value is also consistent with supply and demand - that is, market forces that determine the money prices of objects, because it is trivially obvious for example that the easier something is to make on your own, the less demand there would be for such a product. the only refutations i see of the labour theory of value are either based on deliberate misrepresentation, or references to sentimental value (such as the subjective value of artwork, collectibles, and other objects) as though that invalidates the ltvs applicability to ordinary consumer products.
Canada