Value, Price, and Profit

First published in 1865, ‘Value, Price, and Profit’ was originally given as a speech by Karl Marx, a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. He is one of the most influential social theorists and political philosophers of the 19th century. Marx sought to reveal the economic patterns underpinning the capitalist mode of production, in contrast to classical political economists such as Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill.

This speech expands on his ideas regarding the relationship between wages and profit. Marx argues that workers are responsible for forming the value that leads to profit and they are entitled to share in it through increased wages. Marx’s theories remain widely studied for their relevance and insight into the problems and inequalities that continue to exist in modern economic systems.

Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 - 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Marx completed his doctoral thesis, titled The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature, in 1841 and submitted it to the University of Jena. He was awarded a Ph.D. in April 1841. In 1844, Marx befriended Friedrich Engels, the German socialist and became a revolutionary communist. Marx's The Poverty of Philosophy was published in 1847. Marx and Engels published ""The Communist Manifesto"", a political pamphlet summarizing their theories about the nature of society and politics, in 1848. One of the most important political documents of the world, this monumental text is highly influential and continues to remain widely read. The first volume, Capital, Volume I, of his magnum opus Capital (Das Kapital) was published in 1867. Marx continued to work on the remaining two volumes which were published after his death by Engels. Capital, Volume II was published in 1885 and Capital, Volume III in 1894. Considered to be his masterwork, Capital has been translated into all the major languages.