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Sraffa and the ‘slogans not used’

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  • Fratini, Saverio Maria
  • Ravagnani, Fabio

Abstract

The two ‘slogans’ written by Sraffa in an early draft of the preface to his book (Sraffa Papers D3/12/43:1(3)) can be seen as the synthesis of a wider reasoning that he outlines in some manuscripts composed in 1955 and 1956. We rationalise this reasoning by three statements: A. The rate of profits manifests itself in the Standard system as the ratio of two well-defined quantities of Standard commodity; B. The rate of profits can be identified in the Standard system before knowing the prices of commodities; and C. The rate of profits emerging from the Standard system cannot be altered by ‘manipulations of prices’ and, for this reason, can be regarded as a non-price phenomenon. By discussing these statements in depth, we aim at shedding new light on the precise meaning of Sraffa’s slogans.

Suggested Citation

  • Fratini, Saverio Maria & Ravagnani, Fabio, 2023. "Sraffa and the ‘slogans not used’," MPRA Paper 117815, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:117815
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ajit Sinha, 2012. "Listen to Sraffa's silences: a new interpretation of Sraffa's Production of Commodities," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(6), pages 1323-1339.
    2. Heinz Kurz, 1998. "Against the current: Sraffa's unpublished manuscripts and the history of economic thought," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 437-451.
    3. Ajit Sinha, 2016. "A Revolution in Economic Theory," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-30616-2, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sraffa; rate of profits; Standard commodity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution
    • D46 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Value Theory

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