Editing Openai/690e0c6e-a0a0-8008-a8d6-170f8b930892 (section)

=== Assistant: Excellent — here’s a structured 15-item reading list covering all four major perspectives on the question of whether th… ===
Excellent — here’s a structured 15-item reading list covering all four major perspectives on the question of whether the “formal equality” of capitalist exchange conceals exploitation. Each section includes key texts, summaries, and suggested order of reading for maximum conceptual coherence.

==== A. Mainstream / Neoclassical Critiques ====

(Rejects Marx’s surplus-value mechanism; relies on marginal-productivity theory and voluntary exchange.)
# Paul A. Samuelson, “Understanding Marx: The Profit Rate Transformation Problem” Journal of Economic Literature, 1971. — Classic attempt to show how marginal productivity and prices of production can coexist without requiring a labour-theory of value. — Demonstrates mainstream reasoning that under competitive conditions, there is no systematic exploitation.
# N. Gregory Mankiw, “Defending the One Percent” Journal of Economic Perspectives 27(3), 2013. — Illustrates the “just deserts” interpretation: people are paid according to marginal contribution, not exploitation.
# ''Paul Samuelson & William Nordhaus, ''Economics*, 19th ed., Ch. 11 (“The Theory of Income Distribution”) — Standard textbook account: wages reflect marginal productivity of labour; formal equality is both real and efficient under competition.

==== B. Friction, Power, and Market Concentration ====

(Accepts the intuition that formal equality ≠ real equality; substitutes market imperfections and power for Marx’s class exploitation.)
# Alan Manning, ''Monopsony in Motion: Imperfect Competition in Labor Markets'' (Princeton University Press, 2003). — A foundational text on modern monopsony theory showing persistent employer power in “formally free” labour markets.
# José Azar, Ioana Marinescu & Marshall Steinbaum, “Labor Market Concentration” Journal of Human Resources, 2022 (earlier NBER WP 24147). — Empirical evidence that U.S. wage levels are 15–20 % lower due to concentration—an empirical analogue of “extraction.”
# Jan De Loecker, Jan Eeckhout & Gabriel Unger, “The Rise of Market Power and the Macroeconomic Implications” Quarterly Journal of Economics 135 (2), 2020. — Documents post-1980s mark-up growth and declining labour share; echoes Marx’s idea that capital accumulation reduces labour’s relative claim.
# Loukas Karabarbounis & Brent Neiman, “The Global Decline of the Labor Share” Quarterly Journal of Economics 129 (1), 2014. — Landmark study linking automation, globalization, and declining labour share — empirical evidence that “formal equality” hides structural shifts.

==== C. Analytical-Marxist Reconstructions ====

(Accepts Marx’s intuition but rebuilds it using modern microeconomics and game theory.)
# John Roemer, ''A General Theory of Exploitation and Class'' (Harvard University Press, 1982). — Defines exploitation without the labour-theory of value: as unequal advantage due to property relations and feasible alternatives.
# Jon Elster, ''Making Sense of Marx'' (Cambridge University Press, 1985). — Integrates rational-choice and game theory to clarify exploitation as structural, not moral, and to separate value theory from exploitation theory.
# Erik Olin Wright, ''Classes'' (Verso, 1985). — Empirically operationalizes class and exploitation, measuring “contradictory class locations” in modern economies.
# Hillel Steiner, “A Liberal Theory of Exploitation” Ethics 94 (2), 1984. — A non-Marxian reconstruction showing that even within liberal theory, property rights can generate exploitative outcomes if endowments are unequal.

==== D. Marxian and Neo-Marxian Continuations ====

(Defends or modernizes Marx’s original surplus-value analysis.)
# ''Karl Marx, ''Capital*, Vol. I, Chs. 6–9 (“The Sale and Purchase of Labour-Power,” “The Working Day,” “Rate of Surplus-Value”) — any scholarly edition (e.g., Penguin or MECW). — The primary statement: equality in exchange of labour-power conceals inequality in production.
# Ernest Mandel, ''Marxist Economic Theory'', Vol. I, Ch. 2 “Value, Surplus Value, and Exploitation” (Monthly Review Press, 1962). — A systematic modern restatement of Marx’s value theory, connecting it to post-war capitalism.
# David Harvey, ''A Companion to Marx’s Capital'', Vol. 1* (Verso, 2010). — Line-by-line exposition showing how “formal equality” of exchange leads to “real inequality” via surplus value and control over production time.
# Thomas Piketty, ''Capital in the Twenty-First Century'' (Harvard University Press, 2014). — Not Marxist in theory, but provides the quantitative confirmation: rising r > g and the concentration of capital incomes consistent with a long-term surplus extraction dynamic.

===== Optional bridge readings (for synthesis) =====
* Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, Contested Exchange: New Microfoundations for the Political Economy of Capitalism (Politics & Society, 1990). — Integrates institutional economics with Marx’s focus on power within exchange.
* Andrew Glyn, Capitalism Unleashed (Oxford UP, 2006). — A macroeconomic narrative connecting neoliberal globalization with falling wage shares and Marxian accumulation dynamics.

==== How to read them ====

| Step | Goal                                                 | Suggested readings                                              |
| ---- | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1    | Understand mainstream baseline                       | Samuelson, Mankiw                                               |
| 2    | See empirical deviations from baseline               | Manning, Azar et al., De Loecker et al., Karabarbounis & Neiman |
| 3    | Explore formal reconstructions of exploitation       | Roemer, Elster, Wright                                          |
| 4    | Return to Marx’s original argument & modern defenses | Marx Capital I 6–9, Mandel, Harvey                              |
| 5    | Quantitative contemporary evidence                   | Piketty, Glyn                                                   |

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