Marx's LTV: A Load-Bearing Claim
on what actually breaks if the labor theory of value is false
The labor theory of value is not decorative to Marxian economics — it is load-bearing. If it fails, the exploitation thesis that follows from it fails with it, not merely weakens.
This piece walks through why subjective value theory displaced LTV in mainstream economics, and what is actually lost — and retained — when a Marxian analysis drops the labor theory but keeps the political conclusions.