Editing Exchange value (section)

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{{Short description|Proportion of worth at which a commodity can be traded for other commodities}}
{{Marxism}}
In [[political economy]] and especially [[Marxian economics]], '''exchange value''' ({{langx|de|Tauschwert|links=no}}) refers to one of the four major attributes of a [[Commodity (Marxism)|commodity]], i.e., an item or service produced for, and sold on the [[Market (economics)|market]], the other three attributes being [[use value]], [[Value (economics)|economic value]], and [[price]].<ref>Howard Nicholas, ''Marx's theory of price and its modern rivals''. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.</ref> Thus, a commodity has the following:
* a [[Value (economics)|value]], represented by the [[socially necessary labour time]] to produce it (Note: the first link is to a non-Marxian definition of value);
* a [[use value]] (or [[utility]]);
* an exchange value, which is the [[Proportionality (mathematics)|proportion]] at which a commodity can be exchanged for other entities;
* a price (an actual selling price, or an imputed [[Real prices and ideal prices|ideal price]]).

These four concepts have a very long history in human thought, from [[Aristotle]] to [[David Ricardo]],<ref>[[David Ricardo]] ( 1817 ) ''[[On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation]]''</ref> and became more clearly distinguished as the development of commercial trade progressed but have largely disappeared as four distinct concepts in modern economics.

This entry focuses on [[Karl Marx]]'s summation of the results of economic thought about exchange value.