"John R."  wrote:   
   >According to the labour theory of value used by Marx, the labour is the   
   >source of the value.   
   >   
   >I know that Marx states that only *human* labour is the source of the   
   >value.   
   >   
   >But - economically speaking - what's the substantial difference between   
   >*machine* labour and *human* labour?   
   >   
   >Why doesn't machine labour create value?   
      
   One difference between machine-created products and human-created   
   products is, that when you have some other job, you will want to leave   
   the production of product X to someone else, from whom you will buy   
   it (swap with your value product). Because if something takes human   
   effort to make, and you can't/don't-want-to put in that effort,   
   exactly that creates economic swap-value in that product. If a   
   machine creates the product, then - at least to some degree - all   
   you need it to buy the machine, and not the product.   
      
   The service that hand-washing women (usually women) provided   
   has plummeted in value since the automated washing machine was   
   invented. You don't want to wash (when you have another job), but most   
   people don't mind to operate the washing machine. Now washing-machines   
   only provide economic value to the degree that they are not automated:   
   when they break down, or to build/sell/move/destroy them, because   
   many people don't have time for that, so they'll pay for it.   
      
   There seems to be a theoretical loophole with this: what if people   
   can't buy/own the machine. Then the machine provides value even   
   if there is no human labor involved anywhere, especially if other   
   factories are banned from using it (monopoly inflated prices).   
   Perhaps: machines can provide economic value, but in reality such   
   machines are rare or don't even exist, and therefore machine-created   
   value does not factor much into the economic situation.   
      
   Most factories require a lot of maintenance, and they need to be build   
   up. It may look like a machine, but it is only half automated.   
   --   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)