Jenseits des Transformationsproblems. Vorläufiges Resümee einer Diskussion zum werttheoretischen Ansatz von F. Helmedag

Recently, F. Helmedag has made an attempt to revive the labour theory of value by trying to demonstrate the superiority of a theoretical model of the economy that uses values instead of prices of production in their traditional or in their modern form, that is Bortkiewicz- or Sraffa-prices. This theoretical effort has been vehemently criticised by Neoricardians. In the present article, the authors reconstruct the main points of the actual discussion by a critical analysis of the more objective arguments. These are centred on the theoretical method and the real determinants for a decision between different price-systems. Specific influence factors like the choice of technique and the methods of financing play a crucial role in the discussion of a realistic rationale for the surplus-distribution among different sectors of the economy. It turns out that neither the made attempt nor its criticism is theoretically elaborated and valid enough to decide the main question: which of the discussed theories does better fit to the empirical data?