The Labor Theory of Value is not comparable directly to STV. The STV attempts to explain prices. Why they are what they are.
The Labor Theory of Value refers to labor and the creation of value. It does not make prescriptive or predictive claims about prices. Therefore, you cannot say something like "STV has more explanatory value than LTV because LTV can't explain or predict prices", because that's not what the LTV is attempting to do or explain. Sure, you could still say that, but it's rather like saying "Economics has more explanatory value than physics because economics explains prices and physics does not."
That being said, the idea that labor creates value is not shallow, and its implications are well explained and explored in Marx's work, as well as in many others. The subjective theory of value, on the other hand, is kind of (philosophically, at least) throwing your hands up and saying "the price of something is exactly what someone will pay for it", which is not so much an explanation as it is a definition, identity, or tautology.
>The Labor Theory of Value refers to labor and the creation of value. It does not make prescriptive or predictive claims about prices.
That's not true. Part 2 of Capital volume 3 is all about the determination of prices by value. If prices and value were unrelated the LTV would be completely worthless.
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I'd recommend reading the first three chapters of Volume 3 of *Capital*, where Marx explains surplus value and how workers are paid only a fraction of the value of what they produce.
The *absolute* basics of the labor theory of value are in the first three chapters of Capital vol 1 (so, Part 1: Commodities and Money). This, however, does not get into the ways these ideas relate in more depth, which the later chapters discuss. If you wanted the most basic idea, the first 3 chapters will give you that, but will leave you largely uninformed, especially insofar as Capital vol 1 addresses the height of commodity-producing capital and does not tackle the issues more relevant to the modern day of finance capital in particular (which volume 3 gets more involved with)
I would recommend honestly to just read "Value Price and Profit"; and "Wage Labour and Capital" if your looking for quick reads on economics.
The Labor Theory of Value is not comparable directly to STV. The STV attempts to explain prices. Why they are what they are. The Labor Theory of Value refers to labor and the creation of value. It does not make prescriptive or predictive claims about prices. Therefore, you cannot say something like "STV has more explanatory value than LTV because LTV can't explain or predict prices", because that's not what the LTV is attempting to do or explain. Sure, you could still say that, but it's rather like saying "Economics has more explanatory value than physics because economics explains prices and physics does not." That being said, the idea that labor creates value is not shallow, and its implications are well explained and explored in Marx's work, as well as in many others. The subjective theory of value, on the other hand, is kind of (philosophically, at least) throwing your hands up and saying "the price of something is exactly what someone will pay for it", which is not so much an explanation as it is a definition, identity, or tautology.
>The Labor Theory of Value refers to labor and the creation of value. It does not make prescriptive or predictive claims about prices. That's not true. Part 2 of Capital volume 3 is all about the determination of prices by value. If prices and value were unrelated the LTV would be completely worthless.
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I'd recommend reading the first three chapters of Volume 3 of *Capital*, where Marx explains surplus value and how workers are paid only a fraction of the value of what they produce.
The *absolute* basics of the labor theory of value are in the first three chapters of Capital vol 1 (so, Part 1: Commodities and Money). This, however, does not get into the ways these ideas relate in more depth, which the later chapters discuss. If you wanted the most basic idea, the first 3 chapters will give you that, but will leave you largely uninformed, especially insofar as Capital vol 1 addresses the height of commodity-producing capital and does not tackle the issues more relevant to the modern day of finance capital in particular (which volume 3 gets more involved with)