Abstract
This chapter concerns the concept of the Standard commodity in terms of an exploration of the development of this construct from the Sraffa Papers (SP). Since its arrival into the realm of economic theory in 1960 with the publication of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities (PCMC), the Standard commodity has been subject to wide scrutiny in terms of both its mathematical properties and its economic implications and ramifications, although in this author’s mind much more has been written on the former at the expense of the latter. It is often much easier to conceive of the properties of a mathematical relation in lieu of those of the economic relation the math is intended to express and convey; it is to the latter task that the present chapter is directed. This is developed in light of recent evidence uncovered in the Sraffa Papers open for study at the Wren Library, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK.
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Carter, S. (2014). Sraffa and the Standard Commodity. In: Bellofiore, R., Carter, S. (eds) Towards a New Understanding of Sraffa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137034328_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137034328_4
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