International Value-International Prices

"The aim of the author is to develop a coherent and complete theory of international value-relations, of international money and prices and of the relationship of international and national prices, all strictly based on the labour theory of value; second, to draw conclusions relevant for the economic policy and the economic cooperation of socialist countries. Regarding international value-relations, he refutes the views according to which international average labour input and average production prices determine international prices of products. Instead, he asserts that regularities in international price movements can be understood in terms of unified values, i.e. the national values adjusted by the index of the average differences in the productivity-levels of various countries. On this basis, he also deals with the meaning of the international exchange of equal values (equivalent exchange). Interesting explanations can be found here for the level of customs duties in different countries, for the trends in the terms of trade, for the differences among the exchange rates of currencies, for the sharing of realized comparative advantages and for the volume of foreign trade."