First of all, "commodity prices are determined by the market" is aimed at the previous "national unified pricing of commodities", not at "value determines prices". Comrade Shi noticed the expression "the price of goods is determined by the market" in the fifth lesson of the textbook "Ideology and Politics" in senior one, but he misunderstood the original meaning of this expression. The "Introduction" of the fifth lesson of the textbook writes: "Before 1979, China basically implemented a single planned price form for commodities, and the pricing power of hundreds of thousands of commodities was concentrated in the hands of central and local administrative organs. The change of commodity pricing power in China reflects that China's economic system is changing from a highly centralized planned economic system to a socialist market economic system. " When talking about the way of resource allocation, the textbook writes: In the past, we "denied that the socialist economy was a commodity economy, ignored the law of value and the role of the market, and established a highly centralized planned economic system". "state price is too big, once the price is determined, it is rarely adjusted. With the development of technology, labor productivity has increased, or the consumption of materials for products has changed, and the supply situation is different, but the price is often the same. This makes the prices of many commodities neither reflect the value nor the relationship between supply and demand, which violates the requirements of the law of value. ..... Practice tells us that this highly centralized planned economic system must be reformed. " When talking about the importance of price reform, the textbook writes: "Price reform is the key to developing the market and deepening the reform of the economic system. According to the affordability of all parties, we should actively promote the combination of adjustment and liberalization, and cancel the "dual track system" of prices as soon as possible ... "So, although there are several references in the textbook that" commodity prices are determined by the market ",they are all aimed at the unified pricing of commodities by the state under the old economic system, and there is no such thing.
Secondly, the textbook repeatedly emphasizes that commodity exchange should follow the principle of equivalence and the law of value. The textbook reads: "In order to safeguard the respective material interests of enterprises, objectively, enterprises owned by the whole people are required to become independent commodity producers, and exchange products with equivalent value when transferring to each other." "When transferring products between these non-public-owned economies and socialist public-owned economies, we must also implement equivalent exchange." "Socialist commodity economy and commodity economy have the same attributes: all commodities have use value and value; The value of commodities is determined by the socially necessary labor time; Where there is a commodity economy, the law of value must play a role. " "The report of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out:' The socialist market economic system we want to establish is to make the market play a fundamental role in the allocation of resources under the macro-control of socialist countries, so that economic activities can follow the requirements of the law of value and adapt to the changes in the relationship between supply and demand.' ""the implementation of the plan should also consciously follow the law of value ... "From these discussions, it can be clearly seen that the formulation of' commodity prices are determined by the market' in textbooks does not deny that value determines prices, but is based on value determining prices. We believe that "commodity price is determined by value" is based on the fundamental determinant of commodity price and the relationship between total price and total value, while "commodity price is determined by market" is based on the fact that the market price of commodity should reflect the influence of supply and demand. Different angles and levels of investigation lead to different conclusions. We cannot rashly conclude that the two conclusions are contradictory just because the individual words of the two conclusions are the same. Comrade Shi interpreted "the price of commodities is determined by the market" as "the market is the decisive factor of commodity prices", exaggerating the decisive role of supply and demand on prices, thus denying the correct view that value determines prices.
Second, the value of commodities can only be determined by socially necessary labor time.
In the first part of the article, Comrade Shi raised a bold question and even denied that "socially necessary labor time determines the value of goods". The article said: "... in fact, the value of this commodity is only a theoretical abstraction. In real life, it is impossible to conclude that the value of this cloth is five hours, because there is no calculation method or tool to calculate this time. ..... people can only see the price of goods, but can't see the value. " The article goes on to say: "the price representing the value of goods is uncertain ... how high or how low the price of goods is in a certain period is neither determined nor calculated by people." It was formed spontaneously in the exchange and was determined by many factors in the market at that time.
"Here, Comrade Shi not only denied the stipulation of commodity value quantity, but also denied the stipulation of commodity value quality. Yes, relative to the use value of goods, the value of goods is intangible, but this does not mean that the value of goods does not exist. The value of commodity is an objective existence with its own entity, that is, abstract human labor condensed in commodity. The production of any commodity must consume human labor. Marx pointed out: "Value entity is nothing more than and always nothing more than labor that has been consumed-labor, that is, labor that has nothing to do with the special and useful nature of this labor-and value production is nothing more than the process of this consumption." (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 24, page 428) Value entities are condensed in commodities, and the use value of commodities is the material undertaker of value. Of course, the commodity itself cannot express its value. Only by exchanging with other commodities can the value of commodities be expressed through exchange value (through the price after the currency is produced). Exchange value is only the manifestation of value, which is the content of exchange value, and exchange value must be based on value. In fact, it is from the exchange value or exchange relationship of commodities that we find the value of commodities and master the objectivity of the value of commodities. The value of commodities is not only qualitative, but also quantitative. The value of a commodity, that is, the value of a commodity, is determined by the amount of human labor consumed in producing the commodity, and the natural measure of the amount of labor is labor time. As we all know, the labor time that determines the value of commodities cannot be the individual labor time of commodity producers, but only the socially necessary labor time. Classical writers have long discussed this. Comrade Shi believes that "the value of commodities is only a theoretical abstraction".
Yes, the socially necessary labor time that determines the value of goods is invisible and intangible, and it is not calculated by people. However, the practice of commodity exchange tells us that the same commodity appears in the same market and society only recognizes that they have the same value. The textbook points out: "Real life tells us that goods are created equal. No matter how different the labor hours spent by individual producers are, when they sell in the market, they can only sell the same goods at the same price, that is, the same goods have the same value. " "The same goods have the same value" fully shows that the value of goods is determined by the socially necessary labor time. It is an objective law that the socially necessary labor time determines the value of goods, and it is not transferred by human will. Marx said: "The socially necessary labor time for producing these products, as a natural law that plays a regulating role, forcibly opens the way for itself, just as when a house falls on a person's head, the law of gravity forcibly opens the way for itself." (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 23, page 92) People's economic activities must respect this law, otherwise they will be punished by it. Comrade Shi believes that it is only a theoretical abstraction that socially necessary labor time determines the quantity of commodity value, which negates the stipulation of quality and quantity of commodity value with the uncertainty of commodity market price, thus negating the objective economic law that socially necessary labor time determines the quantity of commodity value-the law of value. It is obviously inappropriate to regard the fluctuation of commodity prices as an accidental phenomenon dominated by pure market factors.
Third, the price of goods is ultimately determined by value.