Surplus value

High school (ages 12+)
Mathematics & Numbers

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/surplus-value

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the conceptual originator?William Thompson (1824)
2. What is the primary theorist?Karl Marx
3. Why do workers create more value than they are paid?Workers can make more value in a day than the wages they receive because the price of their living costs is less than the value they produce. The extra value is called surplus value.
4. How does surplus value help a business grow?Surplus value gives the business profit. The profit can be used to buy more machines, hire more workers, or make new products, which helps the business grow.

Constant Capital: The value of raw materials and machinery used up in production.
Variable Capital: The capital invested in wages, representing the cost of labor power.
Labor Power: The worker's capacity to perform labor, treated as a commodity bought by capitalists.
Capital Accumulation: The process by which capitalists reinvest profits to expand their capital base.