Zelkó Lajos: International value, international prices (Budapest - Alphen Aan den Rijn, 1980)

LAJOS ZELKO ШТЕППАТЮПШ VAUIÉ 1ПТЕАПАТ10ПА1 PRICSI The aim of the author was, first, to develop a coher­ent and complete theory of international value­­relations, 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 the socialist countries. Regarding international value-relations, he refutes the views according to which international aver­age labour input and average production prices determine the centre of the international prices of the various 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 and with a proper view to the possibility of sharing the realized comparative advantages be­tween the trading partners in different proportions. On this basis, he also deals with the meaning of the international exchange of equal values (equivalent exchange). These considerations shed new light on some of the most important problems of the inter­national monetary system. The author also analyses the possible development trends in the international finances of the socialist countries. 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 interrelations among the rates of currencies, for the level of customs, for the sharing of realized comparative advantages and for the volume of foreign trade. The conclusions regard­ing the interrelations of national and international prices have important implications from the point of view of economic policy.

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