This study critically examines the theory of unequal exchange, revealing its fundamental flaw: the equivalence of one hour of labor to another across different countries, without taking into account the differences in socially necessary energy invested in the reproduction of labor power. The study demonstrates that international price disparities stem from monetary distortions resulting from colonial plunder as well as from imbalances in the reproduction of labor power. In this context, it proposes adopting the Necessary Calorie (N.C) as a material measure of value, as it reflects the living and embodied human energy inherent in labor power. Under this measure, exchanges governed by the law of value are fundamentally equitable; what appears as unequal exchange is, in fact, the result of distortions in the monetary expression of value and the leakage of surplus value. Accordingly, labor-hour-based measures misrepresent value and may lead to misleading calculations regarding the scale of global exploitation. The study further shows how dependency, technological monopoly, and the lack of control over the reproduction of social labor continually impose a transfer of value from the underdeveloped parts of the global capitalist system to its advanced parts.
Muhammad Adel Zaky (Thu,) studied this question.