Value and Exploitation: Marx's Problem and Skillman's Solution

Following his unusual method Marx rigorously demonstrates that the assumption of equivalent commodity exchange has to be the starting point for explaining the formation of capital, hence capitalist exploitation. The latter corresponds to “real capital” understood as a historically specific mode of production based on the laborers' separation from the conditions of production implying the commodity character of labor power. On the other hand, exploitation occurring under usury and merchant capital is capitalist exploitation “only formally” inasmuch as these two forms exist under different modes of production and hence are “capital only formally.” The two types of capitalist exploitation thus belong to two totally different universes of discourse and are in no way mutually contradictory.