Kapitalizmning ikkinchi asosiy tamoyili mahsulotning qiymatini belgilaydigan tamoyildir. Mahsulotning qiymati uning muayyan bir shaxsga nisbatan yoki boshqa bir narsaga nisbatan ega bo'lgan ahamiyat darajasidir. Qiymat shaxsga nisbatan qo'llanilganda uni "foydalilik qiymati" yoki oddiygina "foydalilik" deb ataydilar. Boshqa bir narsaga nisbatan o'lchanganda esa uni "almashuv qiymati" yoki oddiygina "qiymat" deb ataydilar. Kapitalizm sharoitida narsaning foydalilik qiymati uning chekka foydaliligi bilan baholanadi. Birlikning chekka foydaliligi eng zaif ehtiyojni qondiradigan foydalilikdir. Bu "chekka foydaliliknging kamayib borishi" nazariyasi deb ataladi38. Ushbu nazariyaga ko'ra, foydalilik faqat ishlab chiqaruvchi nuqtayi nazaridan va ishlab chiqarish xarajatlaridan kelib chiqib baholanmaydi; bu faqat taklifni hisobga oladi, talabni esa hisobga olmaydi. Shuningdek, u faqat iste'molchi nuqtayi nazaridan (foydalilik, istalganlik va nisbiy mavjudlik yoki tanqislik) baholanmaydi; bu taklifsiz talabni hisobga olishni anglatadi. Foydalilik qiymati ham taklif, ham talab nuqtayi nazaridan kuzatilishi va baholanishi kerak.

The second major principle of capitalism is the principle which defines the value of the product. The value of the product is the degree of its importance, relative to a particular person or relative to another thing. When the value is used relative to a person, it is called “the value of the benefit,” or simply the “benefit.” When measured against another thing, it is called the “value of exchange” or simply the “value.” Under capitalism, the value of the benefit of a thing is evaluated by its marginal benefit. The marginal benefit of a unit is that benefit which satisfies the weakest need. This is known as “the diminishing marginal utility” theory38. According to this theory, the benefit is not evaluated from the viewpoint of the producer and the costs of production only; this would only consider supply but not demand. Nor is it evaluated from the viewpoint of the consumer alone (benefit, desirability, and relative availability or shortage); this would imply the consideration of demand without supply. The benefit value should be observed and evaluated from the viewpoint of both supply and demand.

Marjinal foydalilik nazariyasiga ko'ra, narsaning foydasi qoniqishning eng kam, ya'ni eng past nuqtasida baholanishi kerak. Masalan, bir dona non qiymatini och qolishning eng kam nuqtasida baholash kerak, hamma och bo'lganda yoki nonga muhtoj kishi juda ochiqqan paytda emas. Boshqacha aytganda, nonning foydalilik qiymati bozorda non mo'l bo'lgan vaqtda o'lchanadi, non tanqis bo'lgan vaqtda emas. Kamayib boruvchi marjinal foydalilik qonuni, biz buni keyinroq ko'rganimizdek, har doim ham o'z kuchida qolmaydi; bu esa kapitalizm poydevoridagi nuqsonlar va yashirin kamchiliklarning manbalaridan biri bo'lishi mumkin.

Marginal utility states that the benefit of a thing should be assessed at the least or minimum point of satisfaction. For example, the value of a loaf of bread should be assessed at the least point of hunger and should not be assessed when everybody is hungry or when the one who needs the bread is too hungry. In other words, the benefit value of the bread is measured at a time when bread is abundant in the market, not at a time when there is a shortage of bread. The law of diminishing marginal utility does not always hold as we shall see later; this could very well be one of the sources of defects and dormant faults in the foundation of capitalism.

Almashuv qiymati — bu buyumning boshqa mahsulotlar bilan almashinishga yaroqli bo‘lishini ta’minlaydigan xususiyatdir. Bir buyumning almashuv kuchi boshqa bir buyumga nisbatan o‘lchanadi. Masalan, bug‘doyning makkajo‘xoriga nisbatan almashuv qiymati bir birlik bug‘doyni olish uchun qancha birlik makkajo‘xori berilishi kerakligi bilan baholanadi.

The exchange value is an attribute which makes a thing suitable for exchange with other products. The strength of exchange of a thing is measured relative to another thing. For example, the value of exchange of wheat relative to corn is estimated by the number of units of corn which should be conceded to obtain one unit of wheat.

Almashuv ikki tovar yoki xizmat o'rtasida, ularning qiymatlari bir-biriga o'xshash yoki yaqin bo'lganda sodir bo'ladi. Almashuv qiymatini o'rganish iqtisodchilar uchun zarur, chunki u mahsulotlarni almashtirish asosi hisoblanadi. U o'lchanishi mumkin bo'lgan foydalilikdir; shuningdek, tovarlar va xizmatlarni o'lchash vositasi bo'lib xizmat qiladi va shu orqali amallarning samaradorligini o'lchash mumkin.

Exchange occurs between two commodities or services which are similar or close in their values. The study of the exchange value is necessary for economists because it is the basis for the exchange of products. It is a utility which can be measured; it also serves as a scale with which commodities and services are measured and by which the productivity of actions can be measured.

Ishlab chiqarish — bu narsada foyda yaratish yoki foydani oshirish uchun sarflangan mehnatdir. Biror ish samarali yoki samarasiz ekanini aniqlash, shuningdek, qaysi ish ko'proq samaradorlikka ega ekanini belgilash uchun samaradorlikni o'lchaydigan aniq mezon bo'lishi kerak. Bu mezon turli mahsulot va xizmatlarning jamiyatdagi qiymatidir. Boshqacha aytganda, bu sarflangan mehnat va ko'rsatilgan xizmatning jamoaviy baholanishidir. Bunday baholash zarur, chunki zamonaviy davrda ayirboshlash uchun ishlab chiqarish iste'mol uchun ishlab chiqarishni deyarli siqib chiqardi. Bugungi iqtisodiyotda deyarli har bir inson o'z mahsulotini boshqa odamlarning mahsulotiga ayirboshlaydi. Mahsulot va xizmatlarni ayirboshlashning to'g'ri yo'li — kompensatsiya orqali. Mahsulot yoki xizmat uchun kompensatsiya miqdorini hisoblash uchun ayirboshlash qiymatini baholash kerak. Demak, "qiymat" haqidagi bilim va ta'rif ishlab chiqarish hamda iste'molda muhim omil bo'lib, ehtiyojlarni qondirishga qaratilgan barcha tadqiqotlar uchun zarurdir.

Production is defined as the work invested for creating benefit or increasing benefit in a thing. In order to identify whether a work is productive or not or to determine which work has greater productivity, there must be an accurate scale by which productivity can be measured. This scale is the societal value of the various products and services. In other words, it is the collective evaluation of the work spent and the service provided. Such an evaluation is necessary because in the modern time, production for the purpose of exchange has dominated and almost replaced production for consumption. In today’s economy, virtually every person exchanges his/her production with other people’s production. The proper way of exchanging products and services is through compensation. In order to estimate the amount of compensation for a product or service, the value of exchange needs to be estimated. Hence, the knowledge and definition of the “value” is an essential factor in production and consumption; it is essential for all the studies leading to the satisfaction of the needs.

Zamonaviy tarixda bu almashinuv qiymatini bitta turdagi almashinuv, ya'ni mahsulot yoki xizmatni pulga almashtirish hukmron qilib keldi. Tovar yoki xizmatning pulga nisbatan almashinuv qiymati "narx" deb ataladi. Demak, narx tovar yoki xizmatning pulga nisbatan almashinuv miqdoridir. Almashinuv qiymati bilan narx o'rtasidagi farq shundaki, almashinuv qiymati bir narsaning boshqa (istalgan) narsaga nisbatan almashinuv nisbati bo'lsa, narx esa bir narsaning pulga nisbatan almashinuv nisbatidir. Barcha mollarning narxi bir vaqtda ko'tarilishi yoki tushishi mumkin. Biroq barcha tovarlarning bir-biriga nisbatan almashinuv qiymatlari bir vaqtda ko'tarilishi yoki tushishi mumkin emas. Shuningdek, tovarlarning narxi o'zgarib, ularning almashinuv qiymati yoki foydalilik qiymati o'zgarmasligi ham mumkin. Tovarning narxi uning qiymatlaridan faqat bittasidir; u tovarning pulga nisbatan qiymatidir. Tabiiyki, narx bir narsaning foydali yoki foydasiz ekanligini hal qilish va uning foydalilik darajasini belgilash uchun amalda o'lchov mezoniga aylandi. Agar jamiyat biror tovar yoki xizmatga yuqori narx qo'ysa, u unumli yoki foydali deb hisoblanadi. Ushbu tovar yoki xizmatning foydalilik darajasi, uni egallash yoki undan foydalanish uchun iste'molchilarning aksariyati to'lashga rozi bo'lgan narx bilan o'lchanadi. Narx bilan baholanadigan mahsulot va xizmatlar istalgan tovar yoki xizmat bo'lishi mumkin: qishloq xo'jaligi yoki sanoat mahsuloti; xizmat savdogar yoki transport kompaniyasiniki, shifokor yoki muhandisniki bo'lishi mumkin.

In modern history, this value of exchange has been dominated by one type of exchange, the exchange of a product or service for money. The exchange value of a commodity or a service for money is called the “price.” The price, therefore, is the amount of exchange of a commodity or a service relative to money. The difference between the value of exchange and the price is that the value of exchange is the exchange ratio of one thing related to (any) other thing, while the price is the exchange ratio of one thing related to money. It is perceivable that the prices of all goods rise or fall at the same time. It is impossible, however, for the exchange values of all commodities relative to each other to rise or fall at the same time. It is also possible for the prices of commodities to change without resulting in a change in their value of exchange or value of benefit. The price of a commodity is only one of its values; it is the value of a commodity relative to money. Naturally, the price has become the de facto scale for deciding whether a thing is beneficial or not and for defining the degree of benefit of that thing. The commodity or the service is considered productive or beneficial if the society puts a high price for this commodity or service. The degree of benefit of this commodity or service is measured by the price which the majority of the consumers agree to pay for possessing or utilizing it. Products and services evaluated by a price can be any commodity or service: agricultural or industrial product; the service is that of a trader or transportation company, doctor or engineer.

Kapitalizm sharoitida tovarning qiymati mutlaq emas, balki nisbiy (virtual) qiymatdir. Masalan, non buxorasining qiymati, bozorda non mo'l bo'lgan taqdirda, uning chekka foydasidir; bu esa kamayib boruvchi chekka foydalilik tushunchasiga asoslanadi. Och odamga non berilib, non kam bo'lganda, nonning qiymati juda yuqori bo'ladi. Non sotib olishni istagan odamlar to'yib, nonni xohlaganlarga yetarli miqdorda non bo'lgach, qiymat pasayib, barqarorlashadi. Shuning uchun qiymatni (ya'ni mahsulotning foydasini) mahsulotga talab eng past, taklif esa mo'l bo'lgan vaqtda baholash kerak.

he value of a commodity under capitalism is a relative (virtual) one and not absolute. The value of a loaf of bread, for example, is its marginal benefit assuming that the bread is abundant in the market; this is based on the diminishing marginal utility concept. When the loaf of bread is offered to one who is hungry and the bread is scarce, the value of the bread is too high. The value diminishes until it settles down when the people demanding the bread are no longer hungry and there is enough bread for those who want to acquire it. So the value (which is the benefit of the product) needs to be estimated at the time when the demand for the product is the lowest and the supply of the product is plentiful.

Mahsulotning yana bir qiymati bor, bu almashuv qiymati. Almashuv qiymati — bir non evaziga olish mumkin bo‘lgan tovarlar va mehnat miqdoridir. Agar non evaziga olinadigan narsa pul bo‘lsa, bu qiymat narxga aylanadi. Kapitalizm sharoitida bu ikki qiymat bir-biridan ajralgan bo‘lib, ularning ikki xil nomi bor: foydalilik va almashuv yoki pul qiymati.

The product also has another value, which is the exchange value. The exchange value is the quantity of commodities and efforts that could be exchanged in return for the loaf of the bread. The value becomes a price if what is obtained for the loaf of the bread is money. These two values, under capitalism, are separate, and have two distinct names, benefit and the value of exchange or money.

Bu qiymat ta'rifi noaniq. Esda tutingki, qiymatning ikkala ko'rinishida ham (foyda va narx) baholovchi qiymatni iste'molchiga nisbatan o'lchaydi. Bu qarash mahsulotning o'zi keltiradigan foyda haqida hech qanday o'lchov bermaydi. Non bo'lagi misolida, qiymat ta'rifi nonning ochlikni qondirish xususiyatiga ega bo'lishi kabi ichki foydasiga ishora qilmaydi. Haqiqatda nonning qiymati unda mavjud foyda miqdoridir. Bu miqdor o'lchanganda kamyoblik omili hisobga olinishi kerak, lekin u qiymatni belgilamasligi lozim. Qiymatning bu ko'rinishi (mahsulotda mujassam foyda miqdori) mahsulot ovchilik, ishlab chiqarish, dehqonchilik, sotish yoki sotib olish yo'li bilan qo'lga kiritilganidan qat'i nazar o'rinlidir. Foyda shaxsga bog'liq bo'ladimi yoki boshqa narsaga, mahsulot mo'l bo'ladimi yoki kam, u bir xil qoladi. Darhaqiqat, qiymat aniq haqiqatga ega bo'lgan muayyan narsaning nomidir; u vaqt o'tishi va sharoitlar bilan o'zgaradigan nisbiy narsaning nomi emas. Boshqacha aytganda, qiymat foydaning nisbiy emas, balki ob'ektiv o'lchovi bo'lishi kerak.