Prices not a new problem (1974)

From the June 1974 issue of the Socialist Standard

The 70th anniversary issue of the Socialist Standard carried throughout its pages a series of snippets from old Socialist Standard articles highlighting the SPGB's unique position on issues of the day. Where possible, I've provided a link to the full article.

But starting as a simple commodity, gold only retains its potency because it is still in essence a commodity. As the labour involved in producing it lessens or grows according to the difficulties of mining or the advance of technology, so the amount of other things which a piece of gold will buy alters correspondingly. Equal labour products ever form the basis of the normal exchange. Gold, then, is the barometer of value only because it has value which varies as the labour socially required to produce it varies.

[From “the Secret of Money – And the rise in prices”, Socialist Standard, June 1913]