第11章

Ontheotherhandthescaleofproduction(apartfromfixedcapital)mightbedoubled。Inthatcaseaproductiveprocessofdoublethepreviousvolumewouldbecarriedonwiththesameadvancedcapitalof£；900。

Ifontheotherhandthepricesofthecirculationelementsofproductivecapitalweretoincreasebyonehalf，£；1500insteadof£；100or£；1，350insteadof£；900wouldberequiredperweek。Itwouldtakeanadditionalcapitalof£；450tocarryonthebusinessonthesamescale，andthiswouldexertaprotantopressureonthemoney-market，bigorsmalldependingonitscondition。Ifallthecapitalavailableonthismarketwerethenalreadyengaged，therewouldbeincreasedcompetitionforavailablecapital。Ifaportionofitwereunemployed，itwouldprotantobecalledintoaction。

But，inthethirdplace，givenacertainscaleofproduction，theturnovervelocityandthepricesoftheelementsofthecirculatingproductivecapitalremainingthesame，thepriceoftheproductsofBusinessXmayriseorfall。IfthepriceofthecommoditiessuppliedbyBusinessXfalls，thepriceofitscommodity-capitalof£；600，whichitconstantlythrewintocirculation，dropsto，say，£；500。Henceone-sixthofthevalueoftheadvancedcapitaldoesnotreturnfromtheprocessofcirculation。

(Thesurplus-valuecontainedinthecommodity-capitalisnotconsideredhere。)Itislostinthatprocess。Butsincethevalue，orprice，oftheelementsofproductionremainsthesame，thisrefluxof£；500sufficesonlytoreplace5/6ofthecapitalof£；600constantlyengagedintheprocessofproduction。Itwouldthereforerequiredanadditionalmoney-capitalof£；100tocontinueproductiononthesamescale。

Viceversa，ifthepriceoftheproductofBusinessXweretorise，thenthepriceofthe£；600commodity-capitalwouldbeincreased，say，to£；700。One-seventhofthisprice，or£；100，doesnotoriginateintheprocessofproduction，isnotadvancedinthisprocess，butderivesfromtheprocessofcirculation。Butonly£；600areneededtoreplacetheelementsofproduction。Hence，thereleaseof£；100。

Itdoesnotfallwithinthescopeoftheinvestigationhithertomadetoascertainwhy，inthefirstcase，theperiodofturnoverisshortenedorlengthened，andwhyinthesecondcasethepricesofrawmaterialsandlabour，andinthethird，thepricesoftheproductssupplied，riseorfall。

Butthefollowingdoesbelonginit:

Firstcase:UnchangedScaleofProduction，UnchangedPricesoftheElementsofProductionandofProducts，andaChangeinthePeriodofCirculationandThusofTurnover。

Accordingtotheassumptionsofourexample，one-ninthlessofthetotaladvancedcapitalisneededasaresultofthecontractionoftheperiodofcirculation，sothatthetotalcapitalisreducedfrom£；900

to£；800and£；100ofmoney-capitaliseliminated。

BusinessXsupplies，justasbefore，thesamesixweeks’productofthesamevalueof£；600，andasworkcontinuesyearinyearoutwithoutinterruption，itsuppliesin51weeksthesamequantityofproducts，valuedat£；5，100。Thereis，then，nochangesofarasthequantityandpriceoftheproductthrownintocirculationbythisbusinessareconcerned，norinthetimeswhenitthrowsitsproductonthemarket。But£；100

areeliminatedbecauseduetothecontractionofthecirculationperiodtherequirementsoftheprocessaresatisfiedwithonly£；800insteadoftheformer£；900。The£；100eliminatedcapitalexistintheformofmoney-capital。Buttheydonotbyanymeansrepresentthatportionoftheadvancedcapitalwhichwouldhavetofunctionconstantlyintheformofmoney-capital。Letusassumethat4/5，or£；480，oftheadvancedcirculatingcapitalIof£；600areconstantlyinvestedinproductivematerialsand1/5，or£；120，inwages。Thentheweeklyinvestmentinmaterialsofproductionwouldbe£；80andinwages£；20。CapitalII，amountingto£；300，shouldthenalsobedividedinto4/5，or£；240，formaterialsofproductionand1/5，or£；60，forwages。Thecapitalinvestedinwagesmustalwaysbeadvancedintheformofmoney。Assoonasthecommodity-product，worth£；600，hasbeenreconvertedintothemoney-form，orsold，£；480ofitcanbetransformedintomaterialsofproduction(productivesupply)，but£；120retaintheirmoney-forminordertoserveforthepaymentofwagesforsixweeks。These£；120

aretheminimumofthereturningcapitalof£；600whichmustalwaysberenewedandreplacedintheformofmoney-capitalandthereforemustalwaysbekeptonhandasthatportionoftheadvancedcapitalwhichfunctionsintheformofmoney。

Now，if£；100ofthe£；300periodicallyreleasedforthreeweeks，andlikewisedivisibleinto£；240forproductivesupplyand£；60forwages，isentirelyeliminated，completelythrustoutoftheturnovermechanism，intheformofmoney-capitalbyshorteningthecirculationtime，wheredoesthemoneyforthismoney-capitalof£；100

comefrom？Onlyone-fifthofthisamountconsistsofmoney-capitalperiodicallysetfreewithintheturnovers。Butfour-fifths，or£；80，arealreadyreplacedbyanadditionalproductivesupplyofthesamevalue。Inwhatmanneristhisadditionalproductivesupplyconvertedintomoney，andwheredoesthemoneyforthisconversioncomefrom？

Iftheabridgedperiodofcirculationhasbecomeafact，thenonly£；400oftheabove£；600，insteadof£；480，arereconvertedintoproductivesupply。Theremainder，£；80，isretainedinitsmoney-formandconstitutes，togetherwiththeabove£；20forwages，the£；100

ofeliminatedcapital。Althoughthese£；100comefromthesphereofcirculationthroughthesaleofthe£；600worthofcommodity-capitalandarenowwithdrawnfromitbynotbeingreinvestedinwagesandelementsofproduction，itmustnotbeforgottenthat，beinginthemoney-form，theyareoncemoreinthatforminwhichtheywereoriginallythrownintocirculation。Inthebeginning£；900wereinvestedinproductivesupplyandwages。Nowonly£；800arenecessarytocarryoutthesameproductiveprocess。The£；100thusreleasedinmoneynowformanew，employment-seekingmoney-capital，anewconstituentpartofthemoney-market。True，theyhavealreadypreviouslybeenperiodicallyintheformofreleasedmoney-capitalandofadditionalproductivecapital，buttheselatentstateswerethemselvestherequisitesfortheexecutionoftheprocessofproduction，becausetheyweretherequisitesforitscontinuity。Nowtheyarenolongerneededforthatpurposeandforthisreasonformnewmoney-capitalandaconstituentpartofthemoney-market，althoughtheybynomeansformeitheranadditionalelementoftheavailablesocialmoney-supply(fortheyexistedatthebeginningofthebusinessandwerethrownbyitintothecirculation)，oranewlyaccumulatedhoard。

These£；100arenowinactualfactwithdrawnfromcirculationinasmuchastheyareapartoftheadvancedmoney-capitalthatisnolongeremployedinthesamebusiness。Butthiswithdrawalispossibleonlybecausetheconversionofthecommodity-capitalintomoney，andofthismoneyintoproductivecapital，C’——M——C，isacceleratedbyoneweek，sothatthecirculationofthemoneyoperatinginthisprocessislikewisehastened。

TheyhavebeenwithdrawnfromitbecausetheyarenolongerneededfortheturnoverofcapitalX。

Ithasbeenassumedherethattheadvancedcapitalbelongstohimwhoemploysit。Hadheborroweditnothingwouldbechanged。Withtheshorteningofthetimeofcirculationhewouldhavetoborrowonly£；800

insteadof£；900。The£；100，ifreturnedtothelender，wouldasbeforeform£；100ofnewmoney-capital，onlyinthehandsofY

insteadofX。shouldcapitalistXreceive£；480worthofmaterialsofproductiononcredit，sothathehastoadvanceonly£；210inmoneyforwagesoutofhisownpocket，hewouldnowhavetoprocure£；80

worthofmaterialslessoncreditandthissumwouldconstitutesuperfluouscommodity-capitalforthecapitalistgrantingthecredit，whilecapitalistXwouldhaveeliminated£；20inmoney。

Theadditionalsupplyforproductionisnowreducedbyone-third。

Itconsistedof£；240constitutingfour-fifthsof£；300，theadditionalcapitalII，butnowitisonly£；160，i。e。，additionalsupplyfor2insteadof3weeks。Itisnowrenewedevery2weeksinsteadofevery3，butonlyfor2insteadof3weeks。Thepurchases，forinstanceinthecottonmarket，arethusmorefrequentandsmaller。Thesameamountofcottoniswithdrawnfromthemarket，forthequantityoftheproductremainsthesame。Butthewithdrawalsaredistributeddifferentlyintime，extendingoveralongerperiod。Supposingthatitisaquestionof3monthsor2。Iftheannualconsumptionofcottonamountsto1，200bales，thesalesinthefirstcasewillbe:

January1，300bales，leftinstorage900balesApril1，300””””600”July1，300””””300”October1，300””””0”

Butinthesecondcase:January1，sold200，instorage1，000balesMarch1，”200，””800”May1，”

200，””600”July1，”200，””400”September1，”200，””200”November1，”200，””0”

Sothemoneyinvestedincottononlyreturnscompletelyonemonthlater，inNovemberinsteadofOctober。Ifthereforeone-ninthoftheadvancedcapital，or£；100，iseliminatedintheformofmoney-capitalbythecontractionofthecirculationtimeandthusoftheturnoverandifthese£；100arecomposedof£；20worthofperiodicallysuperfluousmoney-capitalforthepaymentofweeklywages，andof£；80whichexistedasperiodicallysuperfluousproductivesupplyforoneweek，thenthediminishedsuperfluousproductivesupplyinthehandsofthemanufacturercorresponds，sofarasthese£；80areconcerned，toanenlargedcommodity-supplyinthehandsofthecottondealer。Thelongerthiscottonliesinthelatter’swarehouseasacommodity，thelessitliesinthestoreroomofthemanufacturerasaproductivesupply。

HithertowepresupposedthatthecontractionofthetimeofcirculationinBusinessXwasduetothefactthatXsoldhisarticlesquicker，receivedhismoneyforthemsooner，or，intheeventofcredit，wasgivenshortertermsofpayment。Thecontractionwasthereforeattributedtoaquickersaleofthecommodities，toaquickertransformationofcommodity-capitalintomoney-capital，C’——M，thefirstphaseoftheprocessofcirculation。

Butitmightalsoderivefromthesecondphase，M——C，andhencefromasimultaneouschange，beitintheworkingperiodorinthetimeofcirculationofcapitalsY，Z，etc。，whichsupplycapitalistXwiththeproductiveelementsofhiscirculatingcapital。

Forinstanceifcotton，coal，etc。，withtheoldmethodsoftransport，arethreeweeksintransitfromtheirplaceofproductionorstoragetotheplaceofproductionofcapitalistX，thenX’sproductivesupplymustlastatleastforthreeweeks，untilthearrivalofnewsupplies。Solongascottonandcoalareintransit，theycannotserveasmeansofproduction。

Theyarethenratherasubjectoflabourforthetransportindustryandthecapitalemployedinit；theyarealsocommodity-capitalintheprocessofcirculationfortheproducerofcoalorthedealerincotton。Supposeimprovementsintransportreducethetransittotwoweeks。Thentheproductivesupplycanbechangedfromathree-weeklyintoafortnightlysupply。Thisreleasestheadditionaladvancedcapital£；80setasideforthispurposeandlikewisethe£；20forwages，becausetheturned-overcapitalof£；600returnsoneweeksooner。

Ontheotherhandifforinstancetheworkingperiodofthecapitalwhichsuppliestherawmaterialsiscutdown(examplesofwhichweregivenintheprecedingchapters)，sothatthepossibilityarisesofrenewingthesupplyofrawmaterialsinlesstime，thentheproductivesupplymaybereducedandtheintervalbetweenperiodsofrenewalshortened。

If，viceversa，thetimeofcirculation，andthustheperiodofturnover，areprolonged，thenitisnecessarytoadvanceadditionalcapital。

Thismustcomeoutofthepocketofthecapitalisthimselfifhehasanyadditionalcapital。Butitwillthenbeinvestedinsomeformorotherasapartofthemoney-market。Tomakeitavailable，itmustbepriedloosefromitsoldform。Forinstancestocksmustbesold，depositswithdrawn，sothatinthiscasetoothemoney-marketisindirectlyaffected。Orhemustborrowit。Asforthatpartoftheadditionalcapitalwhichisneededforwages，itmustundernormalconditionsalwaysbeadvancedintheformofmoney-capital，andforthatpurposethecapitalistXexertshisshareofdirectpressureonthemoney-market。Butthisisindispensableforthepartwhichmustbeinvestedinmaterialsofproductiononlyifhemustpayforthemincash。Ifhecangetthemoncredit，thisdoesnothaveanydirectinfluenceonthemoney-market，becausetheadditionalcapitalisthenadvanceddirectlyasaproductivesupplyandnotinthefirstinstanceasmoney-capital。ButifthelenderthrowsthebillofexchangereceivedfromXdirectlyonthemarket，discountsit，etc。，thiswouldinfluencethemoney-marketindirectly，throughsomeoneelse。If，however，heusesthisnotetocoveradebtnotyetdueforinstance，thisadditionaladvancedcapitaldoesnotaffectthemoney-marketeitherdirectlyorindirectly。

SecondCase。AChangeinthePriceofMaterialsofProduction，AllOtherCircumstancesRemainingtheSame。

Wejustassumedthatthetotalcapitalof£；900wasfour-fifthsinvestedinmaterialsofproduction(equalling£；720)andone-fifthinwages(equalling£；180)。

Ifthematerialsofproductiondroptohalf，theyrequireforthe6-weekperiodonly£；240insteadof£；480，andfortheadditionalcapitalNo。IIonly£；120insteadof£；240。CapitalIisthusreducedfrom£；600to£；240plus£；120，or£；360，andcapitalIIfrom£；300to£；120plus£；60，or£；180。

Thetotalcapitalof£；900isthereforereducedto£；360plus£；180，or£；540。Asumof£；360isthereforereleased。

Thiseliminatedandnowunemployedcapital，ormoney-capital，seekingemploymentinthemoney-market，isnothingbutaportionofthecapitalof£；900originallyadvancedasmoney-capital，which，duetothefallinthepricesofthematerialsofproduction，intowhichitisperiodicallyreconverted，hasbecomesuperfluousifthebusinessisnottobeexpandedbutcarriedononthesamescale。Ifthisfallinpriceswerenotduetoaccidentalcircumstances(aparticularlyrichharvest，over-supply，etc。)buttoanincreaseofproductivepowerinthebranchofproductionwhichfurnishestherawmaterials，thenthismoney-capitalwouldbeanabsoluteadditiontothemoney-market，andtothecapitalavailableintheformofmoney-capitalingeneral，becauseitwouldnolongerconstituteanintegralpartofthecapitalalreadyinvested。

ThirdCase。AChangeintheMarketPriceoftheProductItself。

Inthecaseofafallinpricesaportionofthecapitalislost，andmustconsequentlybemadegoodbyanewadvanceofmoney-capital。Thislossofthesellermaybeagaintothebuyer。Directly，ifthemarketpriceoftheproducthasfallenmerelybecauseofanaccidentalfluctuation，andafterwardsrisesoncemoretoitsnormallevel。Indirectly，ifthechangeofpricesiscausedbyachangeofvaluereactingontheoldproductandifthisproductpassesagain，asanelementofproduction，intoanothersphereofproductionandtherereleasescapitalprotanto。IneithercasethecapitallostbyX，andforwhosereplacementheexertspressureonthemoney-market，maybesuppliedtohimbyhisbusinessfriendsasnewadditionalcapital。Allthattakesplacethenisatransfer。

If，onthecontrary，thepriceoftheproductrises，aportionofthecapitalwhichwasnotadvancedistakenoutofcirculation。Thisisnotanorganicpartofthecapitaladvancedintheprocessofproductionandunlessproductionisexpandedthereforeconstitutesmoney-capitaleliminated。

Aswehaveassumedthatthepricesoftheelementsoftheproductweregivenbeforeitwasbroughttomarketascommodity-capital，arealchangeofvaluemighthavecausedtheriseofpricessinceitactedretroactively，causingasubsequentriseinthepriceof，say，rawmaterials。InthateventcapitalistXwouldrealiseagainonhisproductcirculatingascommodity-capitalandonhisavailableproductivesupply。Thisgainwouldgivehimanadditionalcapital，whichwouldnowbeneededforthecontinuationofhisbusinesswiththenewandhigherpricesoftheelementsofproduction。

Ortheriseofpricesisbuttemporary。WhatcapitalistXthenneedsbywayofadditionalcapitalbecomesreleasedcapitalfortheotherside，insofarasX’sproductformsanelementofproductionforotherbranchesofbusiness。Whattheonehaslosttheotherhasgained。

NOTES

[31]Theweeksfallingwithinthesecondyearofturnoverareputinparenthesis。

1885:CapitalII——Chapter16

partII

THETURNOVEROFCAPITAL

CHAPTERXVI

THETURNOVEROFVARIABLECAPITALI。THEANNUALRATEOFSURPLUS-VALUE

Letusassumeacirculatingcapitalof£；2，500four-fifthsofwhich，or£；2，000，areconstantcapital(materialsofproduction)andone-fifth，or£；500，isvariablecapitalinvestedinwages。

Lettheperiodofturnoverbe5weeks:theworkingperiod4weeks，theperiodofcirculation1week。ThencapitalIis£；2，000，consistingof£；1，600ofconstantcapitaland£；400ofvariablecapital；

capitalIIis£；500，£；400ofwhichareconstantand£；100

variable。Ineveryworkingweekacapitalof£；500isinvested。Inayearof50weeksanannualproductof50times500，or£；2，500，ismanufactured。CapitalIof£；2，000，constantlyemployedintheworkingperiod，isthereforeturnedover121/2times。121/2times2，000

makes£；25，000。Ofthese£；25，000four-fifths，or£；20，000，areconstantcapitallaidoutinmeansofproduction，andone-fifth，or£；5，000isvariablecapitallaidoutinwages。Thetotalcapitalof£；25，000isthusturnedover25，000/2，500，or10times。

Thevariablecirculatingcapitalexpendedinproductioncanserveafreshintheprocessofcirculationonlytotheextentthattheproductinwhichitsvalueisreproducedhasbeensold，convertedfromacommodity-capitalintoamoney-capital，inordertobeoncemorelaidoutinpaymentoflabour-power。

Butthesameistrueoftheconstantcirculatingcapital(materialsofproduction)investedinproduction，thevalueofwhichreappearsintheproductasaportionofitsvalue。Whatthesetwoportions——thevariableandtheconstantpartofthecirculatingcapital——haveincommonandwhatdistinguishesthemfromthefixedcapitalisnotthatthevaluetransferredfromthemtotheproductiscirculatedbythecommodity-capital，i。e。，throughthecirculationoftheproductasacommodity。Oneportionofthevalueoftheproduct，andthusoftheproductcirculatingasacommodity，ofthecommodity-capital，alwaysconsistsofthewearandtearofthefixedcapital，thatistosay，ofthatportionofthevalueofthefixedcapitalwhichistransferredtotheproductduringtheprocessofproduction。Thedifferenceisreallythis:Thefixedcapitalcontinuestofunctionintheprocessofproductioninitsolduse-formforalongerorshortercycleofturnoverperiodsofthecirculatingcapital(equaltoconstantcirculatingplusvariablecirculatingcapital)，whileeverysingleturnoverisconditionedonthereplacementoftheentirecirculatingcapitalpassingfromthesphereofproduction——intheformofcommodity-capital——intothesphereofcirculation。theconstantcirculatingandvariablecirculatingcapitalhavethefirstphaseofcirculation，C’——M，incommon。Inthesecondphasetheyseparate。Themoneyintowhichthecommodityisreconvertedisinparttransformedintoaproductivesupply(constantcirculatingcapital)。

Dependingonthedifferenttermsofpurchaseofitsconstituentparts，oneportionofthemoneymaysooner，anotherlater，beconvertedfrommoneyintomaterialsofproduction，butfinallyitiswhollyconsumedthatway。

Anotherportionofthemoneyrealisedbythesaleofthecommodityisheldintheformofamoney-supply，inordertobegraduallyexpendedinthepaymentofthelabour-powerincorporatedintheprocessofproduction。

Thispartconstitutesthevariablecirculatingcapital。Neverthelesstheentirereplacementofeitherportionalwaysoriginatesfromtheturnoverofcapital，fromitsconversionintoaproduct，fromaproductintoacommodity，fromacommodityintomoney。Thisisthereasonwhy，intheprecedingchapter，theturnoverofthecirculatingcapital，constantandvariable，wastreatedjointlyandseparatelywithoutpayinganyregardtothefixedcapital。

Inthequestionwhichweshallnowtakeup，wemustgoastepfartherandproceedwiththevariableportionofthecirculatingcapitalasthoughitalongconstitutedthecirculatingcapital。Inotherwords，weleaveoutofconsiderationtheconstantcirculatingcapitalwhichisturnedovertogetherwithit。

Asumof£；2，500hasbeenadvancedandthevalueoftheannualproductis£；25，000。Butthevariableportionofthecirculatingcapitalis£；500；thereforethevariablecapitalcontainedin£；25，000

amountsto25，000dividedby5，or£；5，000。Ifwedividethese£；5，000

by£；500，wefindthenumberofturnoversis10，justasitisinthecaseofthetotalcapitalof£；2，500。

Here，whereitisonlyaquestionoftheproductionofsurplus-value，itisabsolutelycorrecttomakethisaveragecalculation，accordingtowhichthevalueoftheannualproductisdividedbythevalueoftheadvancedcapitalandnotbythevalueofthatportionofthiscapitalwhichisemployedconstantlyinoneworkingperiod(thus，inthepresentcastnotby400

butby500，notbycapitalIbutbycapitalIpluscapitalII)。Weshallseelaterthat，fromanotherpointofview，thecalculationisnotquiteexact，justasthisaveragecalculationgenerallyisnotquiteexact。Thatistosay，itserveswellenoughforthepracticalpurposesofthecapitalist，butitdoesnotexpressexactlyorproperlyalltherealcircumstancesoftheturnover。

Wehavehithertoignoredonepartofthevalueofthecommodity-capital，namelythesurplus-valuecontainedinit，whichwasproducedduringtheprocessofproductionandincorporatedintheproduct。Tothiswehavenowtodirectourattention。

Supposethevariablecapitalof£；100investedweeklyproducesasurplus-valueof100%，or£；100，thenthevariablecapitalof£；500

investedovera5-weekturnoverperiodproduces£；500ofsurplus-value，i。e。，onehalfoftheworkingdayconsistsofsurplus-labour。

If£；500ofvariablecapitalproduceasurplus-valueof£；500，then£；5，000producetentimes£；500，or£；5，000insurplus-value。

Buttheadvancedvariablecapitalamountsto£；500。Theratioofthetotalsurplus-valueproducedduringoneyeartothesumofvalueoftheadvancedvariablecapitaliswhatwecalltheannualrateofsurplus-value。

Inthecaseathanditis5，000to500or1，000%。Ifweanalysethisratemoreclosely，wefindthatitisequaltotherateofsurplus-valueproducedbytheadvancedvariablecapitalduringoneperiodofturnover，multipliedbythenumberofturnoversofthevariablecapital(whichcoincideswiththenumberofturnoversoftheentirecirculatingcapital)。

Thevariablecapitaladvancedinthecasebeforeusforoneperiodofturnoveris£；500。Thesurplus-valueproducedduringthisperiodislikewise£；500。Therateofsurplus-valueforoneperiodofturnoveristherefore500s/500vor100%。This100%，multipliedby10，thenumberofturnoversinoneyear，makes5，000s/500v，or1，000%。

Thatreferstotheannualrateofsurplus-value。Asfortheamountofsurplus-valueobtainedduringaspecifiedperiodofturnover，itisequaltothevalueofthevariablecapitaladvancedduringthisperiod，of£；500inthepresentcase，multipliedbytherateofsurplus-value，inthepresentcasetherefore500times100/100，or500times1，or£；500。

iftheadvancedvariablecapitalwere£；1，500，thenwiththesamerateofthesurplus-valuetheamountofsurplus-valuewouldbe1，500times100/100，or£；1，500。

WeshallapplythetermcapitalAtothevariablecapitalof£；500，whichisturnedovertentimesperyear，producinganannualsurplus-valueof£；5，00forwhich，therefore，theyearlyrateofsurplus-valueis1，000%。

Nowletusassumethatanothervariablecapital，B，of£；5，000，isadvancedforonewholeyear(i。e。，herefor50weeks)，sothatitisturnedoveronlyonceayear。Weassumefurthermorethatattheendoftheyeartheproductispaidforonthesamedaythatitisfinished，sothatthemoney-capital，intowhichitisconverted，returnsonthesameday。Thecirculationperiodisthenzero，theperiodofturnoverequalstheworkingperiod，namely，oneyear。Asintheprecedingcasethereistobefoundinthelabour-processeachweekavariablecapitalof£；100，orof£；5，000in50weeks。Lettherateofsurplus-valuebethesame，or100%，i。e。，letonehalfoftheworking-dayofthesamelengthconsistofsurplus-labour。Ifweconsider5weeks，theinvestedvariablecapitalis£；500，therateofsurplus-value100%andthereforetheamountofsurplus-valueproducedin5weeks£；500。Thequantityoflabour-powerhereexploited，andtheintensityofitsexploitation，areassumedtobeexactlythesameasthoseofcapitalA。

Eachweektheinvestedvariablecapitalof£；100producesasurplus-valueof£；100，hencein50weekstheinvestedcapitalof50x100=£；5，000producesasurplus-valueof£；5，000。Theamountofsurplus-valueproducedannuallyisthesameasinthepreviouscase，£；5，000，buttheyearlyrateofsurplus-valueisentirelydifferent。

Itisequaltothesurplus-valueproducedinoneyeardividedbytheadvancedvariablecapital:5，000s/5，500v，or100%，whileinthecaseofcapitalAitwas1，000%。

InthecaseofbothcapitalsAandB，wehaveinvestedavariablecapitalof£；100aweek。Thedegreeofself-expansion，ortherateofsurplus-value，islikewisethesame，100%，andsoisthemagnitudeofthevariablecapital，£；100。Thesamequantityoflabour-powerisexploited，thevolumeanddegreeofexploitationareequalinbothcases，theworking-daysarethesameandequallydividedintonecessarylabourandsurplus-labour。Theamountofvariablecapitalemployedinthecourseoftheyearis£；5，000ineithercase；itsetsthesameamountoflabourinmotion，andextractsthesameamountofsurplus-value，£；5，000，fromthelabour-powersetinmotionbythesetwoequalcapitals。Neverthelessthereisadifferenceof900%intheannualrateofsurplus-valueofthetwocapitalsAandB。

Thisphenomenoncreatestheimpression，atallevents，thattherateofsurplus-valuedependsnotonlyonthequantityandintensityofexploitationofthelabour-powersetinmotionbythevariablecapital，butbesidesoninexplicableinfluencesarisingfromtheprocessofcirculation。

Andithasindeedbeensointerpreted，andhas——ifnotinthisitspureform，thenatleastinitsmorecomplicatedanddisguisedform，thatoftheannualrateofprofit——completelyroutedtheRicardianschoolsincethebeginningofthetwenties。

ThestrangenessofthisphenomenondisappearsatoncewhenweplacecapitalsAandBinexactlythesameconditions，notonlyseeminglybutactually。TheseequalconditionsexistonlywhenthevariablecapitalBinitsentirevolumeisexpendedforthepaymentoflabour-powerinthesameperiodoftimeascapitalA。

Inthatcasethe£；5，000ofcapitalBareinvestedfor5

weeks，£；1。000perweekmakesaninvestmentof£；50，000peryear。

Thesurplus-valueisthenlikewise£；50，000，accordingtoourpremises。

Theturned-overcapitalof£；50，000dividedbytheadvancedcapitalof£；5，000makesthenumberofturnovers10。Therateofsurplus-value，5，000s/5，500v，or100%，multipliedbythenumberofturnovers，10，makestheannualrateofsurplus-value50，000s/5，500v，or10/1，or1，000%。Nowtheannualrateofsurplus-valuearealikeforAandB，namely1，000%，buttheamountsofthesurplus-valueare£；50，000inthecaseofB，and£；5，000inthecaseofA。Theamountsofthesurplus-valueproducedarenowinthesameproportiontooneanotherastheadvancedcapital-valuesBandA，towit:5，000:500=10:1。ButcapitalBhassetinmotiontentimesasmuchlabour-powerascapitalAwithinthesametime。

Onlythecapitalactuallyemployedinthelabour-powerproducessurplus-valueandtoitapplyalllawsrelatingtosurplus-value，includingthereforethelawaccordingtowhichthequantityofsurplus-value，itsratebeinggiven，isdeterminedbytherelativemagnitudeofthevariablecapital。[SeeKarlMarx，Capital，Ch。XI——Ed。]

Thelabour-processitselfismeasuredbytime。Ifthelengthoftheworking-dayisgiven(ashere，wherewassumeallconditionsrelatingtoAandBtobeequal，inordertoelucidatethedifferenceintheannualrateofsurplus-value)，theworkingweekconsistsofadefinitenumberofworking-days。Orwemayconsideranyworkingperiod，forinstancethisworkingperiodof5weeks，asonesingleworking-dayof，say，300hours，iftheworking-dayhas10hoursandtheweek6days。Wemustfurthermultiplythisnumberbythenumberoflabourerswhoareemployedconjointlyeverydaysimultaneouslyinthesamelabour-process。Ifthatnumberistakenas10，therewillbe60times10or600hoursinoneweek，andaworkingperiodof5weekswouldhave600times5，or3，000hours。Therateofsurplus-valueandthelengthoftheworking-daybeingthesame，variablecapitalsofequalmagnitudearethereforeemployed，ifequalquantitiesoflabour-power(alabour-powerofthesamepricemultipliedbythenumberoflabourers)

aresetinmotioninthesametime。

Letusnowreturntoouroriginalexamples。Inbothcases，AandB，equalvariablecapitalsof£；100perweeareinvestedeveryweekthroughouttheyear。Theinvestedvariablecapitalsactuallyfunctioninginthelabour-processarethereforeequal，buttheadvancedvariablecapitalsareveryunequal。InthecaseofA，£；500areadvancedforevery5

weeks，ofwhich£；100areemployedeveryweek。InthecaseofB，£；5，000

mustbeadvancedforthefirst5-weekperiod，ofwhichonly£；100

perweek，or£；500in5weeks，orone-tenthoftheadvancedcapital，isemployed。Inthesecond5-weekperiod£；4，500mustbeadvanced，butonly£；500ofthisisemployed，etc。Thevariablecapitaladvancedforadefiniteperiodoftimeisconvertedintoemployed，henceactuallyfunctioningandoperativevariablecapitalonlytotheextentthatitreallystepsintothesectionsofthatperiodoftimetakenupbythelabour-process，totheextentthatitreallyfunctionsinthelabour-process。Intheintermediatetime，inwhichaportionofitisadvancedinordertobeemployedlater，thisportionispracticallynon-existentforthelabour-processandhasthereforenoinfluenceontheformationofeithervalueorsurplus-value。

TakeforinstancecapitalA，of£；500。Itisadvancedfor5weeks，buteveryweekonly£；100entersuccessivelyintothelabour-process。

Inthefirstweekone-fifthofthiscapitalisemployed；four-fifthsareadvancedwithoutbeingemployed，althoughtheymustbeinstock，andthereforeadvanced，forthelabour-processesofthefollowing4weeks。

Thecircumstanceswhichdifferentiatetherelationbetweentheadvancedandtheemployedvariablecapitalaffecttheproductionofsurplus-value——therateofsurplus-valuebeinggiven——onlytotheextent，andonlybyreasonofthefactthattheydifferentiatethequantityofvariablecapitalwhichcanbereallyemployedinastatedperiodoftime，forinstanceinoneweek，5weeks，etc。Theadvancedvariablecapitalfunctionsasvariablecapitalonlytotheextentandonlyduringthetimethatitisactuallyemployed，andnotduringthetimeinwhichitremainsinstock，isadvanced，withoutbeingemployed。Butallthecircumstanceswhichdifferentiatetherelationbetweentheadvancedandtheemployedvariablecapitalcomedowntothedifferenceoftheperiodsofturnover(determinedbythedifferenceofeithertheworkingperiod，orthecirculationperiod，orboth)。Thelawofproductionofsurplus-valuestatesthatequalquantitiesoffunctioningvariablecapitalproduceequalquantitiesofsurplus-valueiftherateofsurplus-valueisthesame。Ifthen，equalquantitiesofvariablecapitalareemployedbythecapitalsAandBinequalperiodsoftimewithequalratesofsurplus-value，theymustgenerateequalquantitiesofsurplus-valueinequalperiodsoftime，nomatterhowdifferenttheratioofthisvariablecapitalemployedduringadefiniteperiodoftimetothevariablecapitaladvancedduringthesametime，andnomatterthereforehowdifferenttheratioofthequantitiesofsurplus-valueproduced，nottotheemployedbuttotheadvancedvariablecapitalingeneral。Thedifferenceofthisratio，farfromcontradictingthelawsoftheproductionofsurplus-valuethathavebeendemonstrated，rathercorroboratesthemandisoneoftheirinevitableconsequences。

Letusconsiderthefirst5-weekproductiveperiodofcapitalB。Attheendofthefifthweek£；500havebeenemployedandconsumed。

Thevalueoftheproductis£；1，000，hence500s/500v=100%。JustthesameaswithcapitalA。Thefactthat，inthecaseofcapitalA，thesurplus-valueisrealisedtogetherwiththeadvancedcapital，whileinthecaseofBitisnot，doesnotconcernushere，whereitisonlyaquestionoftheproductionofsurplus-valueandofitsratiotothevariablecapitaladvancedduringitsproduction。Butifonthecontrarywecalculatetherationofsurplus-valueinB，nottothatportionoftheadvancedcapitalof£；5，000whichhasbeenemployedandhenceconsumedduringitsproduction，buttothistotaladvancedcapitalitself，wefindthatitis500s/5，500vof1/10，or10%。Henceitis10%forcapitalBand100%forcapitalA，i。e。，ten-fold。Ifitweresaid:thisdifferenceintherateofsurplus-valueforequalcapitals，whichhavesetinmotionequalquantitiesoflabourequallydividedatthatintopaidandunpaidlabour，iscontrarytothelawsoftheproductionofsurplus-value，theanswerwouldbesimpleandpromptedbyamereglanceattheactualrelations:InthecaseofA，theactualrateofsurplus-valueisexpressed，i。e。，therelationofasurplus-valueproducedin5weeksbyavariablecapitalof£；500，tothevariablecapitalof£；500。InthecaseofBontheotherhandthecalculationisofakindwhichhasnothingtodoeitherwiththeproductionofsurplus-valueorwiththedeterminationofitscorrespondingrateofsurplus-value。Forthe£；500ofsurplus-valueproducedbyavariablecapitalof£；500

ofvariablecapitaladvancedduringtheirproduction，butwithreferencetoacapitalof£；5，000，nine-tenthsofwhich，or£；4，500，havenothingwhatevertodowiththeproductionofthissurplus-valueof£；500，butareonthecontraryintendedtofunctiongraduallyinthecourseofthefollowing45weeks，sothattheydonotexistatallsofarastheproductionofthefirst5weeksisconcerned，whichaloneisatissueinthisinstance。Henceinthiscasethedifferenceintheratesofsurplus-valueofAandBpresentsnoproblematall。

Letusnowcomparetheannualratesofsurplus-valueforcapitalsBandA。ForcapitalBitis500s/500v=100%；forcapitalAitis5，000s/500v=1，000%。Buttheratiooftheratesofsurplus-valueisthesameasbefore。

TherewehadRateofSurplus-ValueofCapitalB10%——RateofSurplus-ValueofCapitalA=100%NowwehaveAnnualRateofSurplus-ValueofCapitalB

100%——AnnualRateofSurplus-ValueofCapitalA=1，000%But10%:100%=100%:1，000%，sothattheproportionisthesame。

Butnowtheproblemhaschanged。TheannualrateofcapitalB，5，000s/5，500v=100%，offersnottheslightestdeviation——noteventhesemblanceofadeviation——fromthelawsofproductionknowntousandoftherateofsurplus-valuecorrespondingtothisproduction。Duringtheyear5，000vhavebeenadvancedandproductivelyconsumed，andtheyhaveproduced5，000s。Therateofsurplus-valuethereforeequalstheabovefraction，5，000s/5，500v=100%。Theannualrateagreeswiththeactualrateofsurplus-value。

InthiscaseitisthereforenotcapitalBbutcapitalAwhichpresentstheanomalythathastobeexplained。

Wehaveheretherateofsurplus-value5，000s/500v=1，000%。Butwhileinthefirstcase500s，theproductof5weeks，wascalculatedforanadvancedcapitalof£；5，000，nine-tenthsofwhichwerenotemployedbyitsproduction，wehavenow5，000scalculatedfor500v，i。e。，foronlyone-tenthofthevariablecapitalactuallyemployedintheproductionof5，000s；forthe5，000saretheproductofavariablecapitalof£；5，000

productivelyconsumedduring50weeks，notthatofacapitalof£；500

consumedinonesingleperiodof5weeks。Inthefirstcasethesurplus-valueproducedin5weekshadbeencalculatedforacapitaladvancedfor50weeks，acapitaltentimesaslargeastheoneconsumedduringthe5weeks。Nowthesurplus-valueproducedin50weeksiscalculatedforacapitaladvancedfor5weeks，acapitaltentimessmallerthantheoneconsumedin50weeks。

CapitalA，of£；500，isneveradvancedformorethan5weeks。

Attheendofthistimeitreturnsandcanrenewthesameprocessinthecourseoftheyeartentimes，asitmakestenturnovers。Twoconclusionsfollowfromthis:

Firstly:ThecapitaladvancedinthecaseofAisonlyfivetimeslargerthanthatportionofcapitalwhichisconstantlyemployedintheproductiveprocessofoneweek。OntheotherhandcapitalBwhichisturnedoveronlyoncein50weeksandmustthereforebeadvancedfor50weeks，isfiftytimeslargerthanthatoneofitsportionswhichcanconstantlybeemployedforoneweek。Theturnoverthereforemodifiestherelationbetweenthecapitaladvancedduringtheyearfortheprocessofproductionandthecapitalconstantlyemployableforadefiniteperiodofproduction，say，aweek。Herewehave，thenthefirstcase，inwhichthesurplus-valueof5weeksisnotcalculatedforthecapitalemployedduringthese5weeks，butforacapitaltentimeslarger，employedfor50weeks。

Secondly:The5-weekperiodofturnoverofcapitalAcomprisesonlyone-tenthoftheyear，sothatoneyearcontainstensuchturnoverperiods，inwhichcapitalAof£；500issuccessivelyre-invested。

Theemployedcapitalishereequaltothecapitaladvancedfor5weeks，multipliedbythenumberofperiodsofturnoverperyear。Thecapitalemployedduringtheyearis500times10，or£；5，000。Thecapitaladvancedduringtheyearis5，000/10，or£；5，00。Indeed，althoughthe£；500

arealwaysre-employed，thesumadvancedevery5weeksneverexceedsthesesame£；500。OntheotherhandincaseofcapitalBonly£；500

areemployedduring5weeksandadvancedforthese5weeks。Butastheperiodofturnoverinthiscaseis50weeks，thecapitalemployedinoneyearisequaltothecapitaladvancedfor50weeksandnottothatadvancedforevery5weeks。Theannuallyproducedquantityofsurplus-value，giventherateofsurplus-value，ishowevercommensuratewiththecapitalemployedduringtheyear，notwiththecapitaladvancedduringtheyear。Henceitisnotlargerforthiscapitalof£；5，000，whichisturnedoveronceayear，thanitisforthecapitalof£；500，whichisturnedovertentimesayear。Anditissobigonlybecausethecapitalturnedoveronceayearisitselftentimeslargerthanthecapitalturnedovertentimesayear。

Thevariablecapitalturnedoverduringoneyear——hencetheportionoftheannualproduct，oroftheannualexpenditureequaltothatportion——isthevariablecapitalactuallyemployed，productivelyconsumed，duringthatyear。ItfollowsthereforethatifthevariablecapitalAturnedoverannuallyandthevariablecapitalBturnedoverannuallyareequalandtheemployedunderequalconditionsofself-expansion，sothattherateofsurplus-valueisthesameforbothofthem，thenthequantityofsurplus-valueproducedannuallymustlikewisebethesameforbothofthem。

Hencetherateofsurplus-valuecalculatedforayearmustalsobethesame，sincetheamountsofcapitalemployedarethesame，sofarastherateisexpressedbyquantityofsurplus-valueproducedannually——variablecapitalturnedoverannually。Or，expressedgenerally:Whatevertherelativemagnitudeoftheturned-overvariablecapitals，therateofthesurplus-valueproducedbytheminthecourseoftheyearisdeterminedbytherateofsurplus-valueatwhichtherespectivecapitalshaveworkedinaverageperiods(say，theaverageofaweekorday)。

Thisistheonlyconsequenceofthelawsofproductionofsurplus-valueandofthedeterminationoftherateofsurplus-value。

LetusseefurtherwhatisexpressedbytheratioCapitalturnedoverannually——capitaladvanced(takingintoaccount，aswehavesaidbefore，onlythevariablecapital)。

Thedivisionshowsthenumberofturnoversmadebythecapitaladvancedinoneyear。

InthecaseofcapitalAwehave:

£；5，000ofcapitalturnedoverannually——£；500ofcapitaladvancedInthecaseofcapitalBwehave:

£；5，000ofcapitalturnedoverannually——£；5，000ofcapitaladvancedInbothratiosthenumeratorexpressedtheadvancedcapitalmultipliedbythenumberofturnovers；inthecaseofA，500times10；inthecaseofB，5，000times1。Oritmaybemultipliedbytheinvertedtimeofturnovercalculatedforoneyear。ThetimeofturnoverforAis1/10

ofayear；theinvertedtimeofturnoveris10/1years；hence500times10/1，or5，000。InthecaseofB，5，000times1/1，or5，000。Thedenominatorexpressestheturned-overcapitalmultipliedbytheinvertednumberofturnovers；inthecaseofA，5，000times1/10；inthecaseofB，5，000

times1/1。

Therespectivequantitiesoflabour(thesumofthepaidandunpaidlabour)，whicharesetinmotionbythetwovariablecapitalsturnedoverannually，areequalinthiscase，becausetheturned-overcapitalsthemselvesareequalandtheirratesofself-expansionarelikewiseequal。

Theratioofvariablecapitalturnedoverannuallytothevariablecapitaladvancedindicates1)theratioofthecapitaltobeadvancedtothevariablecapitalemployedduringadefiniteworkingperiod。Ifthenumberofturnoversis10，asinthecaseofA，andtheyearassumedtohave50weeks，thentheperiodofturnoveris5weeks。Forthese5weeksvariablecapitalmustbeadvancedandthecapitaladvancedfor5weeksmustbe5timesaslargeasthevariablecapitalemployedduringoneweek。

Thatistosay，onlyone-fifthoftheadvancedcapital(inthiscase£；500)

canbeemployedinthecourseofoneweek。Ontheotherhand，inthecaseofcapitalB，wherethenumberofturnoversis11/，thetimeofturnoveris1year，or50weeks。Theratiooftheadvancedcapitaltothecapitalemployedweeklyistherefore50:1。IfmatterswerethesameforBastheyareforA，thenBwouldhavetoinvest£；1，000perweekinsteadof£；100。2)ItfollowsthatBehasemployedtentimesasmuchcapital(£；5，000)asAtosetinmotionthesamequantityofvariablecapitalandhence——therateofsurplus-valuebeinggiven——oflabour(paidandunpaid)，andthustoproducealsothesamequantityofsurplus-valueduringtheyear。Therealrateofsurplus-valueexpressesnothingbuttheratioofthevariablecapitalemployedduringadefiniteperiodtothesurplus-valueproducedinthesametime；orthequantityofunpaidlaboursetinmotionbythevariablecapitalemployedduringthistime。Ithasabsolutelynothingtodowiththatportionofthevariablecapitalwhichisadvancedduringthetimeinwhichitisnotemployed。Henceithaslikewisenothingtodowiththeratiobetweenthatportionofcapitalwhichisadvancedduringadefiniteperiodoftimeandthatportionwhichisemployedduringthesameperiodoftime——aratiothatismodifiedanddifferentiatedfordifferentcapitalsbytheturnoverperiod。

Itfollowsratherfromwhathasbeensetforthabovethattheannualrateofsurplus-valuecoincidesonlyinonesinglecasewiththerealrateofsurplus-valuewhichexpressesthedegreeofexploitationoflabour；namelyinthecasewhentheadvancedcapitalisturnedoveronlyonceayearandthecapitaladvancedisthusequaltothecapitalturnedoverinthecourseoftheyear，whenthereforetheratioofthequantityofthesurplus-valueproducedduringtheyeartothecapitalemployedduringtheyearinthisproductioncoincidesandisidenticalwiththeratioofthequantityofsurplus-valueproducedduringtheyeartothecapitaladvancedduringtheyear。

A)Theannualrateofsurplus-valueisequaltothequantityofsurplus-valueproducedduringtheyear——variablecapitaladvancedButthequantityofthesurplus-valueproducedduringtheyearisequaltotherealrateofsurplus-valuemultipliedbythevariablecapitalemployedinitsproduction。Thecapitalemployedintheproductionoftheannualquantityofsurplus-valueisequaltotheadvancedcapitalmultipliedbythenumberofitsturnovers，whichweshallcalln。FormulaAisthereforetransformedintothefollowing:

B)Theannualrateofsurplus-valueisequaltotherealrateofsurplus-valuexvariablecapitaladvancedxn——variablecapitaladvancedForinstance，inthecaseofcapitalB=100x5，000x1/5，000，or100%。

Onlywhennisequalto1，thatis，whenthevariablecapitaladvancedisturnedoveronlyonceayear，andhenceequaltothecapitalemployedorturnedoverduringayear，theannualrateofsurplus-valueisequaltoitsrealrate。

Letuscalltheannualrateofsurplus-valueS’，therealrateofsurplus-values’，theadvancedvariablecapitalv，thenumberofturnoversn。ThenS’=s’vn/v=s’n。Inotherwords，S’isequaltos’n，anditisequaltos’onlywhenn=1，andhenceS’=s’times1，ors’。

Itfollowsfurthermorethattheannualrateofsurplus-valueisalwaysequaltos’n，i。e。，totherealrateofsurplus-valueproducedinoneperiodofturnoverbythevariablecapitalconsumedduringthatperiod，multipliedbythenumberofturnoversofthisvariablecapitalduringoneyear，or(whatamountstothesame)multipliedbyitsinvertedtimeofturnovercalculatedforoneyear。(Ifthevariablecapitalisturnoverovertentimesperyear，thenitstimeofturnoveris1/10

ofayear；itsinvertedtimeofturnovertherefore10/1or10。)

ItfollowsfurthermorethatS’=s’whennisequalto1。S’isgreaterthans’whennisgreaterthan1；i。e。，whentheadvancedcapitalisturnedovermorethanonceayearortheturned-overcapitalisgreaterthanthecapitaladvanced。

Finally，S’issmallerthans’whennissmallerthan1，thatis，whenthecapitalturnedoverduringtheyearisonlyapartoftheadvancedcapital，sothattheperiodofturnoverislongerthanoneyear。

Letusdwellamomentonthislastcase。

Weretainallthepremisesofourformerillustration，exceptthattheperiodofturnoverislengthenedto55weeks。Thelabour-processrequiresavariablecapitalof£；100perweek，hence£；5，500

fortheperiodofturnover，andproduceseveryweek100s；s’istherefore100%，asbefore。Thenumberofturnovers，n，ishere50/55or10/11，becausethetimeofturnoveris1plus1/10oftheyear(of50weeks)，or11/10years。

S’=100%x5，500x10/11/5，500=100x10/11=1000/11=90

10/11%。Itisthereforesmallerthan100%。

Indeed，iftheannualrateofsurplus-valuewere100%，thenduringtheyear5，500vwouldproduce5，500s，whereas10/11yearsarerequiredforthat。The5，500vproduceonly5，000sduringoneyear，thereforetheannualrateofsurplus-valueis5，000s/5，500v，or10/11or9010/11%。

Theannualrateofsurplus-value，orthecomparisonbetweenthesurplus-valueproducedduringoneyearandthevariablecapitaladvancedingeneral(asdistinguishedfromthevariablecapitalturnedoverduringtheyear)，isthereforenomerelysubjectivecomparison；theactualmovementofthecapitalitselfgivesrisetothiscontraposition。SofarastheownerofcapitalAisconcerned，hisadvancedvariablecapitalofx500hasreturnedtohimattheendoftheyear，andx5，000ofsurplus-valueinaddition。Itisnotthequantityofcapitalemployedbyhimduringtheyear，butthequantityreturningtohimperiodicallythatexpressesthemagnitudeofhisadvancedcapital。Itisimmaterialforthepresentissuewhetherattheendoftheyearthecapitalexistspartlyasaproductivesupply，orpartlyasmoney-orcommodity-capital，andinwhatproportionsitmayhavebeendividedintothesedifferentparts。SofarastheownerofcapitalBisconcerned，£；5，000，hisadvancedcapital，hasreturnedtohimbesides£；5，000insurplus-value。FortheownerofcapitalC(thelastconsidered，worth£；5，500)surplus-valuetotheamountof£；5，000hasbeenproducedduringtheyear(£；5，000investedandrateofsurplus-value100%)，buthisadvancedcapitalhasnotyetreturnedtohim，norhashisproducedsurplus-value。

S’=s’nindicatesthattherateofsurplus-valuevalidforthevariablecapitalemployedduringoneperiodofturnover，towit，quantityofsproducedinoneturnoverperiod——vemployedinoneturnoverperiodmustbemultipliedbythenumberofturnoverperiods，oroftheperiodsofreproductionoftheadvancedvariablecapital，bythenumberofperiodsinwhichitrenewsitscircuit。

Wehavealreadyseen(BuchI，Kap。IV[Englishedition:PartII——

Ed。])(TheTransformationofMoneyintoCapital)，andfurthermore(BuchI，Kap。XXI[Englishedition:Ch。XXIII——Ed。])(SimpleReproduction)，thatthecapital-valueisingeneraladvanced，notexpended，asthisvalue，havingpassedthroughthevariousphasesofitscircuit，returnstoitspointofdeparture，andatthatenrichedbysurplus-value。

Thischaracterisesitasadvanced。Thetimethatelapsesfromthemomentofitsdeparturetothemomentofitsreturnisthetimeforwhichitwasadvanced。Theentirecircularmovementdescribedbycapital-value，measuredbythetimefromitsadvancetoitsreturn，constitutesitsturnover，andthedurationofthisturnoverisaperiodofturnover。Whenthisperiodhasexpiredandthecircuitiscompleted，thesamecapital-valuecanrenewthesamecircuit，canthereforeexpandanew，cancreatesurplus-value。

Ifthevariablecapitalisturnedovertentimesinoneyear，asinthecaseofcapitalA，thenthesameadvanceofcapitalbegetsinthecourseofoneyeartentimesthequantityofsurplus-valuethatcorrespondstooneperiodofturnover。

Onemustgetaclearconceptionofthenatureofthisadvancefromthestandpointofcapitalistsociety。

CapitalA，whichisannuallyturnedovertentimes，isadvancedtentimesduringoneyear。Itisadvancedanewforeverynewperiodofturnover。Butatthesametime，duringtheyearAneveradvancesmorethanthissamecapital-valueof£；500andinactualfactneverdisposesofmorethanthese£；500fortheproductiveprocessexaminedbyus。

Assoonasthese£；500havecompletedonecircuitAmakesthemstartanewthesamecircuit；byitsverynaturecapitalpreservesitscharacterofcapitalonlybecauseitalwaysfunctionsascapitalinsuccessiveproductionprocesses。Itis，moreover，neveradvancedformorethanfiveweeks。Shouldtheturnoverlastlonger，itprovesinadequate。Shouldtheturnoverbecurtailed，apartbecomesuperfluous。Nottencapitalsof£；500areadvanced，butonecapitalof£；500isadvancedtentimesatsuccessiveintervals。Theannualrateofsurplus-valueisthereforenotcalculatedfortenadvancesofacapitalof£；500orfor£；5，000，butforoneadvanceofacapitalof£；500。Itisthesameasifoneshillingcirculatestentimesandyetneverrepresentsmorethanonesingleshillingincirculation，althoughitperformsthefunctionof10shillings。

Butinthepocketwhichholdsitaftereachchangeofhandsitretainsthesameidenticalvalueofoneshillingasbefore。

InthesamewaycapitalAindicatesateachsuccessivereturn，andlikewiseonitsreturnattheendoftheyear，thatitsownerhasoperatedalwayswiththesamecapital-valueof£；500。Henceonly£；500

returntohimeachtime。Hisadvancedcapitalisthereforenevermorethan£；500。Hencetheadvancedcapitalof£；500formsthedenominatorofthefractionwhichexpressestheannualrateofsurplus-value。WehadforittheaboveformulaS’=s’vn/v=s’n。Sincetherealrateofsurplus-value，s’，equalss/v，thequantityofsurplus-valuedividedbythevariablecapitalwhichproducedit，wemaysubstitutes/vforthevalueofs’ins’n，andgettheotherformulaS’=sn/v。

Butbyitsten-foldturnoverandthustheten-foldrenewalofitsadvance，thecapitalof£；500performsthefunctionofatentimeslargercapital，ofacapitalof£；5，000，justas500shillingswhichcirculatetentimesperyearperformthesamefunctionas5，000shillingswhichcirculateonlyonce。

II。THETURNOVEROFTHEINDIVIDUALVARIABLECAPITAL”Whatevertheformoftheprocessofproductioninasociety，itmustbeacontinuousprocess，mustcontinuetogoperiodicallythroughthesamephases……Whenviewedthereforeasaconnectedwholeandasflowingonwithincessantrenewal，everysocialprocessofproductionis，atthesametime，aprocessofreproduction……Asaperiodicincrementofthecapitaladvanced，orperiodicfruitofcapitalinprocess，surplus-valueacquirestheformofarevenueflowingoutofcapital。”(BuchI，Kap。XXI，pp。588，589。)[Englishedition:pp。566and567——Ed。]

InthecaseofcapitalAwehave10five-weekturnoverperiods。

Inthefirstperiodofturnover£；500ofvariablecapitalareadvanced；

i。e。，£；100areweeklyconvertedintolabour-power，sothat£；500

arespentonlabour-powerattheendofthefirstturnoverperiod。These£；500，originallyapartofthetotalcapitaladvanced，haveceasedtobecapital。Theyarepaidoutinwages。Thelabourersintheirturnpaythemoutinthepurchaseofmeansofsubsistence，consumingmeansofsubsistenceworth£；500。Aquantityofcommoditiesofthatvalueisthereforeannihilated；(whatthelabourermaysaveupinmoney，etc。，isnotcapitaleither)。Asfarasconcernsthelabourer，thisquantityofcommoditieshasbeenconsumedunproductively，exceptinasmuchasitpreservestheefficacyofhislabour-power，aninstrumentindispensabletothecapitalist。

Inthesecondplacehoweverthese£；500havebeentransformed，forthecapitalist，intolabour-powerofthesamevalue(orprice)。Labour-powerisconsumedbyhimproductivelyinthelabour-process。Attheendof5

weeksaproductvaluedat£；1，000hasbeencreated。Halfofthis，£；500，isthereproducedvalueofthevariablecapitalexpendedinpaymentoflabour-power。Theotherhalf，£；500，isnewlyproducedsurplus-value。Butthe5-weeklylabour-power，throughexchangeforwhichaportionofthecapitalwasconvertedintovariablecapital，islikewiseexpended，consumed，althoughproductively。Thelabourwhichwasactiveyesterdayisnotthesamethatisactivetoday。Itsvalueplusthatofsurplus-valuecreatedbyitexistsnowasthevalueofathingdistinctfromlabour-power，towit，ofaproduct。Butbyconvertingtheproductintomoney，thatportionofitsvaluewhichisequaltothevalueofvariablecapitaladvancedcanoncemorebeexchangedforlabour-powerandthusagainfunctionasvariablecapital。Thefactthatthesameworkmen，i。e。，thesamebearersoflabour-power，aregivenemploymentnotonlybythereproducedcapital-valuebutalsobythatwhichhasbeenreconvertedintotheformisimmaterial。Itispossibleforthecapitalisttohiredifferentworkmenforthesecondperiodofturnover。

Inactualfactthereforeacapitalof£；5，000，andnotof£；500，isexpendedsuccessivelyinwagesduringthetenperiodsofturnoverof5weekseach，andthesewageswillagainbespentbythelabourerstobuymeansofsubsistence。Thecapitalof£；5，000soadvancedisconsumed。Itceasestoexist。Ontheotherhandlabour-powerworth£；5，000，not£；500，isincorporatedsuccessivelyintheproductiveprocessandreproducesnotonlyitsownvalueof£；5，000，butproducesoverandabovethatasurplus-valueof£；5，000。Thevariablecapitalof£；500advancedduringthesecondperiodofturnoverisnottheidenticalcapitalof£；500thathadbeenadvancedduringthefirstperiodofturnover。Thathasbeenconsumed，spentinwages。Butitisreplacedbynewvariablecapitalof£；500，whichwasproducedinthefirstperiodofturnoverintheformofcommodities，andreconvertedintomoney。

Thisnewmoney-capitalof£；500isthereforethemoney-formofthequantityofcommoditiesnewlyproducedinthefirstperiodofturnover。

Thefactthatanidenticalsumofmoney，£；500，isagaininthehandsofthecapitalist，i。e。，apartfromthesurplus-value，preciselyasmuchmoney-capitalashehadoriginallyadvanced，concealsthecircumstancethatheisoperatingwithnewlyproducedcapital。(Asfortheotherconstituentsofvalueofthecommodity-capital，whichreplacetheconstantpartsofcapital，theirvalueisnotnewlyproduced，butonlytheformischangedinwhichthisvalueexists。)

Letustakethethirdperiodofturnover。Hereitisevidentthatthecapitalof£；500，advancedforathirdtime，isnotanoldbutanewlyproducedcapital，foritisthemoney-formofthequantityofcommoditiesproducedinthesecond，notthefirst，periodofturnover，i。e。，ofthatportionofthisquantityofcommoditieswhosevalueisequaltothatoftheadvancedvariablecapital。Thequantityofcommoditiesproducedinthefirstperiodofturnoverissold。Apartofitsvalueequaltothevariableportionofthevalueoftheadvancedcapitalwastransformedintothenewlabour-powerofthesecondperiodofturnover；itproducedanewquantityofcommodities，whichweresoldintheirturnandaportionofwhosevalueconstitutesthecapitalof£；500advancedinthethirdturnoverperiod。

Andsoforthduringthetenperiodsofturnover。Inthecourseofthese，newlyproducedquantitiesofcommodities(whosevalue，inasmuchasitreplacesvariablecapital，isalsonewlyproduced，anddoesnotmerelyre-appearasinthecaseoftheconstantcirculatingpartofthecapital)

arethrownuponthemarketevery5weeks，inordertoincorporateevernewlabour-powerintheprocessofproduction。

Thereforewhatisaccomplishedbytheten-foldturnoveroftheadvancedvariablecapitalof£；500isnotthatthiscapitalof£；500

canbeproductivelyconsumedtentimes，orthatavariablecapitallastingfor5weekscanbeemployedfor50weeks。Rather，tentimes£；500

ofvariablecapitalisemployedinthe50weeks，andthecapitalof£；500

alwayslastsonlyfor5weeksandmustbereplacedattheendofthe5

weeksbyanewlyproducedcapitalof£；500。ThisappliesequallytocapitalsAandB。Butatthispointthedifferencebegins。

Attheendofthefirstperiodof5weeksavariablecapitalof£；500hasbeenadvancedandexpendedbyBaswellasA。BothAandBhaveconverteditsvalueintolabour-powerandreplaceditbythatportionofthevalueoftheproductnewlycreatedbythislabour-powerwhichisequaltothevalueoftheadvancedvariablecapitalof£；500。ForbothBandAthelabour-powerhasnotonlyreplacedthevalueoftheexpendedvariablecapitalof£；500byanewvalueofthesameamount，butalsoaddedasurplus-valuewhich，accordingtoourassumption，isofthesamemagnitude。

ButinthecaseofBthevalue-product，whichreplacestheadvancedvariablecapitalandaddstoitasurplus-value，isnotintheforminwhichitcanfunctionanewasproductive，orvariable，capital。ItisinsuchaforminthecaseofA。AnduptotheendoftheyearBdoesnotpossessthevariablecapitalexpendedinthefirst5andeverysubsequent5weeks(althoughithasbeenreplacedbynewlyproducedvalueplussurplus-value)

intheforminwhichitcanagainfunctionasproductive，orvariable，capital。True，itsvalueisreplacedbynewvalue，hencerenewed，buttheformofitsvalue(inthiscasetheabsoluteformofvalue，itsmoney-form)isnotrenewed。

Forthesecondperiodof5weeks(andthusforeverysucceeding5weeksoftheyear)another£；500mustagainbeavailable，thesameasforthefirstperiod。Hence，regardlessofcreditconditions，£；5，000

mustbeavailableatthebeginningoftheyearasalatentadvancedmoney-capital，althoughtheyarereallyexpended，turnedintolabour-power，onlygradually，inthecourseoftheyear。

ButbecauseinthecaseofAthecircuit，theturnoveroftheadvancedcapital，isconsummated，thereplacementvalueafterthelapseofthefirst5weeksisalreadyintheforminwhichitcansetnewlabour-powerinmotionforatermof5weeks——initsoriginalform，themoney-form。

IncasesofbothAandBnewlabour-powerisconsumedinthesecond5-weekperiodandanewcapitalof£；500isspentinpaymentofthislabour-power。Themeansofsubsistenceofthelabourers，paidwiththefirst£；500，aregone；atalleventstheirvaluehasvanishedfromthehandsofthecapitalist。Withthesecond£；500newlabour-powerisbought，newmeansofsubsistencewithdrawnfromthemarket。Inshort，itisanewcapitalof£；500thatisbeingexpended，nottheold。

ButinthecaseofAthisnewcapitalof£；500isthemoney-formofthenewlyproducedsubstituteforthevalueoftheformerlyexpended£；500，whileinthecaseofB，thissubstituteisinaforminwhichitcannotfunctionasvariablecapital。Itisthere，butnotintheformofvariablecapital。Forthecontinuationoftheprocessofproductionforthenext5weeksanadditionalcapitalof£；500mustthereforebeavailableandadvancedintheherindispensableformofmoney。Thus，during50weeks，bothAandBexpendanequalamountofvariablecapital，payforandconsumeanequalquantityoflabour-power。Only，Bmustpayforitwithanadvancedcapitalequaltoitstotalvalueof£；5，000，whileApaysforitsuccessivelywiththeeverrenewedmoney-formofthevalue-substitute，producedevery5weeks，forthecapitalof£；500advancedforevery5weeks，i。e。，nevermorethanthatadvancedforthefirst5weeks，viz。，£；500。

These£；500lastfortheentireyear。Itisthereforeclearthat，thedegreeofexploitationoflabourandtherealrateofsurplus-valuebeingthesame，theannualrates(ofsurplus-value)ofAandBmustbeinverselyproportionaltothemagnitudesofthevariablemoney-capitalswhichhavetobeadvancedinordertosetinmotionthesameamountoflabour-powerduringtheyear。

A:5，000s/500v=1，000%；B:5，000s/5，000v=100%。But500v:5，000v=1:10=100%:1，000%。Thedifferenceisduetothedifferenceintheperiodsofturnover，i。e。，theperiodsinwhichthevalue-substituteofthevariablecapitalemployedforadefinitetimecanfunctionanewascapital，henceasnewcapital。

InthecaseofBaswellasA，thereisthesamereplacementofvalueforthevariablecapitalemployedduringthesameperiods。Thereisalsothesameincrementofsurplus-valueduringthesameperiods。ButinthecaseofB，whileevery5weeksthereisareplacementofthevalueof£；500

andasurplus-valueof£；500，thisvalue-substitutedoesnotconstitutenewcapital，becauseitdoesnotexistintheformofmoney。InthecaseofAtheoldcapital-valueisnotonlyreplacedbyanewone，butisrehabilitatedinitsmoney-form，hencereplacedasanewcapitalcapableofperformingitsfunction。

Theconversion，soonerorlater，ofthevalue-substituteintomoney，andthusintotheforminwhichvariablecapitalisadvanced，isobviouslyanimmaterialcircumstance，sofarastheproductionofsurplus-valueitselfisconcerned。Thisproductiondependsonthemagnitudeofvariablecapitalemployedandthedegreeofexploitationoflabour。Butthatcircumstancemodifiesthemagnitudeofthemoney-capitalwhichmustbeadvancedinordertosetadefinitequantumoflabour-powerinmotionduringtheyear，andthereforeitdeterminestheannualrateofsurplus-value。

III。THETURNOVEROFTHEVARIABLECAPITALFROMTHESOCIALPOINTOFVIEW

Letuslookatthismatterforamomentfromthepointofviewofsociety。

Letthewagesofonelabourerbe£；1perweek，theworking-day10

hours。IncaseofAaswellasB100labourersareemployedduringayear(£；100for100labourersperweek，or£；500for5weeks，or£；5，000

for50weeks)，andeachoneofthemworks60hoursperweekof6days。

So100labourerswork6，000hoursperweekand300，000hoursin50weeks。

Thislabour-poweristakenholdofbyAandBandthereforecannotbeexpendedbysocietyforanythingelse。TothisextentthematteristhesamesociallywithbothAandB。Furthermore:InthecasesofbothAandBthe100labourersemployedbyeithersidereceiveayearlywageof£；5，000(or，togetherforthe200labourers，£；10，000)andwithdrawfromsocietymeansofsubsistencetothatamount。SofarthematteristhereforesociallythesameinthecaseofbothAandB。Sincethelabourersineithercasearepaidbytheweek，theyweeklywithdrawtheirmeansofsubsistencefromsocietyand，ineithercase，throwaweeklyequivalentinmoneyintocirculation。

Butherethedifferencebegins。

First。ThemoneywhichtheAlabourerthrowsintocirculationisnotonly，asitisfortheBlabourer，themoney-formofthevalueofhislabour-power(infactameansofpaymentforlabouralreadyperformed)；

itis，countingfromthesecondturnoverperiodaftertheopeningofthebusiness，themoney-formofhisownvalue(equaltothepriceofthelabour-powerplusthesurplus-value)createdduringthefirstperiodofturnover，bywhichhislabourispaidduringthesecondperiodofturnover。