ABSTRACT
The concept of 'the organic composition of capital' is an important element in Marxian analysis; because of its connection with a theory of a falling rate of profit, it has been taken to resemble the neoclassical concept of 'the ratio of capital to labour' and since the latter has been pulverized by Sraffa's critique it is necessary to re-examine the former in the same light. In Ricardo's corn model, the turnover period was given by nature - the period from harvest to harvest, which is a year in high latitudes, and the wage fund had physical existence as a stock of grain, available after the harvest to be paid out week by week until the next harvest. A change in methods of production brought about by accumulation and technical improvements is an extremely complex process. It is best to begin by comparing 'islands' each using different technique, each equipped with the stock of means of production that its technique requires.
