ABSTRACT
The theoretical debate between the neoclassical and neo-Ricardian schools of economics became known as the capital controversy because the debate falls squarely within capital theory, the theory of how capital is valued and measured. The origin of this debate lies in the pioneering monograph of Piero Sraffa, who exploited this common ground to scrutinize critically some central theoretical foundations of the neoclassical school. This chapter reviews this debate over the neoclassical conception of capital. Economic geographers concerned with developing a theoretically consistent framework for their own analysis should be aware of these debates. Although some economic geographers have discussed the possibility of reswitching in a space economy, it has not been tackled in a rigorous or systematic way. It examines whether there is reswitching in a space economy, space must be incorporated into a multi-commodity economic model of capitalist commodity production. The chapter gives attention to the labour values and the common ground between neo-Ricardian and Marxist economic theory.
