Poetry Contest Winner

Congratulations to the winner of the Austrian Economics and Literature poetry contest, Stephanie Herman, for her poem "Ode to the Labor Theory of Value".

"Ode to the Labor Theory of Value"

From Smith to Marx, a value came about
When work and time were measured, in and out.
And prices? They were set by measurements
of worker's time and sweat and nourishments.

"A sweater's worth the time it took to knit;
A prune will cost the toil it took to pit.
Two deer are worth a beaver in the field,
'Cause hunting beavers brings a lower yield."

But Menger saw that value wasn't fixed;
Jevons and Walras said a value's mixed.
My value's on the margin: last bite chewed -
Not based on how the baker's work ensued.

From different needs the buyer brings to bear,
And costs the seller pays to make the ware,
The value varies when a market's free;
Exchanges happen when we can agree.