• At a specific time t, the MELT can be calculated as (Freeman 1998):
MELT $\mathrm { ( t ) = ( c _ { p } ( t ) + v _ { p } ( t ) + p _ { p } ( t ) }$ [in prices]) $/ \left( \mathfrak { c } _ { \mathfrak { h } } ( \mathfrak { t } - 1 ) + \mathfrak { v } _ { \mathfrak { h } } ( \mathfrak { t } - 1 ) + \mathfrak { p } _ { \mathfrak { h } } ( \mathfrak { t } - 1 ) \right)$ [in years or hours])
where $\mathtt { C } _ { \mathtt { p } } ( \mathtt { t } )$ stands for total constant capital at the price level at point of time t (measured in monetary units);
$\mathsf { V } _ { \mathsf { p } } ( \mathsf { t } )$ is total variable capital at the price level at point of time t (measured in monetary units);
$\mathsf { p } _ { \mathsf { p } } ( \mathsf { t } )$ is total profit at the price level at point of time t (measured in monetary units);
$\complement _ { \mathfrak { h } } ( { \sf t } - 1 )$ is total constant capital at the level of labour-time at the point of time t-1 (measured in hours or years);
$v _ { \mathrm { h } } ( t - 1 )$ is total variable capital at the level of labour-time at the point of time t-1 (measured in hours or years) (= necessary labour-time at the level of wages); $\mathsf { p } _ { \mathsf { h } } ( \mathsf { t } - 1 )$ is total profit at the level of labour-time at the point of time t-1 (measured in hours or years) (= surplus labour-time).
• I calculated the economy-wide MELT for the German economy for the years 2000–2011 (t=0, 1, 2….10). Table 12.1 gives an overview. The initial MELT (0) in the years 2000 was calculated as:
$$
{ \sf M E L T } \left( 0 \right) = \left( \mathrm { c } _ { \mathrm { p } } ( 0 ) + \mathrm { v } _ { \mathrm { p } } ( 0 ) + \mathrm { p } _ { \mathrm { p } } ( 0 ) \left[ \mathrm { i n \ p r i c e s } \right] \right) / \left( \mathrm { c } _ { \mathrm { h } } ( 0 ) + \mathrm { v } _ { \mathrm { h } } ( 0 ) + \mathrm { p } _ { \mathrm { h } } ( 0 ) \left[ \mathrm { i n \ h o u r s } \right] \right)
$$
The total hours worked during a year (= h) in the economy represent the hours during which living labour creates the value of its labour power (wages, necessary labour-time) and new value (surplus-value, surplus labour-time):
$$
\mathsf { h } ( \mathrm { t } ) = \mathsf { v } _ { \mathsf { h } } ( \mathrm { t } ) + \mathsf { p } _ { \mathsf { h } } ( \mathrm { t } )
$$
where h(t) is total hours worked in year t;
Chapter Twelve | The Information Economy
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The Information Industry and Marx’s Labour Theory of Value