The main camps in the ‘value’ debate are sketched and it is argued that it is wrong to reduce all ‘surplus theory’ to the Sraffian approach. There are a plurality of surplus approaches and the Marxian one is uniquely equipped to answer the fundamental Marxian questions. The great virtue of the Marxian approach resides in its double structure of prices and value which places economic activity in the context of a broader redistributive class process. Nevertheless, it is recognised that the Steedman-type points in cases of joint production still have a critical force. Consequently, it is demonstrated how they might be overcome with a different method for tackling the transformation
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