Basically it is nonsense.
Is this statement true?
We value shoe shiners because we value shiny shoes. We don't value shiny shoes because we value shoe shiners.
I think you answered the question for yourself!
The labor theory of value posits that the value of goods on the market is determined by the quantity (and in some sense, quality) of the labor provided in the manufacture of the good.
In this sense, a pair of shoes which requires an expert shoe-maker 2 hours to make has the same value as heart surgery which requires an expert cardiologist 2 hours to perform.
This system fails on both an empirical and theoretical basis.
How do compare like goods made with different processes? Would the same shoe, made at two different rates, have the same value or different values? How would we compare them? How can we price used items?
The labor theory of value ignores the role of loss in the profit-and-loss system. Under the labor-value system, there is no loss, and thus no way to direct resources to their most necessary ends.
Oh, and the wikipedia article on the labor theory of value needs some serious attention.
It reads like a forum argument between an Austrian and a Marxist rather than just an encyclopedia entry.
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