As the rate of surplus value increases, more people are displaced from productive relationships, and the size of the marginal population swells.

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The rate of surplus value, a concept from Marxist economics, refers to the ratio of surplus labor (unpaid labor) to necessary labor (paid labor). As this rate increases, it implies that capitalists are extracting more surplus value from workers, often through intensifying exploitation or technological advancements that displace workers. This displacement leads to a swelling of the marginal population, which consists of those who are underemployed or unemployed, as they are pushed out of productive relationships.

As the Rate of Surplus Value Increases, More People Are