Production costs must be subtracted

Apologies—it translates some of the economic terms differently than I intended, but I hope you’ll be able to make sense of it.

You are referring to the cost of goods sold (or production cost): This represents the sum of all expenses (materials, rent, salaries, logistics) incurred by a business to produce and sell its goods or services. This metric determines pricing strategies as well as the size of the final profit—which is calculated as the difference between total revenue and the cost of goods sold.

Added value is the difference between the price at which a company sells a finished product and the cost of all the materials and third-party services consumed in its creation.

Essentially, added value constitutes the profit earned by the business owner. This is under capitalism.

"Socialism and the USSR has / had a surplus, its just that its directed and controlled by working-class political decision-making, and not by private capitalists. "

Yes, that is exactly what I told you in my previous post—you just misunderstood me. Don't forget, Comrade, that I am currently speaking in a non-native language; this is especially tricky when dealing with scientific and technical terminology, as Google Translate can sometimes produce awkward translations. My command of English is strictly conversational... and even then, I rely on a dictionary... :)

Yes, that is precisely what I meant to convey: in the USSR, there was no surplus value generated for a private capitalist. Surplus value did exist, but within a socialist context—it was allocated to social programs, salaries for doctors, teachers, civil servants, and the like. However, this was not the same kind of exploitative surplus value; consequently, comparable goods in the USSR cost several times less than they did in the West—particularly essential goods. And yes, the state regulated all of this.

You are, however, misunderstanding what "surplus" meant in the USSR. As you know, the USSR operated under a planned economy. A surplus was defined as whatever was produced in excess of the plan. It occurred when an enterprise operated more efficiently than projected, resulting in a "residual"—an excess. In fact, this is precisely what undermined the economy back then, because that scoundrel Khrushchev "reformed" the Stalin-era economic system—a move that subsequently led to a host of problems!

Incidentally, my mother graduated from the Kyiv University of Economics and worked as an economic engineer at an aircraft manufacturing plant during the 1970s. Her job involved managing the plant's economic planning.

"Here’s some vids on this:"

That gave me a chuckle, Comrade!......)))

I hope you don't mind that I read Platoshkin in the original?... )))

By the way—in case you didn't know—Putin nearly threw Platoshkin in prison for inciting the people to revolution. Platoshkin miraculously got off with a suspended sentence.

Platoshkin is a very bold character. However, I disagree with him on certain points.

Platoshkin is a diplomat; he worked in the West back during the Soviet era. He possesses a wealth of experience and knowledge—he is a professor, after all—but in my view, he goes a bit too far at times. Or, as you folks like to put it: idealism.