Wethusseethatthepriceofacommodityisindeeddeterminedbyitscostofproduction，butinsuchwisethattheperiodsinwhichthepriceofthesecommoditiesrisesabovethecostsofproductionarebalancedbytheperiodsinwhichitsinksbelowthecostofproduction，andviceversa。
Ofcoursethisdoesnotholdgoodforasinglegivenproductofanindustry，butonlyforthatbranchofindustry。Soalsoitdoesnotholdgoodforanindividualmanufacturer，butonlyforthewholeclassofmanufacturers。
Thedeterminationofpricebycostofproductionistantamounttothedeterminationofpricebythelabor-timerequisitetotheproductionofacommodity，forthecostofproductionconsists，firstofrawmaterialsandwearandtearoftools，etc。，i。e。，ofindustrialproductswhoseproductionhascostacertainnumberofwork-days，whichthereforerepresentacertainamountoflabor-time，and，secondly，ofdirectlabor，whichisalsomeasuredbyitsduration。
WageLabourandCapital——Chapter4KarlMarxWageLabourandCapitalBywhatarewagesdeteremined？
Now，thesamegenerallawswhichregulatethepriceofcommoditiesingeneral，naturallyregulatewages，orthepriceoflabor-power。Wageswillnowrise，nowfall，accordingtotherelationofsupplyanddemand，accordingascompetitionshapesitselfbetweenthebuyersoflabor-power，thecapitalists，andthesellersoflabor-power，theworkers。Thefluctuationsofwagescorrespondtothefluctuationinthepriceofcommoditiesingeneral。