Does the labor theory of value have any credibility left?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value

I was reading an article ( http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/BIZ/807170395 ) about how the state of the economy is causing people to go to coffeehouses less and a coffee shop owner appealed to the labor theory of value:

"If one looks at the amount of labor and the amount of hands who handle it every step of the way, coffee is one of the great values in the market right now," said Allen Leibowitz, president of Zingerman's Coffee Co., a wholesale roaster based in Ann Arbor. "I still can't believe coffee is as inexpensive as it is."

Answer 1

Labor Theory of Value is not a scientific theory: it is not falsifiable or testable. Any theory that cannot br proved and disproved with scietific methods is not a theory but a matter of faith.

So, LTV never had any scientific credibilty. LTV has also been proved to be operationally meaningless as the experience of countries like former Soviet Russia, or China, or Cuba or North Korea suggests. Even as a matter of faith it has failed to establish its credibility among the common people even in countries which profess by labor theory of value.

This is not however to imply that labor is unimportant in any way. Ultimately whatever human civilization achieved / achieves is the product of human labor - not merely or necessarily by hands but equally importantly by use of brain and even some cases by emotions. In the broader sense, in economics, human skills and qualities are part of Capital - human capital.

Not only is coffee cheap  because hands prepare the drink, the internet technology and mobile technology are the product of human brains of high quality and yet cheap and created enormous employment opportunities for less brainy labor.