Purchasing an intermediate good may help an employer extract surplus value from the labor employed at the job site, but the intermediate good, in itself, does not produce surplus value—at least from Marx’s perspective.
Technology for increased poductivity. The 2025 GenAI craze is a modern example. The ruling class does not want to reduce labor headcount because that would reduce consumers and hence demand. Instead, the owner wants a doubling of labor output - i.e., increased surplus value - of which little to none will go to wage increases.
