[tprice7]

This is correct, but it doesn't address a fundamental misunderstanding of the parent comment. The prediction that wages = MPL alone does not predict a lack of profit, since the marginal product of labour is generally less than the average product of labour due to the law of diminishing returns. (I would agree though that "the value of what he produces" is an ambiguous phrase and seems closer to APL than MPL).

It is true regardless that the theory predicts an economic profit of zero, but to see why it's necessary to consider the rental cost of capital. Also, since many firms own rather than rent capital, they often have a positive accounting profit even though economic profit is zero (economic profit is less since it takes into account opportunity cost: if you are using your own capital then you can't rent it out to someone else).

[efxhoy]

Yes, exactly right and well put.

It's always difficult to jump into online discussions about economics because you need to give the entire econ 101 micro course in single comment just to make sure everyone is talking about the same thing.

[tprice7]

Fair enough. I had a much more verbose comment earlier and it took me a second attempt to get it more concise while still conveying the essential point. The Blaise Pascal quote comes to mind, "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."