Capital, Exploitation and Economic Crisis

209 Pages·2011·2.642 MB·English

by  John Weeks

Capital, Exploitation and Economic
Crisis
Imperative reading for those engaged in Marx’s political economy and its application
to contemporary capitalism.
Prof. Ben Fine, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), UK
The first edition of Capital, Exploitation and Economic Crisis was the best critical
introduction to Marxist economic theory. John Weeks has now restated and strength-
ened his original argument, in particular by engaging in detail with more mainstream
neoclassical and Keynesian economics, and has brought it up to date with a final
chapter on the global economic and financial crisis that started in 2007. An indispen-
sable book for anyone trying to understand Marx and capitalism.
Prof. Alex Callinicos, King’s College London, UK
In 2008 the capitalist world was swept by the severest crisis since the Great Depression of
the 1930s. Mainstream economics neither anticipated nor could account for this disastrous
financial crisis, which required massive state intervention throughout the capitalist world.
Karl Marx did anticipate this type of financial collapse, arguing that it was derivative from
the “fetishism of commodities” inherent in the capitalist mode of production. This book
substantiates the foregoing claim by a journey from Marx’s analysis of commodities to the
capitalist crisis of the twenty-fi rst century.
The book demonstrates that Marx’s framework (1) demonstrates that capitalism is but
one historical form of class society among many, (2) explains the transition from precapital-
ist to capitalist society, (3) reveals the concrete operation of a capitalist economy and (4)
shows why others would explain the capitalist economy in alternative theoretical frame-
works. The central element in his framework from which all else derives is “the theory of
value”. This book is not an exercise in the history of thought. It is an attempt to analyze the
nature of contemporary capitalist society. While Marx’s analysis of capitalism has implica-
tions for political action, these need not lead one to embrace revolution in place of reform,
though it can and has provided the analytical foundation for both. Marx’s analysis of capit-
alism is a coherent whole, and meaningful insights cannot be obtained by extracting ele-
ments from it.
Weeks starts out by looking at the nature of capitalism and an analysis circulation,
money and credit unfold from the theory of value. The nature and inherent necessity of
competition are demonstrated in Chapter 8. A consequence of competition, expressed in the
movement of capital, is technical change, the contradictory impact of which is explained in
Chapter 9. This is brought together with the other elements of value theory (money, credit
and competition) in Chapter 10, where economic crises are treated in detail. The final
chapter applies the theory of crisis to the extreme financial disturbances of the 2000s.
This book should be of interest to students and researchers of economics, politics and
sociology.
John Weeks is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of London, UK.
Routledge frontiers of political economy
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Jill Rubery, Mark Smith, Ben J. Fine
Colette Fagan and
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Capital market inflation, financial
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A philosophical perspective
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The left veers right
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Victor D. Lippit Johan J. Graafland
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