The Logic Of Capital: An Introduction To Marxist Economic Theory

442 Pages·2021·3.74 MB·english

by  Deepankar Basu

TheLogicofCapital
TheLogicofCapitalpresentsthemaineconomicargumentdevelopedbyMarx
in the three volumes of Capital in a coherent and comprehensive manner. It
alsodelvesintothreelong-standingdebatesinMarxistpoliticaleconomy: the
transformationproblem,theOkishiotheoremandtheoriesofexploitationand
oppression.
Starting with discussions of methodology, including dialectics and
historical materialism, this book explains key concepts of Marxist political
economy: commodity, value, money, capital, reserve army of labour,
accumulation of capital, circuit of capital, reproduction schemas, prices of
production, profit, interest and rent. Scholars of economics, sociology,
geography, political science, anthropology and other kindred disciplines will
findhereanaccessibleyetrigoroustreatmentofMarxistpoliticaleconomy.
Deepankar Basu is associate professor in the Department of Economics at
theUniversityofMassachusettsAmherst.Hisresearchinterestsspanclassical
political economy, development economics and applied econometrics. He
has published widely in peer-reviewed journals. He is associate editor of the
Review of Social Economy and has co-edited, with Debarshi Das, Conflict
Demand and Economic Development: Essays in Honour of Amit Bhaduri, a
collectionofessaysonheterodoxmacroeconomicsandpoliticaleconomy.

The Logic of Capital
AnIntroductiontoMarxistEconomic Theory
DEEPANKARBASU
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia
314to321,3rdFloor,PlotNo.3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,NewDelhi110025,India
103PenangRoad,#05–06/07,VisioncrestCommercial,Singapore238467
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity'smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108832007
© DeepankarBasu2021
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2021
PrintedinIndia
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Basu,Deepankar,author.
Title:Thelogicofcapital:anintroductiontoMarxisteconomictheory/
DeepankarBasu.
Description:NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,[2021]|Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2021030363(print)|LCCN2021030364(ebook)|ISBN
9781108832007(hardback)|ISBN9781108937559(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Marxianeconomics.|BISAC:POLITICALSCIENCE/Political
Economy|POLITICALSCIENCE/PoliticalEconomy
Classification:LCCHB97.5.B32172021(print)|LCCHB97.5(ebook)|DDC
335.4--dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021030363
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021030364
ISBN978-1-108-83200-7Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy
ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
ListofFiguresandTables ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Motivation 1
1.2 OrganizationoftheBook 4
1.3 WhatIsDifferentinThisBook 11
1.4 HowtoUseThisBook 14
PartI Foundations
2 SomeMethodologicalIssues 19
2.1 Marx’sRoutetoPoliticalEconomy 19
2.2 TheStructureofCapital 40
3 TheGenerationandAccumulationofSurplusValue 47
3.1 TheCommodity 48
3.2 Money-FormofValue 77
3.3 Capital,orSelf-ValorizingValue 100
3.4 ProductionunderCapitalism 125
3.5 AccumulationofCapital 135
3.6 ThePrimaryAccumulationofCapital 156
v
CONTENTS
3.7 Conclusion 158
3.A AppendixA:ReductionofComplextoSimpleLabour 160
3.B AppendixB:ComparisonofMEVoverTimeandSpace 166
3.C AppendixC:LabourastheSubstanceofValue 170
4 RealizationofSurplusValue 179
4.1 CirculationofCapital 180
4.2 TheProblemofAggregateDemand 192
4.3 Use-ValueBasisoftheReproductionofCapital 194
4.4 Conclusion 207
5 DistributionofSurplusValue 209
5.1 EmergenceofPricesofProduction 211
5.2 Detour: TechnicalChange 220
5.3 CommercialProfit 228
5.4 ProductiveandUnproductiveLabour 232
5.5 InterestandFictitiousCapital 241
5.6 Ground-Rent 248
5.7 EstimatesofSurplusValueandItsComponents 263
5.8 Conclusion 267
PartII FurtherExplorationsinPoliticalEconomy
6 CapitalismandTechnicalChange 273
6.1 TechnicalChange 275
6.2 ProgressiveTechnicalChangeandCapitalism 281
6.3 TechnicalChangeandtheRateofProfit 283
6.4 AMarx-OkishioThreshold 285
6.5 ConstantRateofExploitation 291
6.6 Conclusion 294
vi
CONTENTS
7 TheTransformationProblem 296
7.1 Ricardo,MarxandBortkiewicz 298
7.2 TheStandardInterpretation 302
7.3 Sraffa-BasedCritique 324
7.4 MarxistResponsestotheSraffa-BasedCritique 325
7.5 TheNewInterpretation 326
7.6 ThreeLessAppealingApproaches 335
7.7 Conclusion 341
7.A AppendixA:GeneralTreatment 344
7.B AppendixB:RCodeforExamplesDiscussedinText 363
8 ExploitationandOppression 372
8.1 TheoriesofExploitation 373
8.2 ACritiqueoftheCommodityExploitationTheorem 389
8.3 ManifoldExploitations? 399
8.4 ExploitationandDistributiveJustice 401
8.5 Conclusion 407
Bibliography 409
Index 423
vii