G.A.T.M. Reuten

Money as Constituent of Value

In the first volume of Capital Marx introduces ‘money’ in chapter 1 (section 3) and then reintroduces it in chapter 3. At first sight the second introduction seems merely a superfluous excursion at this point since in the remainder of the book Marx apparently does not ‘do’ anything with it. He returns to money only in Capital II (Part II) and then again in Capital III (Parts IV and V). This may be one reason why the chapter 3 introduction has for a long time been much neglected.

Zirkel vicieux or Trend Fall? The Course of the Profit Rate in Marx's Capital III

Karl Marx’s theory of “the tendency of the rate of profit to fall” is one of the most controversial parts of his scientific oeuvre. The theory was published in 1894 as part 3 of Volume III of Das Kapital. There are two conflicting interpretations of this theory. The first says that the profit rate will vary (cyclically) around a falling trend; the second, that the profit rate will vary cyclically but not necessarily around a falling trend. Both interpretations may be combined with methodological qualifications as set out in the present article. The two interpretations are relevant since at issue is Marx’s general outlook on the dynamics of the capitalist system. It makes quite a difference whether the capitalist system is regarded as self-dissolving—which is the implication of the trend fall in the rate of profit—or as, in principle, a reproductive system, which the cyclical view implies.1

The Interconnection of Systematic Dialectics and Historical Materialism

This paper discusses some recent developments in the Marxian theory of value, called value-form theory, which have gone along with a methodological shift from a linear logic and historical dialectics to a dialectical logic and systematic dialectics. In order to appreciate these developments within the Marxian paradigm, it is useful to make two introductory remarks: first, on some peculiarities of Marxian discourse and, second, about discrepancies in Marxs Capital.

An outline of the systematic-dialectical method: scientific and political significance

The method of systematic-dialectics (SD) is reconstructed with a focus on what institutions and processes are necessary - rather than contingent - for the capitalist system. This allows for the detection of strengths and weaknesses in the actual structure of the system. Weaknesses should be understood in the context of the system’s strengths, and vice versa. Here lies the political significance of the SD method.

Productive Force and the Degree of Intensity of Labour: Marx’s Concepts and Formalizations in the Middle Part of Capital I

The first volume of Marx’s Capital (1867) is subtitled ‘The production process of capital’. This reveals the twofold object of the book of, first, an outline of the capitalist form of production — that is, in contradistinction to other modes of production — and, second, the production of capital itself — that is, its continuity. There are again two aspects to this object. The first is highlighted in the middle part of the book — Parts Three to Six — on the production of surplus-value. It sets out how the production of surplus-value (profit) is the motive force of capital, how surplus-value is actually produced and so how capital grows. The second aspect is the resulting process of accumulation of capital — treated in the end part of the book.

Knife-edged caricature modelling: the case of Marx's Reproduction Schema

Marx’s so-called ‘reproduction scheme’ as outlined in the Part Three of Capital II (1885) is probably the first macroeconomic model, even if the term ‘macroeconomics’ dates from only 1933. (In his own pioneering work on macroeconomics Tinbergen initially used the term ‘scheme’ for what later would be called ‘model’.) This paper explains how Marx’s model is designed – focussing on the type of its assumptions – how it works, and how it may be characterised in terms of the jargon of current economic methodology. The term ‘knife-edge model’ is borrowed from Solow (1956) and the term ‘caricature model’ from Gibbard and Varian (1978). Marx’s method is directed at analysing capitalism from within its own logic – here the ‘strongest case’ for economic expansion. On his way to presenting this strongest case Marx seems to construct ever more ‘caricatures’ of capitalism. The end caricature shows that balanced growth is possible, although it is balancing on a knife-edge. All the same the caricatural assumptions made under way are even so many potential points for setting into motion economic crisis. Along with these caricatural assumptions Marx makes a number of ‘neglectability assumptions’. This type of assumption shows the model builder’s theoretical mastery of the object of inquiry that the model deals with: the ability to omit so as to show important aspects or even the essence of the entity. Together with the caricatural assumptions, those of neglectability show the virtue or vice of a model and therefore also the art of the model building. It is concluded that from the point of view of model building there is not a gulf between Marx and modern orthodox economics.

The status of Marx's reproduction schemes: conventional or dialectical logic?

Marx’s Capital is an unfinished project, in the narrower sense of the plan for the work with this title, dating from 1862, and even more so in the wider sense of a theory of the interconnection of economy and state and of the development of world capitalism. The evaluation of what is there obviously depends on the method adopted by Marx, but opinions diverge on the interpretation of that method.1

After the Rectifying Revolution: the contradictions of the mixed economy? The political-economic transformations in central and eastern Europe

The events of 1989–92 and the flood of advice from bourgeois economists is critically examined in the light of the Hegelian-Marxist theory of the mixed economy. The (sometimes catastrophic) failures of transition are laid at the door of the neglect of civil society.

The Inner Mechanism of the Accumulation of Capital: The Acceleration Triple — A Methodological Appraisal of Part Seven of Marx’s Capital I

In this chapter I discuss Marx’s theory of the accumulation of capital in Part Seven of Volume I of Capital, especially in reference to its methodological status. The accumulation of capital — or the conversion of surplus-value into capital — is one of the two aspects of ‘The production process of capital’ (the subtitle of the book), the other aspect being the production of surplus-value, treated in the middle part of the book.

Marx’s Capital III, the Culmination of Capital

This introductory chapter starts with a brief discussion of why writing about Marx’s Capital III is not only interpretative — this is true for any work — but is also bound to be reconstructive. The next section outlines a general overview of Capital III’s seven Parts in the light of the earlier two volumes. Finally, the essays in this book are introduced.