Marx

YOU ARE OUR VISITOR

KARL MARX (1818-1883)

Karl Marx, was from a rich family. He was originally from the Jewish faith, but later he adopted to Christianity. Marx initially attended university to learn Law, but decided to take up philosophy following the works of Hegel. Marx concerned himself with adopting a reactionary version of Hegel's philosophy.

Marx's early working career was based in publishing, where he wrote radical views on the state of capitalism and the dire consequences for the working class.

As a result of his popularity amongst the working class, Marx was able to further his knowledge by traveling across Europe. However he was hounded out of several capitalist nations. Often the writings of Marx, were produced from his own very harsh poverty stricken realities, Unlike the riches which were afforded on other economists before him. Marx wrote a lot of his work with his companion Engels.

Describing Karl Marx as being merely an economist is and understatement. Marx should be regarded as an economic writer, philosopher, ideologist and even a revolutionist. Karl Marx wrote at the same time as Mill, but where Mill was arguing for government aid for the poor, Marx was advocating more revolutionist approach.

The works of Marx cover a very broad spectrum of affairs. His major contribution to economic theory came in the form of 'Das Kapital'. We shall now briefly discuss the main areas of his work:

MARX ON THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS - Marx could be stated as being very much against the logic of the classical school of economics.

For him economics should not be viewed simply at looking at the accumulation of capital but at trying to reduce the gap between the rich and poor.

Much of the analysis made by Marx was looking at the failures of the Capitalist system to provide equally for all. For Marx, Capitalists and the classical economists were trying to alter history to suit their own needs, as he stated:

'It would be wrong and impractical with economic categories in the same sequence as that in which they were determining factors in history. Their sequence is determined, rather, by the relation which they bear to each other in modern bourgeois society, which is precisely the opposite of what seems to be their natural order or the order of their succession in history'

MARX ON MALTHUS - Malthus through his population trap implied that the working class people through having enlarged families were themselves to blame for their own poverty, this was in a sense a result of having more 'mouths to feed'.

Marx stated 'This is a law of population peculiar to the capitalist mode of production; and in fact every special historic mode of production valid within its limits alone.'

What Marx was suggesting was that it was natural for the population of mankind to expand. The Malthusian trap was capitalism's way of explaining why the gap between the rich and poor never closed.

ECONOMIC GROWTH - The basic model of the economy was similar to Ricardo and other classical school writers. Marx accepted the view growth was linked to inputs less outputs.

SKILLED AND UN-SKILLED LABOUR - Marx viewed skilled and un-skilled labour as being a result time and skills required to produce goods. Marx stated:

'The value of labour power .... as in the case of every other commodity, by the labour time necessary for the production and consequently also the reproduction, of this special article.'

PRICES - Marx stated that under capitalism the natural price of goods could be attributed to how much people were prepared to pay, he stated:

'When we speak of monopoly price, we mean in a general way a price which is determined only by the eagerness of purchasers to buy and by their insolvency, independently of the price which is determined by the general price of production and by the value of the product'

Within his writings Marx believed that the prices of goods should be based purely on the labour and material costs only.

MARX ON TECHNOLOGY - Unlike other writers of his time, Marx accepted that technological out no matter how harmful to the working class did in fact increase productive output.

MARX AND THE LABOUR THEORY OF VALUE - One of the main ideologies of Marx was that of the labour theory of value in that workers were only ever paid sufficient amount to live off.

Rather than be given a fair wage from which to become their owners of the means of production, what he was suggesting was that the gap between would never close unless there was some form of revolution.

CAPITALISM - Karl Marx is often described as being the adversary to capitalism. His works often quote that the capitalistic system will keep growing and growing to some point where a massive period of economic depression which would lead to the workers of the world uniting to overthrow the capitalist system.

Marx in his early writings was very adamant that the capitalist system could be overthrown.

THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO - Perhaps the most famous of pieces of work from Marx was the communist party manifesto where he wrote This manifesto was used in the overthrow of the Russian empire.

THE INEVITABLE RESISTANCE TO HIS VIEWS - Marx states that followers of the classical school of economics would be against his views as private individual interests would override those of society in general, as he states:

'In the domain of the political economy, free scientific inquiry meets not merely the same enemies as in all other domains. The peculiar nature of the material it deals with, summons as foes into the field of battle the most violent mean and malignant passions of the human breast, the furies of private interest'

Another of his quotes states 'Intrinsically, it is not a question of the higher or lower degree of development of the social antagonisms that result from the natural laws of capitalist production. It is a question of these laws themselves, of these tendencies working with iron necessity toward inevitable results'.

ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THE WORKS OF KARL MARX

Was not a strong believer in the works of the classical school of economics.
Under the labour theory of value Marx suggested workers would only ever be given sufficient wages to buy goods.
There would become a point in time when the capitalist mode of production fails to provide sufficiently for the working class and they would revolt.
The works of Marx were used by revolutionary forces for several decades on the premise of bringing change to several dictatorship run nations.

Back To Economics Through Time Main Menu