An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory

So far, the best book I've found to explain Marxist Economics. Simple language without talking down to the reader. First two thirds is a summary of Marx. The last is Mandel's contribution, namely the role of the welfare state and the military-industrial complex in neo capitalism, which has strong links to Lenin.Very useful to the new student of Marxism, even more useful to those of us teaching Marx!

great place for beginners to start. highly recommended before reading Capital.

Ernest Ezra Mandel (1923-1995) was a revolutionary Marxist theorist. This 1967 book has been widely used as a textbook in classes on Marxist economics.He notes that social surplus product comes into existence as "an appropriation without compensation, by a ruling class of a part of the production of a producing class." (Pg. 9) Surplus-value is the difference between the value produced by the worker, and the value produced by his own labor power. (Pg. 24)Mandel identifies the three characteristics of the capitalist mode of production: (1) separation of the producer from his means of production; (2) concentration of the means of production in monopoly form and in the hands of a single social class, the bourgeoisie; (3) the appearance of a social class which has no possessions save its own hands and no means of subsistence other than the sale of its own labor-power. (Pg. 31-34)He asserts that "It is consequently inaccurate to say that it is the capitalist who creates employment, since it is the worker who produced the surplus-value, which was capitalized by the capitalist, and used ... for hiring more workers." (Pg. 44)Mandel makes the historical conclusion that at the beginning of the last quarter of the 19th century, "the era of monopoly capitalism thus displaces the era of free competitive capitalism." (Pg. 46) He concludes by observing that "more and more, a capitalist system left to its own economic automatism runs the risk of perishing rapidly, and increasingly the state becomes the guarantor of capitalist profit... of the ruling monopolist layers of the bourgeoisie." (Pg. 76)This brief book makes an excellent introduction to Marxian economics for those who don't have the time or inclination to work their way through Marx's  Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Modern Library Giant G-26 .

Workers are the ones who produce value. Bosses produce essentially nothing. The profits that bosses make are stolen from the workers This is a central insight of Marxist economics that this book does a good job of explaining. It also has an interesting discussion of "neo-capitalism" which is the form of capitalism that arose after World War II--capitalism that needed massive government intervention to survive. Mandel shows how war spending allows capitalism to avoid major depressions and how social programs blunt the effects of economic crisis on the workers, and thereby postpone revolutionary situations. It's especially interesting to read this book now, thirty years after it was written, since it makes a point of saying that the post-World War II prosperity would not last forever. It didn't and we've now entered a period of history where world economic depression, the rise of fascist movements, and attacks on social programs like welfare, social security, unemployment compensation, etc. are the norm. Mandel's book helps make sense of this miserable system so that we can chart a way forward to destroy it.

Many of us have heard the boss accuse ourselves or other workers of "stealing from the company" by taking an unauthorized break. We suspect that this reasoning is bogus, but how can we describe it from a scientific point of view? This is one of the questions that Marx took up and that Mandel summarizes very succinctly in this book. Why does the boss come out the winner when workers have to work overtime or when so-called labor saving devices are introduced into the workplace? This is another question that Mandel analyzes simply and accurately. In fact, Mandel provides an authoritative outline of Marxist economic theory, from the labor theory of value to what causes worldwide unemployment, depression, and war. Reading this book will help you become a more conscious fighter for our class. While amazon may list this book as unavailable from time to time, it is always available from boksfrompathfinder listed under "new and used" at the top of this page.

This is probably the world's most read primer in orthodox Marxist economic theory - and deservedly so. It flawlessly covers all 'the basics': the theory of value and surplus value (ch.1); capital and capitalism [historical bacground, and basic dynamics] (ch.2); and neo-capitalism [role of the state & war] (ch.3). It does all this in tight, non-technical style. For this reason it is THE starting point for the uninitiated. It is important to note, however, that it cannot be more than it's title suggests: an introduction. It does not deal with the criticisms of Marx's theory of value in any depth. Also, it reveals not only its age, and how times have changed by what is emphasises AND what it ignores. In the case of what it emphasises: much is made of the importance of the cold war as a necessary phenomenon. In the case of what it ignores: it understandably says nothing of post-Fordism, ecological concerns, or the emergence of non-socialist oppositional 'social movements' (such as feminism, environmentalism and multiculturalism). These criticisms are hardly relevant to a book such as this: its central goal is to outline the essential message in Marx's 'Das Kapital', and to show (in ch.3) how this message can be applied (with some inevitable modification) to explain (then) current politico-economic events.

Very Good