This category is for Marxist economic theory and economic history. For news and analysis of the present-day economy, head to Economy.
Governments everywhere are pumping money into the world economy to keep it on life support. Subscribers to Keynesian economic ideas – of government stimulus and demand-side management – feel vindicated. But only Marxism offers a solution.
Labour-led Sheffield City Council recently announced that they would support a trial of Universal Basic Income. This is being championed as a victory for the left. But just how radical is the demand for a UBI?
MMT has created a buzz on the left recently, with its supporters citing it as an answer to all our economic woes. Instead of trendy new ideas, however, we need the clear scientific analysis of capitalism that Marxism provides.
Rob Sewell takes up some of the ‘new’ ideas that have been put forward on the left regarding alternative forms of ownership and control. What we need is a socialist plan of production and workers’ power.
Adam Booth looks at the speculative mania developing around Bitcoin and other digital currencies, which is a reflection of the general crisis of capitalism.
In the final video from our Capital in a Day series, commemorating the 150th anniversary of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, Ben Curry looks at the question of accumulation and inequality within capitalism.
In part three from our “Capital in a Day” series, Natasha Sorrell – a teacher in Sheffield – discusses where profits come from within capitalism: the unpaid labour of the working class.
In this video from our recent “Capital in a Day” event, Ben Gliniecki discusses the origins, societal role, and future of money.
In this first of a series of videos from Socialist Appeal’s recent “Capital in Day” event – held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of volume one of Karl Marx’s Capital – James Kilby discusses the concept of the commodity.
On Saturday 16th September, over 80 students, workers, and activists from across the country gathered for “Capital in a Day”: an event hosted by Socialist Appeal and the Marxist Student Federation to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Karl Marx’s Capital. The day’s event demonstrated the importance of theory and the relevance of Marx’s ideas in this epoch of capitalist crisis.
In amongst all the confusion and panic of the capitalist class, a handful of extreme right-wing economists have begun arguing for a return to the gold standard as a way of solving the economic crisis. The reality is that the contradictions of capitalism cannot be solved by measures taken within the capitalist system.
Today, in numerous areas, from automation to green energy to information technology, we are seeing a validation of Marx’s assertion: that society’s productive forces at a certain stage come into conflict with the way in which society is organised. These “economic singularities”, as Adam Booth discusses, demonstrate clearly that the system has broken.