In July of this year, George Osborne, the British Chancellor, announced that the UK economy had finally recovered and reached its pre-crisis level. But the so-called “recovery” has been anything but that for the vast majority of people. Meanwhile, dark clouds are forming on the horizon, threatening to plunge the world economy into an even deeper crisis.

We continue our series looking at Marx’s Capital. Having discussed how the capitalists are able to increase profits by improving productivity through the application of new organisational means within the workplace, Marx now turns his attention towards the most revolutionary of developments within capitalism: the machine.

We continue our series on Marx’s Capital with an analysis of Chapters 12-14. Having demonstrated how the capitalists squeeze greater profits from workers by extending the hours of the working day, Marx now turns his attention towards how the capitalists increase their profits by increasing the productivity of workers through the division of labour and co-operation within the workplace.