Overview

This book presents the main economic argument developed by Marx in the three volumes of Capital in a coherent and comprehensive manner. It also delves into three long-standing debates in Marxist political economy: the transformation problem, the Okishio theorem, and theories of exploitation and oppression. Starting with discussions of methodology, including dialectics and historical materialism, the book explains key concepts of Marxist political economy: commodity, value, money, capital, reserve army of labour, accumulation of capital, circuit of capital, reproduction schemas, prices of production, profit, interest and rent. Scholars of economics, sociology, geography, political science, anthropology, and other kindred disciplines, will find here an accessible yet rigorous treatment of Marxist political economy.

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9781009418119

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Reviews

'This brilliant book is a worthy successor to Paul Sweezy's classic, The Theory of Capitalist Development. Like Sweezy before him, Basu achieves that rare feat of providing both an introduction to Marxist political economy and also a response to some of the most sophisticated recent critiques of value theory. The book will be an indispensable resource for students coming fresh to Marxist economics as well as those looking to wade into the more advanced debates. It is a bravura performance.' Vivek Chibber, New York University, author of Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital 'Deepankar Basu's The Logic of Capital provides an elegantly written survey of Marx's analysis of capitalist production based on Basu's wide and scrupulously careful reading of Marx's text and the key contributions of the later literature. Anyone who wants to come to grips with the details and substance of Marx's theories of value, exploitation, and accumulation, including the controversial issues of the falling rate of profit and the 'transformation problem' will find this book an indispensable resource. Basu's book is destined to become a classic of the literature on Marxist economics.' Duncan K. Foley, The New School for Social Research, author of Understanding Capital, Unholy Trinity: Labor, Capital and Land in the New Economy 'Deepankar Basu has written a much-needed new book in Marxist economics. Building upon the work of many Marxist analysts over the long period since Marx wrote his masterwork Capital, as well as Basu's own insightful analyses, the book offers a clearly written guide to the Marxist interpretation of capitalism. He covers the theory of historical evolution, the central relation of capitalism through which capital exploits labour by appropriating part of what labour produces, growth and crisis under capitalism, and the roles of merchants, financiers and landowners in capitalist society. The book introduces the reader to important recent developments in Marxist analysis such as the role of unpaid domestic labour in capitalism, the relation between capitalist exploitation and other forms of oppression, the transformation of capitalism in the neoliberal era since around 1980 and the increased part played by financial institutions in contemporary capitalism.' David Kotz, University of Massachusetts Amherst, author of The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Capitalism

Author Information

Deepankar Basu is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research interests span classical political economy, development economics and applied econometrics. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals. Basu is Associate Editor of the Review of Social Economy. He has co-edited a collection of essays on heterodox macroeconomics and political economy, Conflict, Demand and Economic Development: Essays in Honour of Amit Bhaduri, Routledge (2021).

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