Socialdem. 21st Century

An interesting passage from Wilhelm Liebknecht’s book Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs (1901) about Marx’s predictions: “ … whoever prophesies revolutions is always mistaken in the date.Well, though Marx was a prophet looking into the future with sharp eyes and perceiving much more than ordinary human beings, he never was a prophesier, and when Messieurs Kinkel, Ledru Rollin and other revolution-makers announced in every appeal to their folks in partibus the typical, ‘To-morrow it will...

This is a discussion by Steve Keen of mathematics in economics and the abuse of mathematics in neoclassical theory. More discussion of the issue here and here.[embedded content]

This is for pure amusement and from Wilhelm Liebknecht’s fascinating book Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs (1901).The context is that Marx and various friends were drunk and out on the town in London in the 1850s: “One evening Edgar Bauer, acquainted with Marx from their Berlin time and then not yet his personal enemy in spite of the ‘Holy Family,’ had come to town from his hermitage in Highgate for the purpose of ‘making a beer trip.’ The problem was to ‘take something’ in every saloon...

Bill Mitchell speaks here on MMT as part of reframing the progressive agenda, presented in London on August 27, 2015.[embedded content][embedded content]

In the links below I update my series of posts debunking Marxist economics and ideology, to complement my series on Debunking Austrian economics 101.As in the series on Austrian economics, not all posts actually debunk Marxism, but sometimes provide outlines or summaries of Marxist theory or interesting points on Marxism or Karl Marx’s life and thought. There are also some points where constructive things can be said: on endogenous money, the falsity of Say’s law and the monetary theory of...

This is a talk Steve Keen recently gave at Cartanega University in Colombia on the flaws of equilibrium modelling in neoclassical economics.[embedded content]

It is a crucial point: Austrians complain about asset bubbles, but their Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) or economic theory in general does not focus on stock market speculation or asset bubbles as a fundamental and inherent means by which an economy is destabilised.For example, in the ABCT it is real and unsustainable higher-order capital investment that is supposed to wreck the economy, not debt-financed asset speculation.The Austrians today are falsely claiming that they have some...

When Austrians (metaphorically) shoot themselves in the foot, the results are usually amusing.We are treated to just such a delightful spectacle here: Robert P. Murphy, “Mises and the Market,” Dailycaller.com, 26th August, 2015. http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/26/mises-and-the-market/ This is Robert Murphy’s defence of the Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) as an explanation of recent global turmoil on stock markets and other economic problems.The astute reader will notice that in the...

This can be seen in an article Engels wrote in May 1895 for the Neue Zeit (Marx 1991: 1027, n.), which is available as the “Supplement and Addendum” to Volume 3 of Capital in Marx (1991: 1027–1047).Right at the beginning of this supplement, Engels notes that people such as Achille Loria had pointed to the devastating contradiction between volume 1 and volume 3 of Capital in the theory of value (Marx 1991: 1027–1028).Next, Engels mentions that Werner Sombart, in a review of Marx’s work...

Joan Robinson’s An Essay on Marxian Economics (1966) is her extended analysis and critique of Marxism, and this should be of great interest to Post Keynesians given Robinson’s role in developing Post Keynesian theory.Some quick points: (1) Although she finds some value in Marx, her condemnation of the labour theory of value is nevertheless fairly harsh: Robinson calls the labour theory of value a Marxist “incantation” and compares it to witchcraft (Robinson 1966: 22).(2) Robinson (1966: 10)...