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Marxism as a capitalist tool

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  • Ellerman, David

Abstract

Just as the two sides in the Cold War agreed that Capitalism and Communism were "the" two alternatives, so the two sides in the intellectual Great Debate agreed on a common framing of questions with the defenders of capitalism taking one side and Marxists taking the other. From the viewpoint of economic democracy (e.g., a labor-managed market economy), this late Great Debate between capitalism and socialism was as misframed as would be an antebellum Great Debate between the private or public ownership of slaves. The Great Debate between capitalism and socialism is now in the dustbin of intellectual history, but Marxism still plays an important role in sustaining the misframing of the questions so that the defenders of the present employment system do not have to face the real questions that separate that system from a system of economic democracy. In that sense, Marxism has become the ultimate capitalist tool.

Suggested Citation

  • Ellerman, David, 2010. "Marxism as a capitalist tool," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 696-700, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:39:y:2010:i:6:p:696-700
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samuelson, Paul, 2012. "Understanding the Marxian Notion of Exploitation: A Summary of the So-CalledTransformation Problem Between Marxian Values and Competitive Prices," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, pages 182-202, August.
    2. Ellerman David, 2004. "The Market Mechanism of Appropriation," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 14(2), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Baumol, William J, 1974. "The Transformation of Values: What Marx "Really" Meant (An Interpretation)," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 51-62, March.
    4. Wolfstetter, E, 1973. "Surplus Labour, Synchronised Labor Costs and Marx's Labour Theory of Value," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 83(331), pages 787-809, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Ellerman, 2016. "The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, March.
    2. David Ellerman, 2015. "On the Renting of Persons: The Neo-Abolitionist Case Against Today's Peculiar Institution," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-20, March.
    3. David Ellerman, 2016. "Reply to Commentaries on ‘The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory’," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 44-61, September.

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