Krugman on Marx

michael perelman michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Wed Aug 12 22:11:46 PDT 1998


James Baird wrote:


> has there ever been a serious attempt to refute
> Marxian economics by a "mainstream" economist?

Certainly not a serious attempt. A few, such as Michio Morishima, have attempted to show how Marx can be recast into mathematical formulae and thus appear to be respectable. Paul Samuelson has attempted to refute Marx, but in a clumsy and not very effective way. You just set up a straw man and knock it down.

Mostly the refutations consist of denying the labor theory of value by asserting that capital is productive. Probably the most serious efforts came from the Austrian school, Bohm Bawerk and Hayek.

For the most part, you cannot refute any economic theory unless is is logically inconsistent. Some economists have tried to show logical inconsistencies, but those efforts amount taking different parts of his theory that have not yet been worked up into a finished whole.

The greatest efforts at refutation have concerned the falling rate of profit. ----- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu



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