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Marx’s economic theory: a post-Keynesian interpretation

ABSTRACT

Marx’s thoughts about money and its role in capitalist economies are scattered throughout his works. In particular, they constitute a major part of the 3rd volume of Capital and of the Grundrisse. In these two works, Marx presents the foundations for a theory of money that is very close to Keynes’s views. In the paper, this similarity is shown through the systematization of Marx’s monetary theory along (post) Keynesian lines. The demand for money is shown to be rooted not only in the transaction’s motive but also in the liquidity properties of money. These properties become important in capitalist economies characterized by market uncertainty. Both Marx and Keynes use the concept of money to break Say’s law. An essential difference between the two authors is shown to relate to the measure-of-value function of money and ways to reconcile them on this issue are developed.

KEYWORDS:
Marx; post-Keynesianism; monetary theory; history of economic thought

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