Marx Versus Economics

Marxist political economy, let alone Marx’s own political economy, has negligible if not zero presence in mainstream economics. In this respect, there is a sharp difference with all other major social sciences in which Marx is seen not only as an important source for understanding the history of its constituent disciplines and subject matter, but also as a vital part of continuing debate and scholarship. Why should Marx be present in other disciplines but absent in economics, and at whose and what expense?

Ben Fine is Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His books include Marx’s Capital (with Alfredo Saad-Filho, 6th edn, 2016), From Political Economy to Economics: Method, the Social and the Historical in the Evolution of Economic Theory (with Dimitris Milonakis, 2009), and From Economics Imperialism to Freakonomics: The Shifting Boundaries Between Economics and Other Social Sciences (with Dimitris Milonakis, 2009).