The Structure and Content of Das Kapital

Deepankar Basu ()
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Deepankar Basu: Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics

Abstract: Karl Marx’s magnum opus, Das Kapital, presents an analysis of the long run dynamics of a mature capitalist economy. The analysis is conducted at two primary levels of abstraction – ‘capital in general’ (where competition between individual capitals is abstracted from) and ‘many capitals’ (where the phenomenon of competition between individual capitals is introduced) – and the presentation is organized into three volumes. In terms of structure, the analysis in the first two volumes is located at the level of ‘capital in general’, and the analysis in the third volume is located at the level of ‘many capitals’. In terms of content, the first volume analyses the production and accumulation of surplus value, the second volume investigates the problems of realization of surplus value, and the third volume analyses the mechanisms that lead to the distribution of surplus value into income streams of different fractions of the ruling class – as profit of enterprise, commercial profit, interest and rent (and monopoly profit more generally). The three volumes together give a comprehensive picture of the workings of a mature capitalist economy and highlights its long run, contradictory tendencies.

Keywords: value; surplus value; capital; reproduction schemes; prices of production; rent; interest; commercial profit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B14 B24 B51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-pke
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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