2 sec

12 - The Marxian Failure and Legacy The Moral Foundations of Politics - Video

    • News

We previously established that the reality of scarcity invalidates Marx's core idea of superabundance, and mortally wounds his theory. Certainly, his historical predictions about worker-led socialist revolutions around the world were off-mark. Today, Professor Shapiro presents more of the shortcomings of the Marxian tradition. These include Marx's failure to account for the ability of the state to buttress capitalism and stave off the conditions needed for its self-destruction, the lack of a declining tendency in the economy-wide rate of profit, and the incoherence of a labor theory of value. It becomes clear that the Marxian theory is riddled with holes. However, Marx does leave two important legacies in his wake: a good critique of markets as distributors of either good or harms in society, and a power-based argument about freedom.

We previously established that the reality of scarcity invalidates Marx's core idea of superabundance, and mortally wounds his theory. Certainly, his historical predictions about worker-led socialist revolutions around the world were off-mark. Today, Professor Shapiro presents more of the shortcomings of the Marxian tradition. These include Marx's failure to account for the ability of the state to buttress capitalism and stave off the conditions needed for its self-destruction, the lack of a declining tendency in the economy-wide rate of profit, and the incoherence of a labor theory of value. It becomes clear that the Marxian theory is riddled with holes. However, Marx does leave two important legacies in his wake: a good critique of markets as distributors of either good or harms in society, and a power-based argument about freedom.

2 sec

Top Podcasts In News

Global News Podcast
BBC World Service
The Morning Brief
The Economic Times
ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash
Asian News International (ANI)
3 Things
Express Audio
Daybreak
The Ken
ThePrint
ThePrint

More by Yale University

Architecture
Yale Architecture
Psychology
Yale School of Medicine
Shah Rukh Khan: Advice for Life
Shah Rukh Khan
Physics
Yale University
Psychology - Audio
Paul Bloom
Corporate Law
Yale Law School