Economics transformed

Discovering the brilliance of Marx

Robert Albritton, Pluto Press, 232 pages, paperback, £15.99

This book is doubly heretical — and all the better for it. Firstly, it argues that mainstream economics, as taught in schools and universities, is fundamentally flawed. Secondly, it puts the case for Marxist political economy as the best way to understand the modern world.

The author argues for a return to Marx’s work, principally the labour theory of value. The chief innovation is to discuss political economy on three levels of analysis, starting with the most abstract and working through theory to historical analysis.

The book puts class, as a structural relation of power, at the centre of concerns. Class can then be used to understand concrete issues such as poverty, inequality, wages as well as the environment.

As such, it puts the case for the continuing relevance of Marxist thinking to the labour movement and the new generation of social activists.