Now available for immediate download: Karl Marx and the Close of His System, by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk. The book is also newly in print.
Marx had said that the value of commodities reflect their labor input. The problem is that, well, reality doesn’t seem to reflect that at all. Marx had promised to explain why but he never really got around to it. Böhm-Bawerk seizes on this point and hammers it relentlessly to lay out the entire Austrian theory of capital and price.
But what’s really fun is the response by the Marxian bigwig Rudolph Hilferding. In effect he says: if you are going to properly understand Marxism, you must first get rid of ridiculous ideas like individualism and capitalistic logic. You must think about social blobs and historical forces and other mystical things. It is an amazing response.
Then we have the pleasure of reading the ever-charming Paul Sweezy introduce this battle with sweet nothings about how the Austrian is really a spokesman for his class of aristocrats who dogmatically asserts the marginalist doctrine and fails to see the brilliance of the Marxist position. Sweezy is no dummy: in fact, he had even flirted with Austrianism before he became a full-fledged Marxist. He is fascinating to read — smart, clever, and unbelievably wrongheaded.
Really, everyone should read this entire book. The drama is very high, the arguments rigorous and fun, and it is just a pleasure to see the Maxists scampering in every direction. And to top it off, they believe that they win this debate, else why would Sweezy have put this collection together?
