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Marx was a political scientist, not an economist. He thought about how greed effects decision making and power corrupts. He was interested in a political revolu

Marx was a political scientist, not an economist. He thought about how greed effects decision making and power corrupts. He was interested in a political revolution because he believed capitalist systems are unable to solve market failures. Economics is generally less interested in the politics of how to implement solutions and more interested in what the optimal solutions are.

culi 4y ago
> Marx was a political scientist, not an economist This is probably as pointless of a statement to argue against as it is to make in the first place. But, Marxian economics is still considered one of the main schools of economic theory today and comprises several other schools within it > He thought about how greed effects decision making and power corrupts. This is not really something he wrote about. Maybe you're confusing him with the anarchist Bakunin who believed anyone with any amount of (unequal) power would inevitably become corrupt. But given that he believed you could have a "dictatorship of the proletariat" to usher in revolution, he clearly didn't share this view. > He was interested in a political revolution because he believed capitalist systems are unable to solve market failures. I guess in a vague, broad sense this is sorta correct... But he actually believed capitalism was a necessary step towards socialism. So much so that Russian Marxists like Lenin specifically tried to bring Western-style capitalism to Russia. They thought it necessary for the advancement of society > Economics is generally less interested in the politics of how to implement solutions and more interested in what the optimal solutions are. Karl Marx was specifically interested in "Scientific Socialism". In his time he was hailed as "having done for economics what Newton did for physics". He developed a pretty in-depth and rigorous theory that provided really useful tools to study and analyze society. And he and his followers believed that his conclusions were a result of this rigorous and scientific approach to social analysis Mind you, this is not really unlike modern economic theory. We have tons of tools that had never actually been tested. In fact, I'd say that the past 15-ish years of economics are revolutionary precisely because it's the first we're actually being data-driven about things. Things like the Phillips curve are still taught in Econ 101 classes around the country but it has thoroughly been debunked using actual real-world data You can argue that Marx's theories had issues but they were just as "scientific" as modern economics has been up until very very recently. (That is, not very)
- unmole 4y ago
  > But, Marxian economics is still considered one of the main schools of economic theory By whom? Can you point to a single aspect of modern mainstream economics that is influenced by Marx?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - culi 4y ago
    For example, University of Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang defines the 9 main schools of modern economics as 1. Classical 2. Neoclassical 3. Marxist 4. Developmentalist 5. Austrian 6. Schumpeterian 7. Keynesian 8. Institutionalist 9. Behavioralist With behavioralism obviously being one of the newest. Anyways if you'd like to read more about contemporary impact of Marxian economics: https://mronline.org/2020/09/15/contemporary-relevance-of-marxian-economics/ https://mronline.org/2020/09/15/contemporary-relevance-of-ma...

culi 4y ago

> Marx was a political scientist, not an economist This is probably as pointless of a statement to argue against as it is to make in the first place. But, Marxian economics is still considered one of the main schools of economic theory today and comprises several other schools within it > He thought about how greed effects decision making and power corrupts. This is not really something he wrote about. Maybe you're confusing him with the anarchist Bakunin who believed anyone with any amount of (unequal) power would inevitably become corrupt. But given that he believed you could have a "dictatorship of the proletariat" to usher in revolution, he clearly didn't share this view. > He was interested in a political revolution because he believed capitalist systems are unable to solve market failures. I guess in a vague, broad sense this is sorta correct... But he actually believed capitalism was a necessary step towards socialism. So much so that Russian Marxists like Lenin specifically tried to bring Western-style capitalism to Russia. They thought it necessary for the advancement of society > Economics is generally less interested in the politics of how to implement solutions and more interested in what the optimal solutions are. Karl Marx was specifically interested in "Scientific Socialism". In his time he was hailed as "having done for economics what Newton did for physics". He developed a pretty in-depth and rigorous theory that provided really useful tools to study and analyze society. And he and his followers believed that his conclusions were a result of this rigorous and scientific approach to social analysis Mind you, this is not really unlike modern economic theory. We have tons of tools that had never actually been tested. In fact, I'd say that the past 15-ish years of economics are revolutionary precisely because it's the first we're actually being data-driven about things. Things like the Phillips curve are still taught in Econ 101 classes around the country but it has thoroughly been debunked using actual real-world data You can argue that Marx's theories had issues but they were just as "scientific" as modern economics has been up until very very recently. (That is, not very)

unmole 4y ago
> But, Marxian economics is still considered one of the main schools of economic theory By whom? Can you point to a single aspect of modern mainstream economics that is influenced by Marx?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- culi 4y ago
  For example, University of Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang defines the 9 main schools of modern economics as 1. Classical 2. Neoclassical 3. Marxist 4. Developmentalist 5. Austrian 6. Schumpeterian 7. Keynesian 8. Institutionalist 9. Behavioralist With behavioralism obviously being one of the newest. Anyways if you'd like to read more about contemporary impact of Marxian economics: https://mronline.org/2020/09/15/contemporary-relevance-of-marxian-economics/ https://mronline.org/2020/09/15/contemporary-relevance-of-ma...