Marx's Capital

by Ben Fine, Alfredo Saad-Filho

This brilliantly concise book is a classic introduction to Marx’s key work, Capital. In print now for over a quarter of a century, and previously translated into many languages, the new edition has been fully revised and updated, making it an ideal modern introduction to one of the most important texts in political economy.The authors cover all central aspects of Marx’s economics. They explain the structure of Marx’s analysis and the meaning of the key categories in Capital, showing the internal coherence of Marx’s approach. Marx’s method and terminology are explored in detail, with supporting examples. Short chapters enable the meaning and significance of Marx’s main concepts to be grasped rapidly, making it a practical text for all students of social science. Discussing Capital’s relevance today, the authors consider Marx’s impact on economics, philosophy, history, politics and other social sciences. Keeping abstract theorising to a minimum, this readable introduction highlights the continuing relevance of Marx’s ideas in the light of the problems of contemporary capitalism.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Business, Theory, Sociology

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Imran Rasid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very concise! And it does not limit itself to Capital vol I as many other introductory books, but also cover some important theoretical arguments in Vol I and III.

What i find really helpful is the suggested reading at every chapters. Ben Fine includes both the criticisms and the rejoinders of his readings of Capital, and constantly updated the list to include contemporary contributions in marxian traditions.

For those who wanna get a quick overview of marxian key concepts, this is the right book for you. Although, the book is a bit descriptive and lacks of strong persuasive rhetorics, so much of the key concepts here were presented briefly as it is, that is with less engagement with the current neoclassical discourses.

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of central points Marx makes in Vol. 1 - 3 of Capital. Fairly accessibly written with many references to conflicts and differing interpretations of the selected topics, although the chapters dealing with the more complex concepts still made my head smoke. Considering the short length of the book and the concise arguments made and the various references listed though, it is easy to revisit to clear up doubts and questions.

[tara bomp · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent summary of all 3 volumes of Capital that can be read separately. Although it obviously can't cover everything, it looks at all the key concepts in enough detail and understandable language, striking a good balance between depth and accessibility. Obviously some concepts are tough, but the author does a good job of making them easier to understand. One nice touch is that after summarising, he provides a couple paragraphs just to point out the existence of other important interpretations, which is very handy. Very much recommended for anyone interested in Marxism and needs a guide to the major economic ideas.

[Emre Ergin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Şimdi bu adamın bir sorunu var. O da şu. Marksizm gerçekten bilimsel bişi değilse korkusu var içinde. O sebeple kitabı "herkesin anlayabileceği" matematiksel çıkarımlarla doldurmuş. Biz de ikna olalım diye. Tabi böyle bişi mümkün olamaz. Matematik mezunu benim elime kalem kağıt almadan anlayamayacağım ispatlara bir giriş metninde ne gerek vardı. Kaldı ki, ispatların sözel açıklamasını okuyunca, bütün bunlar bunun için mi diyorsunuz, sözel olarak anlaşılmayacak bir şey de yok halbuki.

Bu gibi eserlerin asıl kitlesi iktisattan ve matematikten anlamayan kişiler olmalıydı, diğer türlü zaten öyle aman aman bir bilgi kattığı yok. Üç beş şey öğrendim tabi. Ama bu öğrendiklerim Marksa getirilen eleştirilere verilen cevaplar şeklindeydi. Yani kitap bir yerden sonra, Marksizme giriş temasını bir kenara koyup "Marksizm neden her zaman ve her yerde haklıdır?" temasını ediniyor. Bu önemli bir soru tabi. Kitap Marksizmin her zaman ve her yerde neden haklı olduğuna dair açıklamalar getirirken, ortalama bir Lise 2 Tarih kitabı kadar tarih kelimesi kullanıyor. Marksizm bize bir çerçeve verir, kesin sonuçlar, kolay yoldan çözümler, statik denklemler vermez diyor. Sınıfların birbirleri üzerine kurduğu tahakkümler tarihin bir fonksiyonudur ve her yerde farklıdır. Yani aslında şunu diyecek de çekiniyor, Marksizm biraz yandan yemiş bir sosyolojidir, içine sayı da karıştırılabilir.

Bildiğim kadarıyla Marks'a saygım var aslında. Bu gibi bir metnin fikirleri diğerleri üzerinden tanımlamaya gitmesinin Marksizmi de aciz gösterdiğini düşünüyorum. Hepsi böyleyse hayal kırıklığı.

[Nacho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Llevaba desde 2014 con este libro en lo alto de la pila de "Libros por leer cuando esté un poco más formado". Finalmente, decidí atreverme al sentirme cómodo con lo básico de la teoría económica marxista (tras haber leído introducciones a temas como la teoría del valor-trabajo, la acumulación, etc. y sobre todo haber debatido del tema con personas más formadas).

Éste es un libro para estudiar, no para leer, y posiblemente la obra de la que más anotaciones he tomado a pesar de su longitud (apenas 200 páginas). Se plantea una tarea muy difícil: presentar de una forma accesible pero rigurosa las claves de los tres volúmenes de "El Capital" en un puñado de hojas. El esfuerzo de condensación es apreciable porque he tenido que releer muchísimos párrafos varias veces para asegurarme de que no se me escapaban "sutilidades", y estoy seguro de que aún así habré pasado por alto muchas cosas.

No creo que sea (ni quiera ser) un sustituto a leer "El Capital", sino más bien una introducción muy completa al mismo, a la vez que una defensa sólida de su relevancia en la actualidad. Tiene la ventaja de estar escrito tras años de alabanzas y críticas a la obra original, así que va más allá de lo que era posible para Marx, exponiendo errores comunes en las interpretaciones que se han hecho a lo largo de la historia de su pensamiento económico. Esto, que para mí es una virtud, tiene también el problema añadido de que no sólo discute el pensamiento original sino teorías posteriores con las que uno no está necesariamente familiarizado (por ejemplo el poskeynesianismo). Sé que es un libro al que volveré en el futuro, y definitivamente una vez que me haya atrevido a meterle mano a la obra original.

No es un libro para principiantes en el tema, ni una lectura ligera, pero sí diría que ha sido fundamental en mi formación sobre la teoría económica marxista. No ayudaban a la complejidad del tema algunos errores de traducción, que en el mejor de los casos hacían que la frase perdiese algo sentido y en el peor (sólo uno, en el que "benefits" se ha traducido como "beneficios" y no por "prestaciones") cambiaba completamente su significado. Los errores de traducción no son demasiado abundantes aun así y el libro es perfectamente disfrutable en español.

Mi única crítica es que en algunos casos los esquemas servían para confundir más que para aclarar (especialmente al discutir la reproducción simple y ampliada del capital), pero el hecho de que la exposición esté muy bien estructurada y de que se recomienden lecturas adicionales al final de cada capítulo permite poder buscar información complementaria sin mucha dificultad para poder seguir avanzando.

En definitiva, me parece un libro fundamental para ir más allá de lo básico en la teoría económica marxista, y como toma de contacto con "El Capital" original.

[Evan Milner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a mixed bag. The early chapters dealing with the material in the first volume of Capital are exceptionally clear but, as the book progresses into the material found in Volumes II and III, I found the explanations became increasingly opaque. I don't think this was only due to my lack of familiarity with those topics (e.g. Capital circulation, Distribution, etc.) Rather, Fine progressively assumes more and more background knowledge on the part of the reader. This would be okay, except that the book is intended to be an introduction. Several times I found myself turning to Tom Bottomore's A Dictionary of Marxist Thought to clarify key concepts only to find that Ben Fine had also written the relevant sections there, albeit in a much more accessible style.

Out of interest, I compared the edition of Marx's Capital that I read—the original 1975 edition—with the much expanded 6th edition published in 2016. From what I could tell the same problems remained and were compounded by a futher issue: In the new edition, the sentences have been rewritten to sound more 'academic'. Unfortunately they end up communicating significantly less. For example, compare the following:

From the original 1975 edition:

"It was Marx's insight to reverse historical appearance and analyse capitalism in its pure form, without the complication of mercantilism or usury. By assuming that no value is created in exchange, Marx was able to show that capitalism can rely upon the exchange of equal values. Its secrets must lie in production and not in exchange. "

And now the equivalent passage from the most recent edition of 2016:

"It was Marx’s insight to reverse their historical order of appearance, in order to analyse capitalism abstractly and in its pure form as a social system of production. This allows him to focus on the wage relation and the production of (surplus) value without the complications introduced by forms and relations of exchange, including mercantilism or usury, which merely transfer value."

How on earth can that be considered an improvement?

Recommended with the reservations stated above on the strength of its early chapters.

[maerius · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Michael Heinrich's Introduction a while ago and felt it was sorely lacking in something, and so I looked to this book hoping it will fill in the gaps (instead of actually reading the 3-volume gargantuan, for which I sorely lack the theoretical and empirical background, as well as the context of contemporary economics and economy to set it against).

And it sure did, covering extensively in a way that Heinrich couldn't Marx's theories of the general law of accumulation, circuits of capital, simple and expanded reproduction, crises, compositions of capital, the law of the tendential fall in rate of profit and its counteracting tendencies, the transformation of value to prices (though this one is still shaky, their coverage has opened me to the true meaning of Marx's concept of value, thanks to their distinction between the organic and value compositions of capital), merchant's and interest-bearing capital, and agricultural rent. Their exposition of value, commodity, money and fetishism isn't nearly as detailed as Heinrich however, so I would recommend reading his treatment of it.

The authors spend the last 2 chapters dealing with various problems like the 2008 recession, neoliberalism, financialisation, class and class struggle, state, globalism, the environment, and of course socialism, all in ways that are brief, lucid, sophisticated and constructive (unlike Heinrich who is keen to attack 'traditional Marxism' and be really lengthy about it, which gets annoying after a while).

A major problem I have with this book though is how the authors increasingly assume more previous knowledge from the readers and write in an increasingly difficult style, esp. as the book flows into the chapters dealing with volume 3; sometimes I feel they're fixating too much on disclaimers and not giving enough coverage on the actual crux of the matter, eg. with the compositions of capital, LTRPF, transformation and agricultural rent theories.

[August Denys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would not consider this book an introduction to Capital V1; rather, it covers aspects of all of Marx's volumes on Capital with insights from other works such as the Grundisse, The Communist Manifesto, and Critique of the Gotha Program. As such, it functions as an overview of economic principles that Marx critiqued and explained. Each chapter of the 15 chapters in this book briefly goes over how Marx's analysis functions with the phenomena presented. While brief it does give an amount of practicality for someone to act on from their brief descriptions. But the best part of the book is that it serves more as a reference book than an introductory book. Each chapter gives a further reading recommendation, sometimes down to the chapter, for more on the topics just covered. In this instance, it gives the reader an introduction to over 150 years of analysis first started by Marx's Capital. Thus, instead of searching in the darkness for a specific topic or application of Marxian economic theory, one can go to the further reading sections in the topics that best matches the problem/question at hand. There are however aspects within the Marxian school that have been covered less than others. One aspect is definitely the reinvigorated finance Capital as it has morphed beyond Marx's time to take what seems to be a primary process in the circulation of Capital. Nevertheless, the book has something of interest for the reader be it getting beyond the myths of Marx, getting to know some of the basic concepts of Marx's theory, or even delving deeper into the subject as a curative for the mess we have today.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this accessible book, Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho explain the key concepts of Capital, Volume 1,2 and 3 through the lens of Marx's overall project. The book situates Marx's approach to his investigation into capitalism as a critique of the classical economics of Ricardo and Mill through the lens of the Heglian dialectic. Marx's turn to Hegel, the authors argue, lead Marx to treat economics as a study of the social relations of market production and exchange. This interpretive horizon for understanding economics as an investigation into social relations offers Marx significant diagnostic and predictive powers for commodity production and exchange, including heuristics regarding the diminishing rate of profit, the exploitation of labor, rents and the emergence of finance capital.

Fine and Saad-Filho argue that when properly understood as an investigation into the social relations of capitalism, Capital is not reducible to the mechanistic interpretations of Marx that led to "scientific" socialism nor are the three volumes limited by the current terms for understanding economics. Indeed, the thesis that economics is an investigation into the social relations of capitalism, they argue, offers a significant criticism of the assumptions of both classical economics and the current state of Keynesian and neo-liberal economics. An interesting read and a good reminder that the reigning economic system is not the only economic system available and that the capitalist project itself is riven with internal contradictions and exploitations that can easily get lost in the reified understanding of economics as merely the laws of exchange and human relations reducible to a mechanistic self-interest.

[Seymour Millen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A challenging introduction to Marx’s three volumes of capital as well as their influence today. Despite an obvious concision from years and decades of refinement, the work itself still reads poorly in some places, as it retains a difficult style from an older generation of writers. Use of algebra to illustrate a point is more common than use of example. Concepts are expanded and expanded again without once returning to base. A great deal of abstract thinking is required- and this is the primer for a famously complicated series!

I understood it in most places, with a great deal of notation to keep up, though it’s not as digestible as some have suggested. Occasional examples and comparisons to/criticisms of more commonly-encountered economic ideas are also helpful. The chapters are mercifully short, which eases the pain, but I could have coped with a longer book that took more time to explain itself. The references and further reading at the end of each chapter are a decent idea, though one gets the sense, from a number of repeated names, that this is something of a limited pool of authors and probably not the best ones for the job. A later chapter gives over several pages to hash out a beef with Okishio from the 1960s, which is of questionable relevance to a starting audience and adds to the impression that this is more of an insider’s book than it lets on.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of Marxist political economy which provides short and concise explanations of a wide range of topics from all three volumes of Capital. That said, I don't recommend this if you're looking for an in-depth companion to Capital like Harvey's classic commentary. But, if you want a clear survey of concepts and arguments beyond those presented in Vol I then this is the book for you. Everything from the basics of surplus value and accumulation to more advanced topics such as Marx's theory of agricultural rent and the transformation problem are carefully explained in this book.

[Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't miss this book.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about it in a short version... & it fits in my cargo shorts pocket

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dwelling deeper in Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, this is a great companion to Harvey's Companion.

[Matthew]

(6th Edition)

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense with information and knowledge. But really well explained by Ben Fine and would recommend to anyone wanting to understand Marx’s work in a better sense.

[Roberto Rudiney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terminei sabendo que preciso reler. O meio pro final quando se concentra no volume 3 foi bem confuso de entender.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly, highly recommend this short summary/guide of all the volumes of Marx's _Capital_. I came out understanding far more than before I had started reading this book. Big ups from me.

[Peter Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous short but comprehensive introduction to Marx's political economy, drawing mainly on Capital. Each chapter steps briefly but clearly through a subject and finishes with a couple of paragraphs on the main controversies both within Marxism and with orthodox economics, and where to go for further reading. It is easily the best short summary I've read.

The post I wrote on primitive accumulation and outsourcing which I wrote after reading the chapter on exploitation is on my blog here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2...

January 2022: second reading, and I stand by my original comment that this is the best short summary of Marx's Capital. If you're looking for an short explanatory introduction with pointers for where to go next, read this.

[AK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edited to five stars after realizing how useful this was in actually reading Capital, especially with some of the economic concepts that Harvey isn't as helpful with. Absolutely worth reading.

An overview of the main concepts of all three volumes of Capital, including some indications of where they diverge from mainstream economic theories, along with chapters on Marx in the 21st century and the 2008 financial crisis, all in under 200 pages! Many dense, algebra-laden sections that will be tricky for people without an economics background; but even skimming those, still a valuable introduction to Marxian economics.

[Rudy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and solid introduction to Marx's Capital, which seems to be aimed either at autodidacts or students of introductory courses on Marxian economics. It presents the main points of all three volumes in a clear and accessible fashion. Three rather minor downsides: the repeated use of the term "complex" to characterize the theories presented hereby, despite said theories being crystal-clear, a partisan approach, yielding scattered ad-hoc criticisms of neoclassical economics across the chapters, and a lacking description of the organic composition of capital.
Recommended.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and lucid introduction to Marx's ecomomic theory. Highly recommended to anyone who is in the early stages of geeting to grips with Das Capital. This book will proove a worthwhile and concise introduction.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

(No, I didn't read the whole thing. Just significant chunks here and there. I don't have the patience for all 200 million pages)

[Faggot · Rating 1 out of 5]

bad fiction

[Michael A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to Marxian economics. It does get pretty mathy and that made my eyes kind of glaze over. This is definitely a book I'll need to reread.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think there's a single added sentence, let alone entire section, in the 6th versus the 5th edition.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Fine is a really good author for philosophy and international development, I recommend you read his books whenever you come across them

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best short book on Marx's Capital you will find.