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MARX'S THEORY OF MONEY AND THE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL
Abstract
The primary object of this dissertation is to explain Marx's theory of metallic money and to show how this theory can be integrated with Marx's theories of capital accumulation and crisis. In the first chapter the current interpretations of Marx's theory of money are subjected to a critical examination. Of primary concern is the interpretation advanced by Suzanne de Brunhoff in Marx on Money. De Brunhoff's proposition that the theory of money set forth in Part I of Capital should be understood as a "complete theory of money" is criticized. In opposition to this, it is maintained that the theory of money presented in the first part of Capital should be understood as a first formulation of a theory of money, and that this theory is developed and transformed as the discourse of Capital proceeds. In the second chapter Marx's definition of money is examined and the various functions that Marx ascribes to money are explained. The third chapter examines the theory of money set fourth in the first part of Capital and offers detailed arguments to support the proposition that this theory should be conceived as merely a first formulation of a theory of money. In the fourth chapter the role that Marx assigns to hoarding in simple reproduction is analyzed. This analysis serves as the basis for an integration of Marx's theory of money with the theory of capital accumulation. Associated with this, the transformation that takes place in Marx's theory of money as the discourse of Capital proceeds is specified. The final chapter of this dissertation examines the relationship between monetary processes and the development of crises in a capitalist social formation. Here it is argued that Marx does not conceive money as "neutral." Instead, monetary processes are conceived as relatively autonomous and, as such, play an important role in the development of crises.
Subject Area
Economic theory
Recommended Citation
ROCHE, JOHN THOMAS, "MARX'S THEORY OF MONEY AND THE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL" (1981). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8201385.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8201385