Orthodox monetary doctrines and Marx's theory of value, money and economic crises.

摘要

It is widely recognized that Karl Marx devoted his life's work to an analysis of the nature and dynamics of the capitalist mode of production. He understood that money played a crucial role in a capitalist economy and gave a considerable amount of attention to the study of money. Nevertheless, his analyses of the roles of money, credit and financial institutions have largely been ignored by monetary theorists and historians of economic thought. The purpose of this dissertation is to rectify this oversight in the history of monetary theory.;The principal proposition resulting from this study is that Marx has a coherent and consistent theory of money fully integrated with his theory of value which formed an integral part of his analysis of the capitalist system as a whole. He offered a viable explanation of each of the three crucial issues in the foundations of monetary theory and developed a cogent theory of money on the basis of the labor theory of value. His characterization of the nature of money and monetary economies was conceptually coherent and representative of the unique features of a capitalist economy. The conclusion to be drawn from this study is that Marx's theory of value can solve fundamental problems in monetary theory that cannot be, or at least have not been, satisfactorily resolved within the framework of neoclassical value thoery. The labor theory of value, containing the elements for an alternative paradigm in monetary theory, can therefore broaden the scope of monetary theory and expand the range of alternative solutions to theoretical and practical problems in monetary economics. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).;The principal objectives of this study are to explore the details of Marx's theory of money and to examine the connections between his theories of value, money and economic crises in comparison with classical and neoclassical monetary doctrines. The comparison focuses on three crucial issues in the foundations of monetary theory: the relationship of monetary theory to value theory; the attempt to develop a coherent explanation of the origins, nature and functions of money; and the effort to formulate a coherent characterization of a monetary economy as opposed to a barter economy.