Karl Marx and the Close of His System: A Criticism of the Marxist Theory of Value and the Price of Production

Eugen Von Böhm-Bawerk, economist of the Austrian school, wrote this incisive critique of Marxist economics amid rising public support for socialism, communism and state-controlled markets in Europe. Published in 1896, this work criticizes Marxist theory from two angles: firstly, that the notion of value which Marx puts forward contradict his own ideas. The author asserts that the link between the price of producing goods and the value produced by labor are not consistently dealt with in Marx’s works. This inconsistency in assigning value to economic production leads onto the second critique: Supply and demand is a theory whereby an equilibrium between goods supplied to a market and goods demanded by consumers in said market is established, with changes in the quantity or price of a good being in reaction to demand. Böhm-Bawerk discusses how Marx underestimates this law, and how his lack of appreciation for an economy which flexibly meets the shifting demands of consumers undermines his notions of price and value. From the perspective of a free market capitalist, Marxist theory is inadequate and insufficient as a system of economics.