Marxist Economics as a Science

Abstract

Probably only a few readers were troubled by the fact that something called “economics” was discussed in Part I without any mention of Marxism. Particularly for a British or American reader, this is perfectly natural usage. But Marxism has been around for as long as neoclassical economics; in fact, Marx published major works before either Marshall or Walras. With the years Marxism has not declined but grown in the number of its adherents, and also in the number of people who call themselves both economists and Marxists and who are products of professional programs of Marxist economic education. Marxist economists do talk and write about the economy. So the question arises as to the connections between the last section’s topic and Marxist economics. Given the prevalent attitudes toward Marxism among neoclassical economists, the first order of business will be to appraise the extent to which Marxist economics can make good on its claim to being scientific. Is Marxist economics a science in Kuhn’s sense?