Karl Marx — heute noch aktuell?

Abstract

On the occasion of his 200th birthday, Karl Marx is very popular again. He seems to be quoted in newspapers more often than even Keynes and great liberal economists. The authors agree that he should be taken seriously as a classic author. There are some fundamental pillars of his thinking: He fought for individual freedom and was a pioneer of systemic thinking. Marx was a self-taught economist and a powerfully eloquent demagogue. But all attempts to modernise his economic theory ultimately fail because of their mistakes and contradictions. He analysed an economy whose labour market was characterised by unrestricted competition. His prediction of a final collapse of the capitalist system failed due to far-reaching institutional changes, especially in the labour market. Today Karl Marx must be seen rather as an extremely interesting figure in the intellectual history of the 19th century. His ideas are only of limited use for the analysis of the economic present. Bertram Schefold judges him less stringently, arguing he is topical not only as a historical figure, but also as a theoretical economist and originator of still valuable analytical ideas. Jürgen Kromphardt points out that apart from his dialectical approach, the distribution of income between classes and its consequences are a research area where Marx’s explanations and failures are actually still worthy of consideration.