The Concept of Money and its Roles in Contemporary Capitalism

Abstract

The building of a theory of money consistent with the Marxian theory of value has been a recurring issue in Marxian economics. A satisfactory solution consists in the articulation of key aspects of the “monetary circuit theory” with the Marxian commodity theory, separating the monetary sphere from value, and at the same time providing a Marxist critique of the circuit theory, which reformulates crucial aspects thereof. Money is thus conceived as a particular relation that, in its basic form, enables the appropriation of commodities. Money further deploys several and more complex functions in the capitalist system: it realizes value; it enables the sharing of production between wages and surplus-value; it allows for the accumulation of capital in its various forms; and it organizes production among other functions. Additionally, the combination of such theory of money with the main theoretical categories of the Marxian approach satisfactorily explain certain phenomena, such as private and public indebtedness, taxes, public spending, and crises. For example, while the conclusions regarding public spending are similar to those of previous approaches that consider it as a complementary way of realizing value, the monetary approach modifies the standard Marxian view of taxes as a direct appropriation of surplus-value to focus instead on its function of removing money from circulation. Public debt, in turn, is still posited as a form of worker exploitation, by means of a series of chained effects on public spending, tax revenue, and money endowments.