Karl Marx and the economics of communism: Anniversary recollections

This paper grew out of the author's Karl Marx studies and his practical kno wledge of Soviet-type communist economies. It covers a broad spectrum of id eas and practices prevalent in those economies, which- rightly or wrongly-h ave become associated with Marx's teaching and predictions. Chapter I tries to explain the reasons for Marx's continuous popularity, Chapter II critic ally examines the validity of the claim about Marxian socialism being "scie ntific" as opposed to "utopian", The article, especially in chapter III ela borates on a number of other Marxian ideas, like that of the so-called "ana rchy of the market", which for many decades exerted a negative influence on his followers-theoreticians and practitioners engaged in building what the y believed to be a communist economy and society. One of the quintessential features of Marx's teaching, which he took over from Smith and Ricardo, wa s the labor theory of value and the "law of value" in particular. The latte r, interpreted by Stalin as "the law of value under socialism", was used by him for ideological and propaganda purposes, but after his death has in tu rn been utilized by Marxists, non-Marxists and anti-Marxists to discredit t he Stalinist economic system, and to advance propositions ranking from prof ound, relevant and commendable to vague and frivolous, Tracing in Chapter I V the peripetia of this "law" provides a deeper insight into both the essen tial weaknesses of the Marxian theory and the acute dilemmas of the Soviet- type economies. (C) 1998 The Regents of the University of California. Publi shed by Elsevier Science Ltd.