Marx versus Markets

The challenge to Marxian theory presented by the current collapse of communist economies centers on the role of markets. Marx versus Markets points out that Marx defines communist economies—even in their lower stage of development—as classless economies without markets. It then examines his claims that classless economies with markets are in some sense inferior to communist economies.

Two conclusions emerge from Stanley Moore's analysis. First, Marx's major arguments for abolishing commodity exchange rely on moral and philosophical premises, derived from Feuerbach in the earlier writings and from Hegel in the later. Second, Marx's ideal of communist economy in incompatible with his materialistic approach to history. Marx's attack on markets flunked the test of theory one hundred years before it flunked the test of practice.

“This book will serve the good purpose of helping to wean those remaining dogmatic Marxists from their defense of communism without markets, by showing that the claim that such a society could exist was false inference, even from within Marxism. It is a worthwhile contribution to Marxology, with a special relevance in the post-1989 world. Marx versus Markets is well researched, well argued, and convincing.”—John E. Roemer, University of California, Davis

Stanley Moore is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego, and author of Marx on the Choice between Socialism and Communism (1980).

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