Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Review of Capital, Vol. 2: The Process of Circulation of Capital by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels

This review was written by Eugene Kernes

Book can be found in:
Genre = Economics
Intriguing Connections = 1) Learning Economics: Basic to Advanced,

Elaborate Description

This volume looks at how capital moves through the capitalist system. Rather than identifying how surplus value is created, identifying how surplus value is transferred. From the various circuits that capital and money go through and their interactions, to different costs of maintenance of capital and its mobility, Marx goes to extreme detail to describe circulation of capital.

The most important idea from this volume is the distinction between productive and unproductive capital, which are now more formally known as production and nonproduction activities. Production involves in bringing goods to market, from the various materials and services needed for the product. Nonproduction involves costs to capital and can indirectly increase the amount of productive capital there is.

Examples and details do make the book difficult to understand. The core ideas are easily lost within the all the explanations. The introduction by Ernest Mandel does a wonderful job at expressing concise the details in the book without losing much meaning.


Book Details

Edition ISBN:  9780140445695
Pages to read:   591
Publication:     1992
1st Edition:      1885
Format:            Paperback

Ratings out of 5:
Readability     2
Content          2
Overall           2