The Soviet economy: how it worked… and how it didn’t Marx explained that every social system is subject to its own laws: objective dynamics, forces, and pressures that govern its motion and development. In this article, Adam Booth examines the early decades of the Soviet Union, in order to provide a concrete understanding of the economic laws which imposed themselves on the young workers’ state, and to arm a new generation with the lessons required to carry out the successful struggle for communism.
Marx versus Malthus: overpopulation or senile system? The Reverend Thomas Malthus gained notoriety in the 19th century as an ardent defender of poverty and inequality. He asserted that the poor were not poor because of capitalist exploitation or injustice, but because there were simply too many of them, competing over limited resources. Today, Malthus’ ideas still circulate in various different forms, and have even gained some influence on the left. In this article, Adam Booth draws on Marx and Engels’ critique of Malthus to expose the false and reactionary implications of these ideas today.
Marxism, money, and inflation After decades of low inflation and rock-bottom interest rates, economies throughout the world are now facing a spectre unseen since the 1970s: rising inflation levels combined with the beginnings of another recession.