Claims of Incompleteness of “CAPITAL” are Unfounded

Claims of Incompleteness of -CAPITAL- are Unfounded
Mahmoud Mohamed Yassin

For some time we have been reading, from time to time, comments containing critical opinions of Karl Marx s “Capital” in that the book is incomplete because the it was prepared by Friedrich Engels based on a pile of “notes” and “quotes” that the author left behind after his death--;-- the same goes for the fourth volume, “Theories of Surplus Value” which Karl Kautsky achieved after Engels death (and before Kautsky s retreat from Marxism!).

These arbitrary critical points which say nothing concrete from the point of view of political economy about the incompleteness of "capital", at the same time praise "capital" as a work of unparalleled genius that has inspired economists and thinkers over time. But how can "Capital", which its critics claim is only a collection of scattered notes and observations, be a work of genius that inspires people!?

Similarly, the critics of the incompleteness of "Capital" do not forget to advise people to stay away from "inertia" and renew Marxism, as it can be renewed even in its original sources, and not to consider "Capital" as a sacred book, etc. Thus, resorting to the eternal scarecrow of scaring people and shout: (Inertia... inertia) in the face of all those who adhere to Marxism and its theoretical fundamentals which are defined as critical and revolutionary. Critical in the sense of materialist criticism, which proceeds from the fact that material reality exists independently of human consciousness, and revolutionary because its mission is to reveal the contradictions of society whose nature when rightly understood provides gaining insight of the --dir--ection of society’s development based on the principle that social systems and economic systems are historical, and therefore temporary and in continuous change. Thus, Marxism develops according to the knowledge acquired in the course of practical activity and from the study of material reality guided by the materialistic concept of history, and not through hollow and empty self-theorizing.

"Capital" is a complete work concerning the discovery and validation of the basic laws of capitalism: the theory of value, the theory of exploitation, the transformation problem, the reproduction, the decline in the rate of profits and the turnover of capital. The laws of the movement of capitalism operate independently of the will of man and are not subject to change, removal,´-or-replacement, in the same manner that the laws of natural science (e.g. the law of gravity´-or-the theory of quantum mechanics) cannot be replaced and abolished. The laws that drive capitalist production do not disappear until capitalism itself disappears.

Karl Marx did not leave behind a pile of notes and observations, but “draft manu--script--s” that included the second and third volumes of Capital- published by Engels - and the same applied to the "Theories of Surplus Value". The person who prepared and published those two books of "Capital" is no one other than Friedrich Engels, who accomplished the transfer of Marx s manu--script--s into --print--ed books with extreme precision. This is not surprising since Engels shared the same convictions with Marx and co-authored some writings with him. In addition, Engels was in constant contact with Marx, closely following the latter s work in writing "Capital".

Additionally, “Theories of Surplus Value” is an old manu--script-- written by Marx in the early sixties of the nineteenth century, which analyzes classical economists ideas about wealth development through the realization of “surplus value” in capitalist economies. Marx explains how classical economists failed to provide a scientific analysis of the theory of value, to which the contradictions of capitalism are due, and thus their ideas ended up becoming vulgar. For example, the ideas of economists such as “Jean-Baptiste Say” and “John Stuart Mill” - who followed the early classical economists (Smith and Ricardo)- are unrefined because of their inability to present an integrated theory of capitalism and instead merely developed theories characterized by tautologies and focused at the external aspects of economic phenomena. Engels, who was familiar with the draft "Theories of Surplus Value," describes it, in the preface to the Volume II of "Capital", as: “contains a detailed critical history of the pith and marrow of Political Economy, the theory of surplus-value, and develops parallel with it, in polemics against predecessors, most of the points later investigated separately and in their logical connection in the manu--script-- for Books II and III. After eliminating the numerous passages covered by Books II and III, I intend to publish the critical part of this manu--script-- as Capital, Book IV. Valuable as this manu--script-- is, it could not be used for the present edition of Book II.” - Engels, Introduction to “Capital”, Book II.

It should be noted that the available versions of the book “Theories of Surplus Value” provide a good library read.

"Capital" represents the first lesson in history for the application of the logic of dialectical materialism (the law of contradiction) in economic studies and sociology--;-- Marx proved that the classical economists, relying on formal logic, tended to look at studying economics in an ahistorical way, and that economic laws are laws of nature nothing more. Marx s fourth book include a detailed critique of the misconceptions of classical political economy about value, money, capital, etc.

To illustrate the dialectical logic used in the preparation of “Capital”, and the importance of understanding it to comprehend its contents, Lenin raises the bar high with his famous saying: “It is impossible to fully understand Marx s capital, especially the first chapter, without studying and understanding Hegel s entire logic comprehensively. Thus, half a century later none of the Marxists understood Marx!!” – (Lenin s Philosophical Notebooks)

The book "Capital" contains detailed economic analysis, carried, in the nineteenth century by Marx, of the capitalist system that prevailed in Britain at that time, in which - as mentioned above - he was able to discover the laws of the work of capitalism. Since that date, capitalism has undergone a qualitative transformation, in which it has morphed since the end of the nineteenth century until now into its highest stage of development, i.e. transforming from the system of economic freedom (laissez faire) into a system characterized by capital concentration (monopoly capitalism). However, the laws that stimulates the system of capitalism “commodity production” have not changed their essence, although they have acquired new forms with regard to their effectiveness and breadth of work according to the new conditions of development represented by the enormous technological and industrial capabilities of monopoly capitalism that have increased its capabilities to expand and extend its hegemony over the world. In this regard, reference can be made to the writings of the economist Samir Amin, who managed to quantify “value” in underdeveloped countries and show that they reflect the horrible exploitation of these countries by the imperialist countries through their control over foreign trade and global financial institutions and thus control of international financial flows--;-- needless to say, the military, technological and industrial superiority of these countries. According to Amin, the law of value in underdeveloped countries operates in a stagnant, low-productivity environments, which leads to lower wages and a huge army of reserves of the unemployed. The reference to Amin is made in such a way as to clarify that the laws behind the --function--ing of capitalism are susceptible to change the extent of their operation according to the characteristics of different societies as well as the transformations that occur in the nature of capitalism itself. Also, Amin’s economic studies show that the field is open for serious and comprehensive economic studies regarding the work of the law of value in the economies of underdeveloped countries and globally.

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It should be noted, as a general point related to the topic of the article, that "capital" does not include a demand-side analysis. Marx s economics does not include a detailed analysis of consumer demand for goods...... But, says economist Maurishima, "It should not be forgotten that only by completely simplifying the aspect of consumer choice, [Marx] was able to establish specific dynamic laws regarding the --function--ing of his theoretical system through time....... Many modern economists believe that having a theory that can describe the dynamic movements of an economy is much better than having a theory that can explain consumer behavior. This is exactly the choice Marx made." - Michio Morishima, "Marx s Economics- A dual theory of Value and growth", Cambridge University Press, 1973, p 41.

Moreover, regarding Marx s position on "demand economics", the following quote from his own work highlights his idea that demand theory should develop independently of the theory of surplus value:

“The utility of a thing makes it a use-value. But this utility is not a thing of air. Being-limit-ed by the physical properties of the commodity, it has no existence apart from that commodity. A commodity, such as iron, corn,´-or-a diamond, is therefore, so far as it is a material thing, a use-value, something useful. This property of a commodity is independent of the amount of labour required to appropriate its useful qualities. When treating of use-value, we always assume to be dealing with definite quantities, such as dozens of watches, yards of linen,´-or-tons of iron. The use-values of commodities furnish the material for a special study, that of the commercial knowledge of commodities” - Marx, (Capital), vol. I, chap. I, p. 36.

It should be noted that the phrase “special study, that of the commercial knowledge of commodities” in the above quote means exactly what theories of “consumer s behaviour” address.

Again, as already mentioned, a theory describing the dynamic movement of an economy is more useful than a theory that illustrates consumer preferences that could be useful in specific business areas. The ideas of Keynesian economics give further clarification on this subject. The famous economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) formulate his economic ideas with complete disregard of the supply side. by focusing on the demand side, Keynesianism does not contain a theory of economics as it is merely a system of economic policies. Keynesian economics calls for government intervention to strengthen demand by increasing consumption through deficit spending, thus its policies call for a revival of demand, increased government spending and indifference to budget deficits. Keynesianism played only a-limit-ed role in alleviating the crisis faced by the capitalist system in the thirties of the last century (the Great Depression).

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