Grundrisse

Karl Marx (1818-1883). The core of Marx's economic analysis found early expression in the konomisch-philosophische Manuskripte aus dem Jahre 1844 (Economic and Political Manuscripts of 1844) (1844). There, Marx argued that the conditions of modern industrial societies invariably result in the estrangement (or alienation) of workers from their own labor. In his review of a Bruno Baier book, On the Jewish Question (1844), Marx decried the lingering influence of religion over politics and proposed a revolutionary re-structuring of European society. Much later, Marx undertook a systematic explanation of his economic theories in Das Kapital (Capital) (1867-95) and Theorien ber den Mehrwert (Theory of Surplus Value) (1862).

Introduction (Notebook M)1. Production in general 2. General relation between production, distribution, exchange and consumption 3. The method of political economy 4. Means (forces) of production and relations of production, relations of production and relations of circulation The Chapter on Money (Notebooks I and II, pp. 1-7)Darimon's theory of crises Gold export and crises Convertibility and note circulation Value and price Transformation of the commodity into exchange value; money Contradictions in the money relation: (1) Contradiction between commodity as product and commodity as exchange value (2) Contradiction between purchase and sale (3) Contradiction between exchange for the sake of exchange and exchange for the sake of commodities (4) Contradiction between money as particular commodity and money as general commodity (The Economist and the Morning Star on money) Attempts to overcome the contradictions by the issue of time-chits Exchange value as mediation of private interests Exchange value (money) as social bond Social relations which create an undeveloped system of exchange The product becomes a commodity; the commodity becomes exchange value; the exchange value of the commodity becomes money Money as measure Money as objectification of general labour time (Incidental remark on gold and silver) Distinction between particular labor time and general labour time Distinction between planned distribution of labour time and measurement of exchange values by labour time (Strabo on money among the Albanians) The precious metals as subjects of the money relation: (a) Gold and silver in relation to the other metals (b) Fluctuations in the value-relations between the different metals (c) and (d) (headings only): Sources of gold and silver; money as coin Circulation of money and opposite circulation of commodities General concept of circulation: (a) Circulation circulates exchange values in the form of prices (Distinction between real money and accounting money) (b) Money as the medium of exchange (What determines the quantity of money required for circulation) (Comment on (a)) Commodity circulation requires appropriation through alienation Circulation as an endlessly repeated process The price as external to and independent of the commodity: Creation of general medium of exchange; exchange as a special business Double motion of circulation: C-M; M-C, and M-C; C-M Three contradictory functions of money: (1) Money as general material of contracts, as measuring unit of exchange values (2) Money as medium of exchange and realizer of prices (Money, as representative of price, allows commodities to be exchanged at equivalent prices) (An example of confusion between the contradictory functions of money) (Money as particular commodity and money as general commodity) (3) Money as money: as material representative of wealth (accumulation of money) (Dissolution of ancient communities through money) (Money, unlike coin, has a universal character) (Money in its third function is the negation #negative unity# of its character as medium of circulation and measure) (Money in its metallic being; accumulation of gold and silver) (Headings on money, to be elaborated later) The Chapter on Capital (Notebooks II pp. 8-28, III, IV, V, VI and VII)The Chapter on Money as Capital: Difficulty in grasping money in its fully developed character as money Simple exchange: relations between the exchangers (Critique of socialists and harmonizers: Bastiat, Proudhon) Section One: The Production Process of Capital Nothing is expressed when capital is characterized merely as a sum of values Landed property and capital Capital comes from circulation; its content is exchange value; merchant capital, money capital, and money interest Circulation presupposes another process; motion between presupposed extremes Transition from circulation to capitalist production "Capital is accumulated labour (etc.)" "Capital is a sum of values used for the produ