Marx's Contributions and their Relevance Today

At least 7 major contributions to political economy can be attributed to Karl Marx: 1. the materialist conception of history, 2. a labor theory of value for analyzing the exploitation of the working class, 3. description of the cyclical nature of capitalist societies, 4. an economic theory of the state in which the state can prevent excesses but cannot alleviate the panics or cycles of the capitalist system, 5. an explanation of workers' mystification with the system of capitalism, 6. explanation of the future course of global capitalist and socialist development, and 7. outlines of the future socialist and communist societies. Today, although Marx's belief in the inherent instability of the capitalist system would probably not be shaken, he would find that many of the major tenets of his economic theory have been altered or disregarded. He would find much evidence of socialism replacing capitalism in today's world, but it would not be in accordance with his materialist conception of history. Furthermore, Marx would not recognize his socialist society anywhere in the world.