KARL MARX

THE
'ECONOMICS'
3'174
of producers. The limits within which the preservation or self-expansion
of the value of capital resting on the expropriation and pauperisation
of the great mass of producers can alone move - these limits come
continually into conflict with the methods of production employed by
capital for its purposes, which drive towards unlimited extension of
production as an end in itself, towards unconditional development of the
social productivity of labour. The means - unconditional development
of the productive forces of society - comes continually into conflict
with the limited purpose, the self-expansion of the existing capital.-' 10
The conclusion was:
The last cause of all real crises always remains the poverty and restricted
consumption of the masses as compared to the tendency of capitalist
production to develop the productive forces in such a way that only
the absolute power of consumption of the entire society would be their
limit. 2 "
Marx then dealt with the factors that could slow down the fall in profits
- principally increased production and foreign trade - and attempted to
show that they can only be short-term palliatives. There followed two
sections on interest-bearing capital and ground rent and the volume ended
with the dramatically incomplete section on classes.
Even today, Capital, particularly Volume One, remains a masterpiece.
Its historical analyses present an effectively damning picture of at least
one aspect of nineteenth-century England composed with an attention to
detail and a superb style that make it a permanent contribution both
to history and to literature. Nor have its theoretical presuppositions or
long-term predictions been 'disproved' - if only because they are not
susceptible of ultimate refutation: the labour theory of value is not a
'scientific' theory 21 -' but a theory to be judged by the insights that it gives
into the workings of the capitalist system. And Marx's famous predictions
are only based on his abstract 'model' of capitalist society, a model capable
l almost infinite variation in given circumstances and, like all models, it
must be assessed by its fruitfulness. 2 "
Capital did not immediately have the success that it later enjoyed. It
was eagerly received in Marx's small circle and even his old allies Feuerliach
and Ruge passed favourable comments on it. But there were disturbingly
few reviews in Germany and most of them were hostile, though
Engels' future adversary Diihring wrote favourably. Engels himself was
the most assiduous review writer and managed to place seven, each carelully
tailored to the nature of the paper in which it appeared. Kugelmann
aIso acted as a very effective Public Relations Officer in Germany. Engels
tried hard to get some publicity in England but the only result was a