Contemporary capitalism is always evolving. From digital technologies to cryptocurrencies, current trends in political economy are much discussed, but often little understood. So where can we turn for clarity? As Michael Roberts and Guglielmo Carchedi argue, new trends don't necessarily call for new theory. In Capitalism in the 21st Century, the authors show how Marx's law of value explains numerous issues in our modern world. In both advanced economies and the periphery, value theory provides a piercing analytical framework through which we can approach topics as varied as labour, profitability, automation and AI, the environment, nature and ecology, the role of China, imperialism and the state. This is an ambitious work that will appeal to both heterodox economists and labour movement activists alike, as it demonstrates the ongoing contemporary relevance of Marxist theory to current trends in political economy.

First published in 1983, Problems in Class Analysis presents a coherent theory of labour's domination by capital, based upon the notion of the capitalist nature of both the product relations and of the productive forces themselves, including science and technology. The author demonstrates that all knowledges are a product, direct or indirect, of economic relations, so that different knowledges will be the product of different social classes as determined by their position within economic production relations. By posing and re-solving fundamental problems in class analysis, Dr. Carchedi forms a bridge between the theory of the production process and contemporary debates in economics, sociology and epistemology.

First published in 1977, On the Economic Identification of Social Classes centres around the economic identification - the definition in terms of production relations - of social classes, focussing on the developed capitalist countries. The basic stages of capitalist development are considered, with special emphasis on monopoly capitalism. The book includes a detailed analysis of the functional element of the capitalist production relations; the identification, in terms of production and distribution relations, of the new middle class under monopoly capitalism; and the analysis of the process of proletarianism of this class. New theoretical concepts - of position, devaluation of labour power through dequalification of positions, and of capitalist and non-capitalist state activities - are developed to further the discussions, which, although fresh in approach, are immersed in the complex texture of Marxist thought. This book will be of interest to students of economics and sociology.

More than 20 years after the collapse of the Berlin wall and the disappearance of Marxism as a (supposed) state ideology, this peer-reviewed book attempts to meet the need for a serious and long-term Marxist book publishing programme by releasing original monographs, newly translated texts and reprints of classics. Much has been written about Marx's irrelevance, here Carchedi attempts to redress the balance, he introduces the most hotly debated issues and evaluates them using Marx's method. Through these analyses what emerges is a solid foundation upon which to develop.

Most mainstream economists view capitalism's periodic breakdowns are nothing more than temporary aberrations from another wise unbroken path toward prosperity. For Marxists, this fundamental flaw has long been acknowledged as a central feature of the free market system. This groundbreaking volume brings together Marxist scholars from around the world to offer an empirically grounded defence of Marx's law of profitability and its central role in explaining these capitalist crises.

Contemporary capitalism is always evolving. From digital technologies to cryptocurrencies, current trends in political economy are much discussed, but often little understood. So where can we turn for clarity? As Michael Roberts and Guglielmo Carchedi argue, new trends don't necessarily call for new theory. In Capitalism in the 21st Century, the authors show how Marx's law of value explains numerous issues in our modern world. In both advanced economies and the periphery, value theory provides a piercing analytical framework through which we can approach topics as varied as labour, profitability, automation and AI, the environment, nature and ecology, the role of China, imperialism and the state. This is an ambitious work that will appeal to both heterodox economists and labour movement activists alike, as it demonstrates the ongoing contemporary relevance of Marxist theory to current trends in political economy.

A robot can build a car. But a robot cannot buy a car ... The explosion in the development of computer- and robot-based manufacturing is seeing the rapid expansion of laborless production systems. Such systems create enormous instability, both for the overall world economy where money previously paid in wages is now invested in labor-saving technology and therefore cannot be spent on goods, and for workers whose jobs are being de-skilled or are simply disappearing. Bringing together contributions from workers employed in the new electronics and information industries with theorists in economics, politics and science, Cutting Edge provides an up-to-the-minute analysis of the complex relations between technology and work. Individual essays look at topics including the cyclical nature of a technologically driven economy, the privatization of knowledge which new information industries demand, the convergence of different economic sectors under the impact of digitalization, and the strategies which trade unionists and governments might deploy to protect jobs and living standards. Technology has the potential to end material scarcity and lay the foundations for higher forms of human fulfillment. But under existing power structures, it is more likely to exacerbate the poverty and misery under which most people live. Cutting Edge weighs that balance and, in helping us to understand how technology interacts with the production of goods and services, tips it in the direction of a more equal and creative world.

Transcending the arid formalism of present-day economic theory, Frontiers of Political Economy develops a new and accessible perspective on the world economy. Guglielmo Carchedi identifies and analyses three key features of modern capitalism: the rapidly increasing share of human labour needed for the advancement of science and technology rather than for the production of goods; the global, rather than national, nature of production, distribution and consumption; and the dominance of the oligopolies. This analysis enables Carchedi to explore new theoretical frontiers: from an original theory of mental and material labour to an investigation of the conditions under which mental labour produces value; from an assessment of the class structure of modern capitalism to an appraisal of the social content of science and technology; from an alternative account of crises, inflation and stagflation to a study of their relation to the destruction of value and to arms production. He also cast fresh light on a number of basic contemporary issues - including the present financial and monetary crisis - and surveys the most important recent controversies in language accessible to non-specialists.Rigorous and wide-ranging, but written with great lucidity, Frontiers of Political Economy is an essential book for both specialists and students in economics and politics.