Marxian theories of money, credit and crisis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of recent interpretations of the essential properties of capitalist money within the Marxian literature. It argues that Marx’s original theory of money provides a coherent analytical framework by which more recent theories of endogenous money and credit creation can be assimilated. It distinguishes the various forms and functions of money and how these have evolved historically, and proposes that the original Marxian theory of commodity money provides a sound foundation with which to interpret the emergence of finance capital and monetary circuits of credit. Given this it is thus possible to examine the modern dynamics of recurrent financial crises from the standpoint of the general laws of capital accumulation.