Marx and the foundations of capitalist economic dynamics

The purpose of the paper is to trace the essential connections between the workof Marx and the foundations of capitalist economic dynamics. The main point is that Marx’s“laws of motion” of the capitalist economy have been thought to be effective at the level ofcapital in general, whereas a theory of capitalist economic dynamics as such must lead tomore concrete determinations, which cannot arise unless the level of competition, or the“plurality of capitals”, is fully taken into account. After a short introduction, the 2nd sectiondiscusses four different notions of competition that can be found in The Capital, underliningthe one concerning the economic laws of motion, whereby every capital seeks to get surplusprofits by means of new methods of production and new products, leading to relativesurplus value production. But competition still emerges here in its general features, which do not suffice to establish a dynamic theory. The 3rd section concludes this paper raising somebasic elements needed to develop such a theory. After a preliminary discussion of the reasonsto dismiss the equilibrium paradigm in a dynamic economy and of the role of time – bothhistorical and theoretical -, it closes with a reference to the theoretical forms of dynamics: instability,crisis, trend, and business cycle, where emphasis is put in the last two. JEL Classification: B51; E11; E32; P11.