Marx’s Anti-Quantity Theory of Money: A Critical Evaluation

One of Marx’s most important, original contributions to political economy is his theory of value-form and capital-form, in which the category of money goes through stages of dialectical development from the accidental form to the universal form (gold money), money as the general form of capital and, finally, fictitious capital. Marx’s theory of the monetary mechanism, which involves the anti-quantity theory, is equally important but has rarely been discussed in Marxian literature. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate Marx’s theory of the monetary mechanism and to show that Marx’s treatment is incomplete. Moreover, the theory, in its classical form, contains serious logical flaws.