A People’s Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics - Hadas Thier

Published in 2020 by Haymarket Books, Chicago, IL

293 pages

ISBN: 978-1-64259-169-9

In the first two decades of the 21st century, capitalism has been beset with a series of crises. The Dot Com Bubble of the early 2000s, the 2008 global financial crisis, the European debt crisis, and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic have furthered economic inequality, as working-class families fall further into debt and the ultra-wealthy are bailed out by the state. Some economists, in their attempts to defend capitalism, insist that these crises are the results of external factors disrupting the free market or of corrupt individuals who take advantage of the system. Others, especially younger generations who have seen economic instability their entire lives, are beginning to see that this inequality and precariousness is hard-wired into the system. Additionally, in the aftermath of the Trump administration and the reestablishment of the neoliberal order (or “capitalism with a human face”) via the Biden administration, many Millenial and Gen Z voters are becoming increasingly drawn toward Leftist critiques of our failing systems. Far from being consigned to the dustbins of history, the work of capitalism’s old critics, such as Karl Marx, have recaptured the interest of an emerging (if still marginal) Left. 

Yet, to many in America, the mere mention of the name Marx conjures images of the scary boogeymen of “cultural Marxism” bent on destroying the foundations of Western values. Thanks to the legacy of McCarthyism and the Cold War, Americans tend to be particularly suspicious of any criticism of capitalism, perceiving it as an attack on democracy. These reactionary depictions -- often espoused and propagated by right-wing figures and shameless grifters such as Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Dennis Prager, Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, Tim Pool, Tomi Lahren, and many others -- are little more than inaccurate, simplified misrepresentations of Marx’s actual writings and thoughts. Yet, it is easy to mischaracterize Marx, since most of us -- including the figures that castigate him -- have never deeply read or seriously considered Marx’s work.

To be fair, most of us cannot be faulted for not reading Marx. His work is rather dense, dry, and fragmentary, and it can often feel like the economic and political concerns of 19th century Europe have little bearing on our current globalized world. Yet, far from disproving Marx’s thought, the past century and a half since the publication of Das Kapital has only helped to cement Marx as an important and prescient figure to consider, whether you ultimately agree with his conclusions or not. Marx’s work has served as a springboard for a variety of academic disciplines, such as sociology, political science, and philosophy. Most of us, however, don’t have the time (or patience) to sit through three volumes of dense mid 19th century economic and political analysis. Fortunately, activists and scholars have been working to make Marx’s influential ideas increasingly accessible in recent years. Adding to this discourse, in her 2020 book A People’s Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics, Brooklyn activist, writer, and socialist Hadas Thier provides us with an accessible entry-point into understanding the basics of Marx’s economic critique. 

Overview: 

For many of us, attempting to understand the inner machinations of how the economy works seems to be an insurmountable task. Following the thoughts of Hayek, economists have incessantly insisted that the economy is just too difficult and complex for anyone to fully understand (a point expressed and explored in more detail in Quinn Slobodian’s Globalists). This pervasive stance discourages the average person from digging into how the economy is built on exploitation and prevents us from changing it. Yet, if Marx’s famous proclamation that “the philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it,” then we must understand the basics of capitalism if we have any hope of challenging it. This is where Thier’s latest book comes into the picture. 

Steering clear of complicated academic jargon and grounding her explanations in concrete examples, Thier hopes to bring the insights of Marx’s Capital (primarily Volumes I & III) to a popular audience. To begin, she deftly and succinctly traces the development of capitalism in the Western world, emerging out of the feudalism of the late Middle Ages and the enclosure movement (aka. the creation of private property). While we often take capitalism to be the natural order of things, Thier reminds us that it is a relatively recent development in history, and has always relied on the subjugation of both human beings and the natural world.

After providing the reader with historical context, Thier moves into economic theory as she describes the concepts of money, commodities, and value, distinguishing between utility value and exchange value. Here, she also introduces the reader to the concept of the labor theory of value, in which value is added to commodities through the employment and utilization of labor. The surplus labor is extracted from the laborer through wages that, by the necessity for profit, are below the actual monetary value of their labor. After unpacking the concepts of capital, labor, profit, competition, and class society, Thier also covers how these concepts, rooted in what Marx called the circuit of capital, inevitably lead to the accumulation and centralization of wealth. Along the way, she dispels the myths of free-market capitalism, while also bringing Marx’s insights into topics such as colonialism, the difference between marginal utility and value theory, and the rise of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. 

In the final chapters, Thier examines the roles of credit and financial markets in revealing the inherent contradictions of capitalism, explaining why our economic system is so prone to crisis. Neoliberal economists cannot account for these crises, Thier argues, since they only examine the surface-level symptoms of capitalism (prices, monetary policies, financial markets, etc). Marx, however, saw these crises as a feature of capitalism’s functioning. Far from these crises being imposed by external forces, they are integral to the continual functioning of capitalism. Yet, as a consequence, these crises widen inequality, produce exorbitant amounts of waste, and prioritize profits over wider human flourishing. 

Commendations: 

First and foremost, A People’s Guide to Capitalism serves as a fantastic introduction to the bare essentials of Marxist economics. Often, books on Marx are written by academics who struggle to relate his work in a clear or accessible way. By contrast, Thier, with her background in activism and grassroots organizing, knows how to communicate the basics of Marx’s economic thought in a relatively simple to understand way. The book is essentially a summary of Marx’s central theses in Capital, although Thier recommends utilizing her work as a starting place to begin reading Marx). She accomplishes this by clearly defining her terms, providing a comprehensive glossary of terms, and relating Marxist economics to the 21st century, making it relevant to the common reader.

Far from being a boring and irrelevant system of thought, Thier brings a Marxist economic perspective to current events, commenting on the rise of bitcoin, the housing crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Also to be commended is Thier’s commitment to intersectionality throughout the work, as she brings issues of gender, race, colonialism, and imperialism to bear on her retelling of Marx’s theories. These work to expand Marx’s theory into our contemporary discourse, further showing his relevance for our historical moment. 

While Thier quotes extensively from Marx’s work, her most novel contributions come in the form of her “sidebars” throughout the chapters. In these segments, she tackles common objections to Marx’s theory, as well as dismantling various myths that persist in other economic systems, such as neoclassical and Keynesian economics. These are incredibly helpful, as they illuminate competing economic theories and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. While, predictably, Marx ends up winning these battles in Thier’s view, it’s still a well-written and relatively balanced perspective. Thier is also incredibly open and honest about her own biases, limitations, and shortcomings and states them clearly from the outset of the book. This sort of intellectual honesty is refreshing, and it gave Thier’s writing a warm, conversational tone while also remaining intellectually rigorous. 

Thier does an excellent job in making Marx’s economic theory accessible to the average 21st-century reader, illustrating how it is relevant for us today. For those who have been interested in, yet intimidated by, Marx’s work, this book serves as a phenomenal entry-point. Even if you’re not familiar with economics, Thier is a wonderful guide in helping one understand the contradictions of capitalism and how it leads to inequality, accumulation, and the centralization of wealth. 

Critiques: 

That being said, one must keep this in mind: this book is a basic introduction, and is strictly concerned with Marx’s economic critique. Thus, some of Thier’s economic explanations are a bit oversimplified, which, to be fair, is necessary to keep the book concise and accessible to a popular audience. Yet, for those who are already familiar with the basics of Marx, there’s not much new material here (aside from her “sidebars,” in which she responds to various neoclassical arguments and why they fall short). Also, one must remember that Thier’s retelling is just one of many competing interpretations of Marx’s thoughts, and while she has done a phenomenal job in breaking Capital into its simplest elements, there is also much contention regarding how Marx’s economic theory can account for a globalized economic system. 

Accordingly, since Thier is solely concerned with Marx’s economic critique, her work does not mention the political and philosophical aspects of Marx’s work. As such, we do not get any background on Marx’s concept of dialectics, which is pretty central to his thought. The multifaceted dimensions of Marx’s Capital, which contains literary references, political invectives, and philosophical musings, are all stripped in favor of a purely economic perspective. While this is wholly understandable, it still misses out on opportunities to introduce readers, even on a surface level, to these concepts. This is especially apparent in the lack of Marx’s hope for a Communist future and highlights the work’s lack of an alternative vision forward beyond mere critique. There’s also no mention of socialist struggles and the rise of the neoliberal consensus of the 20th century, which creates a kind of disconnect between the 19th-century critiques and our present moment. Connecting these dots would give the reader a greater context for how we arrived at our current (mis)understandings of Marx and socialism.

Conclusion:

Overall, A People’s Guide to Capitalism succeeds in its central purpose: to provide the reader with an immensely accessible and understandable overview of Marx’s economic critique of capitalism. It is a complex subject, and Thier does a phenomenal job in giving us a quick, but thorough summary of Marx’s Capital. While it should by no means replace reading Marx in his own words (Thier says as much in the introduction), it can serve as an immensely useful companion to his work. As an introduction to Marxist economics, I can think of almost no better entry point than this book. Thier shows us that capitalism can be critiqued not only from a moral framework but also on a social and economic basis as well. Marx, whether you love or loathe him, can help us see the inherent weaknesses of capitalism and challenge its dominance over our lives. While far from the only framework we need to understand our world, if we are hoping to create a more just and democratic society for all people, then perhaps Marx’s interventions still give us an excellent starting point to do so.