This book aims to show how Sraffa's theoretical contributions could be pursued in new directions, in effect providing an alternative paradigm to the postclassical economic theory and challenging the persistent dominance of a widespread economic culture based on that theory.

This book provides a point-by-point comparison of Sraffian and Marxian treatments of prices, profits, technological change, economic crises, environmental sustainability, and the moral case against capitalism, are presented in six core chapters. They explain how the Sraffian treatment surpasses the Marxian treatment in every case. Large professional literatures are thoroughly referenced throughout, with both Marxian and Sraffian theories presented in a highly accessible way. This book is of great importance to those who study Sraffa and Marx, as well as academics and students who are interested in political economy, history of economic thought and economic theory and philosophy.

This is part of a two-volume set, the price for which is #149.95.

This book draws on the work of one of the sharpest minds of the 20th century, Piero Sraffa. Ludwig Wittgenstein credited him for 'the most consequential ideas' of the Philosophical Investigations (1953) and put him high on his short list of geniuses. Sraffa's revolutionary contribution to economics was, however, lost to the world because economists did not pay attention to the philosophical underpinnings of his economics. Based on exhaustive archival research, Sinha presents an exciting new thesis that shows how Sraffa challenged the usual mode of theorizing in terms of essential and mechanical causation and, instead, argued for a descriptive or geometrical theory based on simultaneous relations. A consequence of this approach was a complete removal of 'agent's subjectivity' and 'marginal method' or counterfactual reasoning from economic analysis – the two fundamental pillars of orthodox economic theory.

This book presents a substantial collection of essays from a wide range of well respected scholars addressing several aspects of Piero Sraffa’s economics in light of continuing controversies over the interpretation that should be placed on his work. It moves beyond extant scholarship with an added emphasis on the philosophical dimension of Sraffa’s seminal work, Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Contributors probe new ways of thinking about the political economy of Sraffa and in doing so, alongside the comments to each contribution by other scholars, provide a cutting edge debate and discussion on non-mainstream economic theory. This book will be of interest to academics and advanced graduate students in economics, with additional interest from scholars in philosophy and the methodology of science.

This book presents a comprehensive account of more than 200 years of controversy on the classical theories of value and distribution. The author focuses on four, perhaps most critical classics — Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, David Ricardo’s Principles of Political Economy, Karl Marx’s Capital and Piero Sraffa’s Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. The book highlights several significant differences in the widely celebrated theories of the four authors as it searches for the ‘classical standpoint’ that separates them from the ‘moderns’. It also challenges canonical interpretations to analyse their flaws and weaknesses, in addition to the already obvious strengths, and critically engages with the major alternative interpretations and criticisms of the theories. With a new Afterword that follows up on the debates and developments since the first edition, this book will appeal to scholars and academics of economic theory and philosophy, as well as to the general reader.

For too long radical political economy has suffered for lack of a coherent alternative to formal Marxian economic theory. People have had to choose between (1) continuing to use a formal model based on the labor theory of value as Marx developed in Capital to justify and retain one’s opposition to capitalism, or (2) abandoning the formal Marxian framework as outdated, and risk losing a critical evaluation of capitalism. Radical Political Economy: Sraffa Versus Marx provides readers with a third choice. A point-by-point comparison of Sraffian and Marxian treatments of prices, profits, technological change, economic crises, environmental sustainability, and the moral case against capitalism, are presented in six core chapters. They explain how the Sraffian treatment surpasses the formal Marxian treatment in every case. Both Marxian and Sraffian theories are presented in a highly accessible way, while large professional literatures are thoroughly referenced throughout. Marx was not the first, but remains the greatest, critic of capitalism, and richly deserves his place in history. However it is time to use intellectual tools unavailable to Marx in the nineteenth century to improve upon his formal analysis. This book is of great importance to those who study Sraffa and Marx, as well as academics and students who are interested in political economy, the history of economic thought, and economic and philosophical theory.