Marx for our times

In the first three industrial revolutions, capitalism not only survived but also thrived. But has it finally exhausted its potential?

This month marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, perhaps the most influential political philosopher of our times. At a time when capitalism seems to be losing its way in its European heartland, and perhaps elsewhere too, it is appropriate to see what we can learn from Marx’s theory of how capitalism would evolve.

Marx understood the dynamics of capitalism well and recognised its historical role in The Communist Manifesto. He wrote about the capitalist's continuous drive for innovation and said “constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois