Editor's note: A Spanish translation of this article is available here. Introduction The notion that the rich are rich because they’re frugal, smart, entrepreneurial, and hardworking, and that the poor are poor because they’re wasteful, lazy, stupid, and irresponsible...
Engels on the housing question: Wishful thinking vs. real solutions
Editor's Note: This article accompanies our study guide for Engels' "The Housing Question." Introduction Frederick Engels is best known for his theoretical and political work he undertook alongside his lifelong comrade, Karl Marx. Yet Engels made other important...
Silvia Federici: The exploitation of women and the development of capitalism
Silvia Federici’s Caliban and the Witch is a classic work of anti-capitalist feminism. The book examines capitalism’s investment in sexism and racism, showing how the consolidation of the capitalist system depended on the subjugation of women, the enslavement of black...
PSL Course: Marx’s “Capital” (vol. 1)
Course description: The first volume of Karl Marx's Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, which was originally published in 1867, remains a key resource for understanding the logic of capitalism to this day. Marx wrote the book--which was the only volume of...
The myth of democracy and the rule of the banks (part one)
Editor's note: This two-part series, which was initially published as a pamphlet in 2012 titled "The Myth of Democracy and the Rule of the Banks," lays out, in accessible language, the causes and consequences of the 2007-2008 economic crash. What is known as the...
The myth of democracy and the rule of the banks (part two)
Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series that was initially published as the pamphlet, "The Myth of Democracy and the Rule of the Banks," by PSL in 2012. Read the first part, which includes an updated preface, here. Crimes of the bankers--a few examples...
A Marxist approach to technology
In the last few decades, technological developments--particularly concerning automation--have transformed the economy in such a profound way that many are comparing this era to the Industrial Revolution. Some capitalist economists downplay the resulting loss of jobs,...
The capitalist university: Built on admissions scandals
On March 12, 2019, the public learned that several prominent U.S. universities had admitted at least 50 students based solely on bribes made by their parents. A seven-year investigation by the FBI nicknamed “Operation Varsity Blues” concluded that well-respected...
Production, overproduction and overproduction crises
Author’s note: The following article was mostly written before Donald Trump became president-elect. His electoral victory if anything strengthens the thesis presented that imperialist governments, led by the U.S., will soon shift from a focus on monetary policy toward...