Sismondi, Marx and Grossman: Method, Contradictions of the Commodity, and Crisis

Abstract

The influence of Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de Sismondi on Karl Marx and his relevance for Marxists has been controversial. Henryk Grossman’s distinctive treatment of these issues and the essence of Sismondi’s originality was based on detailed examination of Sismondi’s economic publications and Marx’s references to him. Grossman’s conclusions highlighted important aspects of Marx’s work, particularly the contradiction between use-value and value, hitherto and subsequently underplayed or abandoned, that are still important for Marxist analysis of capitalism today.