Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital during the late industrial revolution, as Europe underwent
a wrenching transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy. In this monumental work, Marx
argued that capitalism is both inefficient and immoral, relying upon the exploitation of workers by owners of
capital. Many modern ideas about profits, interest, monopoly, and the wastefulness of the business cycle
find their roots in the Marxian view of economics.

Great Economic Thinkers is a collection of presentations that explain in understandable language the major
ideas of history's most important economists. Special emphasis is placed on each thinker's attitude toward
capitalism, revealing their influence in today's debate on economic progress and prosperity.

Institute for Human Studies