Marx and the theory of money as a commodity: Logical foundations

Abstract

The material nature of money – if commodity or not – is highly controversial in the realms of Marxist theory. A significant number of contemporary Marxist authors believes – against all evidence and without demonstration – that Marx’s theory is compatible with forms of money that are not commodities. This article seeks to demonstrate that, in Marx’s theory, without any doubt, money should be a commodity as a result of the logical structure of capitalism and of the theory, and not for a convention of his time, as some authors argue. This article is divided into two parts. In the first part the textual evidence pointing unambiguously to the commodity character of money is presented. The second part contains a detailed exposition of the theoretical framework developed by Marx, in order to demonstrate that, from the point of view of the internal logic of his theory, and not for other reasons, money must necessarily be a commodity.