Money (2009)

Book Review from the January 2009 issue of the Socialist Standard

Marx’s Theory of the Genesis of Money. By Samezō Kuruma, translated with an introduction by Michael Schauerte, Outskirts Press, 2008

Money can function as a means of exchange, a measure of value, a general equivalent, a standard of price, a store of value. Samezō Kuruma takes a close look at some of the key theoretical issues related to Marx’s concept of money. Kuruma (1893-1982) was a Japanese Marxist economist and the text here is translated by a member of our American companion party. He also provides an introduction which seeks to outline the answers to how, why and through what is a commodity money. Karuma’s text, however, is purely analytical in its approach and is devoid of historical context, a common failing amongst many Japanese writers on Marxian economics.

Lew Higgins