The age of monopoly capital : selected correspondence of Paul A. Baran and Paul M. Sweezy, 1949-1964

"The rich correspondence that preceded the publication of Monopoly Capital Paul A. Baran and Paul M. Sweezy were two of the leading Marxist economists of the twentieth century. Their seminal work, Monopoly Capital: An Essay on the American Economic and Social Order, published in 1966, two years after Baran's death, was in many respects the culmination of fifteen years of correspondence between the two, from 1949 to 1964. During those years, Baran, a professor of economics at Stanford, and Sweezy, a former professor of economics at Harvard, then co-editing Monthly Review in New York City, were separated by three thousand miles. Their intellectual collaboration required that they write letters to one another frequently and, in the years closer to 1964, almost daily. Their surviving correspondence consists of some one thousand letters. The letters selected for this volume illuminate not only the development of the political economy that was to form the basis of Monopoly Capital, but also the historical context--the McCarthy Era, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis--in which these thinkers were forced to struggle. Not since Marx and Engels carried on their epistolary correspondence has there has been a collection of letters offering such a detailed look at the making of a prescient critique of political economy--and at the historical conditions from which that critique was formed"--Provided by publisher

The rich correspondence that preceded the publication ofMonopoly Capital Paul A. Baran and Paul M. Sweezy were twoof the leading Marxist economists of the twentieth century. Theirseminal work, Monopoly Capital: An Essay on the American Economicand Social Order, published in 1966, two years after Baran's death,was in many respects the culmination of fifteen years ofcorrespondence between the two, from 1949 to 1964. During thoseyears, Baran, a professor of economics at Stanford, and Sweezy, aformer professor of economics at Harvard, then co-editing MonthlyReview in New York City, were separated by three thousand miles.Their intellectual collaboration required that they write lettersto one another frequently and, in the years closer to 1964, almostdaily. Their surviving correspondence consists of some one thousandletters. The letters selected for this volume illuminate not onlythe development of the political economy that was to form the basisof Monopoly Capital, but also the historical context-the McCarthyEra, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis-in which these thinkerswere forced to struggle. Not since Marx and Engels carried on theirepistolary correspondence has there has been a collection ofletters offering such a detailed look at the making of a prescientcritique of political economy-and at the historical conditions fromwhich that critique was formed.

Cover Title Copyright Contents Dedication Preface Introduction Editors’ Note on the Text 1. The Early Postwar Years, 1949–1952 2. The Cold War Years to 1956 3. A New Left Critique 4. The Search for a Method 5. The Magnum Opus and the Cuban Revolution 6. The Kennedy Years: Civilian Government Spending 7. Inflation, Imperialism, and the Cuban Missile Crisis 8. Here Is Rhodes; Jump Here! 9. The Last Struggles Chronology Bibliography Acknowledgments Glossary of Names Index The Early Postwar Years, 1949-1952 -- The Cold War Years To 1956 -- A New Left Critique -- The Search For A Method -- The Magnum Opus And The Cuban Revolution -- The Kennedy Years: Civilian Government Spending -- Inflation, Imperialism, And The Cuban Missile Crisis -- Here Is Rhodes; Jump Here! -- Last Struggles. Edited By Nicholas Baran And John Bellamy Foster. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.