Massimo Cingolani, E-Mail:
[email protected] Sylos Labini on Marx: An Attempt at a Balanced Assessment Based on Critical Thinking Massimo Cingolani (*) Draft dated 06 October 2013 JEL: B240 (History of Economic Thought since 1925: Socialist; Marxist; Sraffian), B290 (History of Economic Thought since 1925: Other), B510 (Current Heterodox Approaches: Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian), E200 (Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment: General (includes Measurement and Data), E600 (Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook: General) Key Words: Socialism, Post Keynesian synthesis, Sylos Labini, Abstract: Shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, Sylos Labini published a paper in the Italian journal Il Ponte entitled: “Carlo Marx: è tempo di un bilancio”, which started with the sentence: “Tutti gli uomini sbagliano: gli uomini modesti sbagliano modestamente e i loro errori sono agevolmente confutabili e producono danni limitati; gli uomini geniali sbagliano genialmente e i loro errori vengono individuati solo in tempi lunghi e provocano danni enormi. Fra gli uomini della seconda categoria dobbiamo annoverare Carlo Marx” 1. This article generated a debate, which was then published in a book in 1994. Twenty years later, when the neoliberal policies that have become fully hegemonic in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin wall have brought the Western economies in the largest economic crisis after the great depression, it seems useful to review Sylos Labini critical assessment of Marx to see if his judgment stands the test of time and to take inspiration from his critical method to discuss the options that are open for the future. (*) Massimo Cingolani is member of SIE and works at European Investment Bank.