ABSTRACT
In this chapter I consider the possible reactions of Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen to the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. I begin by outlining John Henry’s attitude to the two thinkers in his The Making of Neoclassical Economics (1990), in his John Bates Clark (1995) and in his more recent work. Subsequent sections speculate on how first Marx and then Veblen might have responded to the global financial crisis, including brief discussions of their views on the role of money and finance in capitalist economies and their respective models of economic crisis. I then consider Veblen’s verdict on Marxian economics and the critical reactions of some later Marxists to Veblen. I conclude by reflecting on what the attitudes of the two men might have been to the prospect of reforming capitalism to reduce the frequency and severity of crises.
