Marx on Public Debt: Fiscal Expropriation and Capital Reproduction

Marx devoted little attention to the functions of the State (and, particularly, to the role of public debt) in the capitalist system, and in more recent times, little attention has been devoted to this issue on the part of Marxist scholars. Starting from a reconstruction of Marx’s view on this issue, this article aims to analyze the effects of the expansion of public debt on capital reproduction in Marx’s thought and to derive a criterion of public debt sustainability consistent with Marx’s view.