Time has scarcely dulled the power of Karl Marx’s ideas, whose 207th birthday the world marks today (May 5). His vision of a post-capitalist society is the ‘invisible hand’ behind much of China’s remarkable progress. President Xi Jinping acknowledged this at the 2018 World Conference on Marxism in Beijing. He said, “Our belief in the scientific truth of Marxism has not only profoundly changed the world but also transformed China.”

The impact of Marx’s ideas on China is unmistakable: food security, housing, quality education and healthcare for all are achievements made possible through economic planning. These are hallmarks of a politics that delivers tangible results.

In contrast, our blind faith in the mantra ‘business is not the business of the state’ has failed to deliver even a fraction of what China has accomplished. We ignore Marx’s ideas – ideas that hold extraordinary relevance today – and pretend China’s rise never happened, all while clinging to the false promises of trickle-down economics. As we shall see below, this path will not bring us progress.

Four years ago, in these columns, I paid tribute to Marx by outlining his key ideas. This time, I turn to the political and intellectual ferment of mid-nineteenth-century Europe – the crucible in which his ideas were forged –........

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