Nouriel 'Dr. Doom' Roubini: "Karl Marx Was Right"

I had read the linked piece by Prof. Roubini a few weeks ago. (Roubini is renowned for making provocative statements to garner attention, which is probably why hes chosen to utilize the name 'Karl Marx' recently.) The thesis of his article is basically the standard Keynesian argument which blames the looming prospect of a global depression on governments throughout the world failing to adequately address the current economic crisis through sufficient stimulus programs and increased financial regulation—notice, this has nothing to do with traditional Marxian crisis theory, which is predicated on the falling rate of profit hypothesis. To be fair, a number of contemporary Marxist economists have abandoned the idea of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall (which depends entirely on an acknowledgment of the labor theory of value) and have instead adopted a more Keynesian analysis of capitalist crises; personally, I remain undecided as to which theory I find more compelling.

The most controversial point Roubini raises is his suggestion that market forces, if left unfettered, have the potential to destroy the entire capitalist mode of production—confirming the radical view that "capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction." However, in the article he ensures that readers don't misconstrue his statements as signs that he possesses any anti-capitalist sentiments himself: "So Karl Marx, it seems, was partly right in arguing that globalisation, financial intermediation run amok, and redistribution of income and wealth from labour to capital could lead capitalism to self-destruct (though his view that socialism would be better has proven wrong)." Like all "respectable," mainstream Keynesians, Roubini views his economic prescriptions as methods by which to help 'save capitalism from itself.'