Karl Marx Dabbles in the Market (and rationalizes his success)

On his 194th birthday we celebrate Karl the Capitalist!

Letter, Karl Marx to his uncle, Lion Phillips, 25June1864:

"I have, which will surprise you not a little, been speculating partly in American funds, but more especially in English stocks, which are springing up like mushrooms this year (in furtherance of every imaginable and unimaginable joint stock enterprise) are forced up to a quite unreasonable level and then, for most part, collapse. In this way, I have made over £400 now that the complexity of the political situation affords greater scope, I shall begin all over again. It’s a type of operation that makes small demands on one’s time, and it’s worth while running some risk in order to relieve the enemy of his money."  

327: Marx to Lion Philips by Karl Heinrich Marx, in Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: Collected Works, vol. 41, Marx and Engels: 1860-1864. [by] Karl Marx and Frederick Engels and translated by Peter Ross and Betty Ross. (International Publishers, New York, NY, 1985). pp. 542-544. [Bibliographic Details] [View Documents] 

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