Which theory argues that economic crises arise from class conflict and capital accumulation?

Marxian economics argues that capitalist crises are rooted in class conflict and the dynamics of capital accumulation.

Its foundations lie in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy, especially Capital. Marxian analysis focuses on the relationship between the capitalist class, which owns the means of production, and workers, who sell their labor. It examines surplus value, exploitation, the distribution of income, and the pressures created when firms continually reinvest and expand capital.

In this framework, competition encourages businesses to accumulate, raise productivity, and seek profit, while capitalism can generate overproduction, falling profitability, inequality, and recurring instability. Marx did not present one single, universally accepted crisis model, so later Marxian economists developed competing interpretations. The label is also broader than “Marxism” as a political doctrine: Marxian economics refers specifically to economic analysis inspired by Marx, and it may be used alongside other approaches. Austrian, supply-side, and neoclassical economics do not center class conflict and capital accumulation in the same way.