This book investigates whether a coherent Marxian economic analysis can be constructed while discarding the traditional labor theory of value. Spencer J. Pack, an economist specializing in the history of economic thought, examines the critiques leveled by Joan Robinson and Ian Steedman against Marxian foundations. He argues that by integrating Sraffian commodity theory, one can maintain the core of Marxian social and economic critique without relying on the labor theory of value as a necessary analytical pillar.

Scholars in the field of political economy recognize this work as a significant contribution to the post-Sraffian debate regarding Marxian methodology. Readers frequently note the technical density of the prose, which requires a strong background in both classical and neo-Ricardian economic theory to fully grasp the arguments presented.