# Das Kapital by Karl Marx

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Das Kapital by Karl Marx and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a separate analysis of capitalism from Marx's politics; critics say its labour theory of value is largely rejected.

## Why people recommend it

- Findings can be agreed with separately (1 comments): "One can agree to the findings in Das Kapital, and also not agree to the claims of the Communist Manifesto." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50246143))
- Essential reading even for critics (1 comments): "if you think Marx is objectionable then you really need to read Das Kapital" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48074033))

## What people warn about

- Labor theory of value largely rejected (1 comments): "Marx's labour theory of value is only a theory of where profits come from and is largely rejected." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49635779))
- Labor theory of value blamed for harm (1 comments): "The labor theory of value has done enormous amounts of damage to humans world-wide with its lies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49481425))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/capital-in-the-twenty-first-century.md): 12 recommend
- [Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-nations-fail.md): 9 recommend
- [Progress and Poverty by Henry George](https://hackerapproved.com/p/progress-and-poverty.md): 6 recommend
- [Free to Choose by Milton Friedman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/free-to-choose.md): 5 recommend
- [Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394607260?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780394607269) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Das Kapital by Karl Marx", https://hackerapproved.com/p/das-kapital/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).