This course will survey major issues in contemporary Marxian political economy, with a major emphasis on the use of Marxian theory to develop workable economic research projects on contemporary issues. We will strive for an accurate understanding of the concepts and methods of Marx's reasoning and contemporary critical discussion of Marx's ideas, together with a critical assessment of what they can contribute to contemporary economics. The topics covered will include: the labor theory of value and the transformation problem, analytical Marxism, Marx's theory of money and contemporary world monetary systems, Marx's analysis of the circuits of capital as the basis for empirical macroeconomic studies of contemporary economies, Marx's theories of the falling rate of profit and the long-term tendencies of capital accumulation as a foundation for understanding the contemporary development of world capitalism, and other topics.