Karl Marx and Milton Friedman: bedfellows in thought

Purpose – The paper aims to offer a viewpoint that economic surplus is a notion shared by economists as diverse as Karl Marx and Milton Friedman. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is an interpretation and critique of the literature of the work by Marx and Friedman. Findings – The paper finds the two men's respective writings bear out the commonality while recognizing that they drew radically different implications from their common perception. Elucidating the commonality is a worthwhile exercise even though the elucidation might not interest the broad range of economists. Originality/value – The paper expresses a viewpoint that economic surplus is a notion shared by diverse economists.