In his early years, Engels wrote a series of genius works such as A Critical Outline of National Economics, which promoted Marx’s study of political economy.  Marx and Engels exchanged views and discussed political economy through letters, promoted the gradual formation of Marxist political economy, and its enrichment, development and improvement thereafter. Engels’ important works such as Anti-Dühring and The Origin of the Family, Private Ownership and the State, further clarified the object of political economy research, enriched the connotation of the theory of value and the theory of surplus value，and revealed the historical trend of the emergence, development and evolution of the family, private ownership and the state from the viewpoint of historical materialism. After the death of Marx, Engels completed the editing and publication of volumes 2 and 3 of Das Kapital, made an indelible contribution to the founding and development of Marxist political economy. At the end of the 19th century, when the capitalism began to turned from free competition to monopoly, Engels revealed the inner connection between free competition and monopoly through an indepth study of this phenomenon and summarized the basic features of monopoly capitalism.

Editor: Zhong Yao

Studies on Marxism.2020.No.10.