Ideology, markets and money

Contemporary economic theory is considered in terms of the science/ideology distinction. Marx's critique of Hegel is then used to derive a demarcation criterion that sharply separates scientific knowledge from ideology. This critique interprets Hegelian methodology as fundamentally ideological because it understands reality in terms of abstract thought and then hypostatises that thought as reality. This process is more generally treated in terms of Marx's theory of value and money, in which money really does do what Hegelian logic purports to do. The consequences of considering Marxian theory in this way provide some purchase on the logic and limitations of contemporary economic theory.