The Belgian Marxist economist Ernest Mandel was born on this day in 1923 and died in 1995 at the age of 72. In and around the year 1970, Mandel was considered one of the most dangerous intellectuals in the world. Countries such as Australia, France, Switzerland, the United States, and West Germany officially barred him from entering.

When Mandel wanted to complete his PhD at Berlin’s Freie Universität in 1972, the doctoral committee had to examine him at his Brussels home because the West German authorities would not allow him to cross the border. The Bonn government headed by the Social Democratic leader Willy Brandt correctly believed that Mandel’s revolutionary convictions were intertwined with his activity as an economist.

Mandel’s doctoral thesis subsequently appeared in several different languages and sparked debates across the globe. The revised and updated English version, titled Late Capitalism, was published in 1975. The phrase “late capitalism” has become part of the English language, used by many people who have never heard of Mandel. Yet almost half a century later, does the book itself still have anything to say to us about the capitalist world in which we live?