This article presents a critical view of the ideas of Eugen Varga, the leading theorist of the third communist international. Vargas examined various aspects of the economic cycle, the major crises that afflicted the capitalist world at the time, the evolution of various capitalist countries and State capitalism. Late in his life he came under heavy fire from Stalin's co-partisans, and was stripped of his post, though he was subsequently restored to office.
Key words: Crisis, capitalism, cycle, communism, Stalinism.