The Mirror of Production is a 1973 book by French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard. It is a systematic critique of Marxism. Baudrillard's thesis is that Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism is too rooted in assumptions and values of political economy which Marx attempted to critique to provide a sufficient framework for radical action. According to Baudrillard, the fault of Marxism is in prioritizing the very concepts that undergird capital, for example, necessity, value, and labor. He furthermore argues that the Marxist view fails to take into account the role of signs and symbols in the production process, as well as the increasing importance of consumer culture. The book is a semiotic critique of the political economy of the sign.