Foster's initial research centered on Marxian political economies and theories of capitalist development, with a focus on Paul Sweezy and Paul Baran's theory of monopoly.
福斯特最初的研究集中在马克思的政治经济学和资本主义发展理论上，重点是保罗·斯威齐和保罗·巴兰的垄断理论。