Socialist Optimism: An Alternative Political Economy for the Twenty-First Century

530 Pages·2016·3.23 MB·English

by  Paul Auerbach (auth.)

Socialist Optimism
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Socialist Optimism
An Alternative Political Economy for the
Twenty-First Century
Paul Auerbach
Reader in Economics, Kingston University, UK
SOCIALIST OPTIMISM: AN ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Copyright © Paul Auerbach 2016
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published 2016 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of Nature America, Inc.,
One New York Plaza, Suite 4500 New York, NY 10004–1562.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
ISBN: 978-1-137-56395-8
E-PDF ISBN: 978-1-137-56396-5
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-137-56396-5
Distribution in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world is by Palgrave
Macmillan®, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England,
company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Auerbach, Paul, author.
Title: Socialist optimism : an alternative political economy for the twenty-first
century / Paul Auerbach.
Description: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY : Palgrave
Macmillan, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015039321
Subjects: LCSH: Socialism. | Economics--Political aspects.
Classification: LCC HX73 .A84 2016 | DDC 335—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015039321
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
A catalogue record for the book is available from the British Library
To Caroline, for everything
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Contents
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
Part I Socialism and Central Planning 1 5
Introduction 1 5
1 Planning and Spontaneous Order 17
Planning as an aspect of rationality 17
Hayek and the constructivist fallacy 22
Social outcomes without planning? 28
Spontaneity and planning 32
2 The Giant Firm and the Plan 37
The Great Transformation 37
Modernity and the giant firm 39
The giant firm: size and complexity 42
The giant firm: the creation of management 48
Planning and the giant firm 54
3 Technocratic Planning and the Emergence of a Socialist
Orthodoxy 66
Liberalism and the Great Transformation 66
The ideology of technocratic planning 70
Socialism and technocratic planning 85
4 Socialist Theory and Practice 97
Central planning and real existing socialism 97
Socialist calculation 110
Competitive dynamics in capitalism and socialism 115
5 Ironies of History: Markets, Planning and Competition 126
Postwar debates 127
The acceleration of competition 139
The demise of technocratic planning: the Alternative
Economic Strategy 143
vii
viii Contents
Part II Human and Economic Development 1 57
Introduction 1 57
6 E ducation and Economic Growth: The Statistical and
Historical Record 1 61
E ducation and growth: the statistical nexus 1 62
H ow seriously do we take the results? I 1 70
I nterlude: technology as an elixir 1 75
E ducation and industrial revolutions 1 78
H ow seriously do we take the results? II 1 84
7 E ducation as a Social Process 1 91
H uman capital theory 1 91
E ducational development and external effects 1 94
E ducation wars 2 02
R adical prescriptions 2 12
A missing element 2 23
8 T he Working and Living Environment 2 25
L earning in the working and living environment 2 26
E mployment and training 2 36
S ecurity and household planning 2 42
9 T he US as Exemplar and Paradigm 2 49
U S history – the peculiar and the explicable 2 50
E conomic development and government enterprise 2 58
L ate Rome 2 70
10 Economic Growth and Inequality 277
W hy is growth desirable? 2 77
E conomic capacity and lags in economic development 2 82
I nequality and national income 2 92
S ocialism vs. ‘economic realities’ 3 05
Part III Socialism and Human Possibilities 3 17
Introduction 3 17
11 E ducation in a Free Society 3 19
H ayek’s dilemma 3 19
I s it all a waste of time? 3 23
C ulture 3 35
S trategies utopian and practical 3 41
Contents ix
12 E quality and Democratic Control 3 64
A n overview 3 64
E conomic policies for working and living in the world 367
F inancial conundrums 3 78
P rogressive taxation 3 95
P olitical economy: public affairs 3 99
T he political economy of work 4 07
Conclusion 4 22
Notes 432
Bibliography 469
Index 5 11