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I'm not sure I want to sign on to this concept, but I think it's worth
discussing. I am puzzled as to how to imagine a society operating an
advanced division of labor economy without recourse to the market, and I
think we should be thinking about how to adapt Marxist thinking about
socialism to Hayek's point that markets are more important as informational
than as allocational mechanisms. (Of course, they also redistribute...)
The points from my 1982 paper (which are also in Understanding Capital)
aren't mine, but Marx's. He makes this point in criticism of "utopian
socialists", and is particularly clear about the issue of the continued
existence of a surplus product in the Critique of the Gotha Programme.
I suppose the Menshevik position has to be for a better capitalism, one
that leads more rapidly to socialism, but I'm not sure what that means
politically.
Duncan
>Duncan says:
>>
>>I thought the Mensheviks argued for an interpretation of Marx which
>>emphasized capitalism's historical role as preparing the ground for
>>socialism by developing the forces of production, which was what I had in
>>mind on a world scale. Didn't the Mensheviks argue for critical support of
>>the nascent Russian bourgeoisie in the 1917 crisis?
>
>Does the 'menshevik scenario' have something to do with a view you
>expressed in your (1982) piece on the 'transformation problem'? I seem to
>remember you suggested (in my view, correctly) that the existence of
>surplus product doesn't imply capitalist social relations, the form in
>which the surplus is appropriated; but from this you drew the conclusion
>that workers should forget about trying to eliminate the former, and
>concentrate on getting rid of the latter.
>
>So, 1) how does the market socialism you now envisage differ from other
>visions - say John Roemer's? and 2) which national bourgeosie will you be
>supporting through the various crises of the new millenium; or does the
>'world scale' create a small problem?
>
>comradely,
>Nicky
Duncan K. Foley
Department of Economics
Graduate Faculty
New School University
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New York, NY 10003
(212)-229-5906
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e-mail: foleyd@cepa.newschool.edu
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webpage: http://cepa.newschool.edu/~foleyd
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