From: Ernesto Screpanti (screpanti@UNISI.IT)
Date: Wed May 12 2004 - 06:55:33 EDT
It might be useful to recall that Marx and Engels, in the Critique of the Gotha Program, proposed a social policy of public expenditure "for the common satisfaction of needs, such as schools, health services etc. From the outset this part [of the total product of society] grows considerably in comparison with present-day society and grows in proportion as the new society develps." In the Manifesto Marx and Engels also proposed a fiscal policy based on "a heavy progressive or graduated income tax". Both measures are envisaged as part of a process of building of a communist society. It is interesting to note that Engels intepreted progressive taxation as embodying the principle "from each according to his ability". On the other hand, the public provision of goods at low or zero price allocates resources on the ground of the principle "to each according to his needs". I deal with these problems in my recent essay: "Freedom and Social Goods: Rethinking Marx's Theory of Communism", Rethinking Marxism, 16, April 2004, pp. 185-206. In solidarity Ernesto Screpanti
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun May 16 2004 - 00:00:01 EDT