From: Paul Cockshott (wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK)
Date: Sun Apr 22 2007 - 17:44:12 EDT
The term Market Socialism as used by Alejandro is a bit too ambiguous to my liking. It groups together people who disagree on very important issues. I would not describe myself as a market socialist even though I am infavour of the use of certain market mechanisms in the allocation of consumer goods. What I oppose is the idea that a) money should be retained in a socialist economy b) that production should be organised around enterprises which have disposition over their own means of production and which reproduce themselves by the purchase and sale of commodities. My view is that if these two features are present what one has is actually a capitalist economy, albeit possibly one in which the final ownership of enterprises is vested either in workers cooperatives or in the state. Where properties a and b exist, then the means of production take the form of capital and whatever the formal ownership of the enterprises, may be, the logic of capitalist production relations will operate. My understanding is that Lange was quite close to the position I am arguing, and at a considerable distance from Roemer. Paul Cockshott www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc
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