Re: [OPE] II-Socialist Cybernetics in Allende’s Chile.

From: Alejandro Agafonow (alejandro_agafonow@yahoo.es)
Date: Wed Jun 04 2008 - 11:25:34 EDT


Well Jerry, I am not a specialist on Chile’s history and my knowledge about Allende’s Government is not deep. But I could agree with your definition.
                           
Nevertheless, the kind of information system that they tried to establish there, could be useful for many types of economies, ranging from a Capitalist mixed economy to a planned economy like the one proposed by Cottrell & Cockshott.
 
In fact, the Operation Room (Opsroom) proposed by Stafford Beer and later redefined by Carlos Matus as his “Sala Situacional” (Situational Room), could help to run a Socialist mixed economy (Market Socialism). For example, since in the mandatory price mechanism we have to monitor the level of production effectively sold off in a competitive market by each firm, this room could offer a valuable tool to take decisions concerning the substitution of mangers, depending on their efficiency record shown by the increment of the production sold off.
 
In the positive price mechanism, James Yunker’s Bureau of Public Ownership has to monitor firms’ proceeds to take the same decisions concerning managers’ continuity. Here the “Sala Situacional” could be useful too, besides the display of the usual information we need in a market economy to take macroeconomic decisions.
 
Of course, in a labour value accounting economy the information system needs to be far more complex.
This Opsroom is like part of a lost civilization that we should try to recover in one way or another.
 
Kind regards,A. Agafonow



----- Mensaje original ----
De: Gerald Levy <jerry_levy@verizon.net>
Para: Outline on Political Economy mailing list <ope@lists.csuchico.edu>
Enviado: miércoles, 4 de junio, 2008 13:59:57
Asunto: Re: [OPE] II-Socialist Cybernetics in Allende’s Chile.

 
Hi Alejandro A:
 
You do recognize that Chile under the Allende (Unidad Popular)
government was NOT socialist, right?    Strictly speaking, that
was cybernetics in a capitalist nation with a 'socialist' (social
democratic) -led government.
 
In solidarity, Jerry


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