The Economic Calculation Debate

Featured Article: Socialist Renewal: Lessons from the "Calculation" Debate by Fikret Adaman and Pat Devine

"The insights of both Dobb and the (modern) Austrians are powerful. At the risk of over simplification it could be said that, at a technical level, Dobb’s insight identifies the fundamental systemic problem of capitalism, while the Austrians’ insight identifies the fundamental systemic problem of centralized administrative command planning. Yet Dobb’s advocacy of central planning fails to address the Austrians’ insight, and the Austrians’ advocacy of the capitalist market fails to address Dobb’s insight. Participatory democratic planning (unlike market socialism) offers a way of combining the two insights." (go to article)