Overview
Can we plan an economy? We will cover the “socialist calculation debate” and its implications for development policy. I will lecture on Monday and part of Wednesday, and then we will hold our first discussion on Wednesday.
My lecture slides will contain a lot of quotes from participants, for a few reasons:
- There is a background of ideological contestation, so I don’t want to put words in the mouths of various sides, or people I may disagree with.
- Since there is only one reading, and it is from a primary protagonist in the debate, I don’t want you to only think I am giving you “one side”
- You can always go back read them and see the sources if you are interested, so I can move faster through the general trends in class
Readings
Recommended Readings:
- “The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems”
- NPR’s Planet Money: “The Invention of the Economy”
- “What if There Were No Prices?”
- Marx and Engels, 1848, Manifesto of the Communist Party
See also the next readings for more in anticipation of our discussion next class.
Slides
Below, you can find the slides in two formats. Clicking the image will bring you to the html version of the slides in a new tab. Note while in going through the slides, you can type h to see a special list of viewing options, and type o for an outline view of all the slides.
The lower button will allow you to download a PDF version of the slides. I suggest printing the slides beforehand and using them to take additional notes in class (not everything is in the slides)!
