The Political Economy of Participatory Economics / Edition 1

by Michael Albert, Robin Hahnel

Overview

With the near bankruptcy of centrally planned economies now apparent and with capitalism seemingly incapable of generating egalitarian outcomes in the first world and economic development in the third world, alternative approaches to managing economic affairs are an urgent necessity. Until now, however, descriptions of alternatives have been unconvincing. Here Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel support the libertarian socialist tradition by presenting a rigorous, well-defined model of how producers and consumers could democratically plan their interconnected activities.


After explaining why hierarchical production, inegalitarian consumption, central planning, and market allocations are incompatible with "classlessness," the authors present an alternative model of democratic workers' and consumers' councils operating in a decentralized, social planning procedure. They show how egalitarian consumption and job complexes in which all engage in conceptual as well as executionary labor can be efficient. They demonstrate the ability of their planning procedure to yield equitable and efficient outcomes even in the context of externalities and public goods and its power to stimulate rather than subvert participatory impulses. Also included is a discussion of information management and how simulation experiments can substantiate the feasibility of their model.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691003849
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/09/1991
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

	Introduction	3
1.	Traditional Economies	7
	Valuative Criteria	8
	Welfare Theorems with Endogenous Preferences	9
	Allocation Institutions	11
	Markets	12
	Central Planning	15
	Production and Consumption	17
	Private Ownership	17
	Hierarchical Production	20
	Consumption Institutions	21
	The Logic of Power	22
2.	Production	23
	Workers' Councils	23
	Work Organization	25
	Balanced Job Complexes	25
	Balancing Across Workplaces	27
	Balance in Practice	29
	Participation Versus Efficiency	31
	Equity Versus Efficiency	34
	Information and Incentives	35
	Choice of Technology	35
	Diversity	37
3.	Consumption	39
	Consumption Councils	40
	Incentive Compatibility	43
	Equity	44
	Equity, Incentives, and Efficiency	50
	Endogenous Preferences	55
4.	Allocation	57
	Participatory Information and Communication	59
	First Communicative Tool: Prices	59
	Second Communicative Tool: Measures of Work	61
	Third Communicative Tool: Qualitative Activity	61
	Allocation Organization	62
	Participatory Planning	63
	A Typical Planning Process	68
	Conclusion	71
5.	Welfare	73
	Preliminary Insights	74
	Differences Between PE and FMPE	74
	Summary of Differences	77
	Modeling Consumption	77
	Differences from Participatory Consumption	81
	Modeling Production	82
	Constraints	82
	Different Productive Endowments	84
	Workers' Councils	85
	Differences from Participatory Production	87
	Formal Summary of Councils' Goals	88
	Allocation	89
	Summary	96
	Formal Models Versus Reality	98
	Ideal Markets Versus Reality	99
	Ideal Central Planning Versus Reality	101
	FMPE Versus PE	102
	Conclusion	105
6.	Feasibility	107
	Tracking a Participatory Economy	109
	Information Variables for a Participatory Economy	109
	Manipulating Information	111
	Functional Relationships	113
	Simulation Methodology	114
	Incorporating Prices and Budgets	115
	Simulation Actors	117
	Incorporating Actual Behavior	120
	Experiment 2: Developing a Parallel Economy	129
	Conclusion	131