First published in 1990, A Guide to the Socialist Economies explores the evolution of a variety of economic systems in the socialist world and highlights major problems facing fourteen countries - Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and Yugoslavia -against a background of continuous change, characterized by such events as the Berlin blockade, the Korean war, the Hungarian revolution and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The traditional Soviet economic model is studied in detail as the basic system adopted by or imposed upon all of these countries. A separate chapter is devoted to foreign trade in general and Comecon in particular, while each of the country studies deals with the political and economic background, economic reforms (including industry, agriculture, the financial system and foreign trade and capital) and the private sector. The book provides information on the economic institutions of all the individual countries which is invaluable if the various courses of reform each country has engaged upon are to be understood. Historical material supplements contemporary information in a work which is to be an essential reference for anyone engaged in a study of, or trade with, the socialist countries.

First published in 1990, A Guide to the Socialist Economies explores the evolution of a variety of economic systems in the socialist world and highlights major problems facing fourteen countries – Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and Yugoslavia –against a background of continuous change, characterized by such events as the Berlin blockade, the Korean war, the Hungarian revolution and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The traditional Soviet economic model is studied in detail as the basic system adopted by or imposed upon all of these countries. A separate chapter is devoted to foreign trade in general and Comecon in particular, while each of the country studies deals with the political and economic background, economic reforms (including industry, agriculture, the financial system and foreign trade and capital) and the private sector. The book provides information on the economic institutions of all the individual countries which is invaluable if the various courses of reform each country has engaged upon are to be understood. Historical material supplements contemporary information in a work which is to be an essential reference for anyone engaged in a study of, or trade with, the socialist countries.

Socialism is the watchword and the catchword of our day. The socialist idea dominates the modem spirit. The masses approve of it. It expresses the thoughts and feelings of all; it has set its seal upon our time. When history comes to tell our story it will write above the chapter “The Epoch of Socialism.” As yet, it is true, Socialism has not created a society which can be said to represent its ideal. But for more than a generation the policies of civilized nations have been directed towards nothing less than a gradual realization of Socialism.17 In recent years the movement has grown noticeably in vigour and tenacity. Some nations have sought to achieve Socialism, in its fullest sense, at a single stroke. Before our eyes Russian Bolshevism has already accomplished something which, whatever we believe to be its significance, must by the very magnitude of its design be regarded as one of the most remarkable achievements known to world history. Elsewhere no one has yet achieved so much. But with other peoples only the inner contradictions of Socialism itself and the fact that it cannot be completely realized have frustrated socialist triumph. They also have gone as far as they could under the given circumstances. Opposition in principle to Socialism there is none. Today no influential party would dare openly to advocate Private Property in the Means of Production. The word “Capitalism” expresses, for our age, the sum of all evil. Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas. In seeking to combat Socialism from the standpoint of their special class interest these opponents—the parties which particularly call themselves “bourgeois” or “peasant”—admit indirectly the validity of all the essentials of socialist thought. For if it is only possible to argue against the socialist programme that it endangers the particular interests of one part of humanity, one has really affirmed Socialism. If one complains that the system of economic and social organization which is based on private property in the means of production does not sufficiently consider the interests of the community, that it serves only the purposes of single strata, and that it limits productivity; and if therefore one demands with the supporters of the various “social-political” and “social-reform” movements, state interference in all fields of economic life, then one has fundamentally accepted the principle of the socialist programme. Or again, if one can only argue against socialism that the imperfections of human nature make its realization impossible, or that it is inexpedient under existing economic conditions to proceed at once to socialization, then one merely confesses that one has capitulated to socialist ideas. The nationalist, too, affirms socialism, and objects only to its Internationalism. He wishes to combine Socialism with the ideas of Imperialism and the struggle against foreign nations. He is a national, not an international socialist; but he, also, approves of the essential principles of Socialism.

Argues that the same impulse for control that governed the Soviet Union is present in the American health care and educational systems and that socialism can never work because of human nature.

The failure of command central planning in the twentieth century has led to a general disillusionment within the socialist movement worldwide. Some alternatives to capitalism have been proposed since the end of the Cold War, but none has offered an alternative form of economic calculation. This book explains how modern information technology may be used to implement a new method of economic calculation that could bring an end to capitalism and make socialism possible. In this book, the author critically examines a number of socialist proposals that have been put forward since the end of the Cold War. It is shown that although these proposals have many merits, their inability effectively to incorporate the benefits of information technology into their models has limited their ability to solve the problem of socialist construction. The final section of the book proposes an entirely new model of socialist development, based on a "needs profile" that makes it possible to convert the needs of large numbers of people into data that can be used as a guide for resource allocation. This analysis makes it possible to rethink and carefully specify the conditions necessary for the abolition of capital and consequently the requirements for socialist revolution and, ultimately, communist society. Information Technology and Socialist Construction will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, the history of economic thought, labour economics and industrial economics.

First published in 1990, A Guide to the Socialist Economies explores the evolution of a variety of economic systems in the socialist world and highlights major problems facing fourteen countries – Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and Yugoslavia –against a background of continuous change, characterized by such events as the Berlin blockade, the Korean war, the Hungarian revolution and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The traditional Soviet economic model is studied in detail as the basic system adopted by or imposed upon all of these countries. A separate chapter is devoted to foreign trade in general and Comecon in particular, while each of the country studies deals with the political and economic background, economic reforms (including industry, agriculture, the financial system and foreign trade and capital) and the private sector. The book provides information on the economic institutions of all the individual countries which is invaluable if the various courses of reform each country has engaged upon are to be understood. Historical material supplements contemporary information in a work which is to be an essential reference for anyone engaged in a study of, or trade with, the socialist countries.

A lively, accessible, and timely guide to Marxist economics for those who want to understand and dismantle the world of the 1%. Economists regularly promote Capitalism as the greatest system ever to grace the planet. With the same breath, they implore us to leave the job of understanding the magical powers of the market to the “experts.” Despite the efforts of these mainstream commentators to convince us otherwise, many of us have begun to question why this system has produced such vast inequality and wanton disregard for its own environmental destruction. This book offers answers to exactly these questions on their own terms: in the form of a radical economic theory. “Thier’s urgently needed book strips away jargon to make Marx’s essential work accessible to today’s diverse mass movements.” —Sarah Leonard, contributing editor to The Nation “A great book for proletarian chain-breaking.” —Rob Larson, author of Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley “Thier unpacks the mystery of capitalist inequality with lucid and accessible prose . . . . We will need books like A People’s Guide to help us make sense of the root causes of the financial crises that shape so many of our struggles today.” —Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership “Ranging from exploitation at work to the operations of modern finance, this book takes the reader through a fine-tuned introduction to Marx’s analysis of the modern economy . . . . Thier combines theoretical explanation with contemporary examples to illuminate the inner workings of capitalism . . . . Reminds us of the urgent need for alternatives to a crisis-ridden system.” —David McNally, author of Blood and Money

This book provides a comprehensive account of the structure, conduct, and performance of the centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe, the USSR, Communist China and the Marxist LDCs, looking at 26 nations in all. The author focuses on reform, perhaps the most important issue facing countries such as the USSR, Poland, Hungary, and China. Bureaucracy, soft budget constraints, markets, and the nature of the socialist state are the central issues that arise in the course of reforming a socialist economy. The first half of the book deals with 'classical socialism' and provides a theoretical summary of the main features of a now closed period of history. The second half deals with the processes of reform and concludes that the reform of classical socialist systems is doomed to failure as they are unable to renew themselves internally.

How our capitalist food system came to be -- Food, a special commodity -- Land and property -- Capitalism, food, and agriculture -- Power and privilege in the food system: gender, race and class -- Food, capitalism, crises and solutions

This book covers the whole system of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, dealing with Deng Xiaoping’s theory, the socialist market economy, a moderately well-off (Xiaokang) society, China’s practice and theory of socialist democracy, human rights, and Xi Jinping’s Marxism. In short, the resolute focus is the Reform and Opening-Up. Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is one of the most important global realities today. However, the concept and its practice remain largely misunderstood outside China. This book sets to redress such a lack of knowledge, by making available to non-Chinese speakers the sophisticated debates and conclusions in China concerning socialism with Chinese Characteristics. It presents this material in a way that is both accessible and thorough.