This book, consisting of eight related articles, deals with several dimensions of socialism in the 1980s just before the beginning of the great changes which took place in Eastern Europe. Profound changes in the political economy of the world in the 1970s led to a decline of over-confidence and over-optimism characteristic of the earlier times both in the West and in the East. The painful experience of stagnation ended the grand Keynesian dream and led to the return of neo-conservatism in the West. The disappointing pace of industrial and technological progress during the Brezhnev era and increasing shortages of productivity of communism in the East. With both sides in the grip of political and economic uncertainties, the ideological confrontation seemed to have lost much of its sharp edge. No longer did the accepted dogmas and ideologies of the past appear either valid or convincing. The presupposition of the debate on comparative economic systems were in need of fundamental revisions. It was in this perspective that the Political Economy Workshop at York University undertook to feature a series of lectures on socialism in its 1988 sessions. Of about a dozen presentations by York University scholars and invited speakers, eight were subsequently made available in the form of articles and are published in this volume. These articles cover a wide range of issues, both theoretical and practical, and from both the Western and the Eastern perspective. It is recognized by all authors that neither the East European experiments in communism nor the Western process into social democracy have been a great success. The clue to what might lie beyond the socialist dilemmas in the age of perestroika will be found only by going through once again to the circumstances which led to the failure of socialism thus far.

These seven essays by the Eastern block's most important economist address and explore many of the critical social and economic issues inherent in the socialist economy. Published in Hungary in 1983, they are the firsthand observations of an insider who attempts to be as frank and impartial as possible about the experiment in his own country. The essays distinguish the classical or traditional form of a highly centralized socialist economy from a system, like that of Hungary's, that is in the process of institutional reforms. They focus on a few important characteristics of social economies, rather than providing a broad description and analysis of socialist systems, in order to stimulate thinking along comparative lines. The wider problems and issues related to socialist systems that they address will interest sociologists and political scientists, historians, and philosophers as well as economists. Kornai points out that because real modern societies are different from the pure models of capitalism and socialism, combinations and mixtures of socialist and capitalist systems, sellers' and buyers' markets, centralized and decentralized management occur widely and intensively in both socialist and highly developed industrial market economies and in the nonsocialist third world countries in some segments and to a certain degree. Looking at these phenomena comparatively reveals both the deep differences and the similarities and analogies between the systems. The essays are: The Reproduction of Shortage. "Hard" and "Soft" Budget Constraint. Degrees of Paternalism. Economics and Psychology. Comments on the Present State and the Prospects of the Hungarian Economic Reform. Efficiency and the Principles of Socialist Ethics. The Health of Nations. JÄnos Kornai is Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.

This anthology concentrates on domestic questions, economic policies, and socialist development and ideology. The essays' subjects include such varied topics as education, economics, the military, leadership, and economic assistance and humanitarian aid.

This book highlights that Soviet economic planners and politicians must come to recognize the need to make fundamental changes, not simply incremental refinements, in the failing Soviet system. It examines the dynamics of the process of perestroika and the complexity of individual economic issues.

It was Lenin's genius to recognize the importance of [socialist] system with all the trappings of embellishing the democracy. If the people want a constitution. give them one. and even include the bill of rights. If they want a parliament, give them that too. And a system of courts. If they want a federal system create that myth as well. Above all, let them have e 1 ecti ons, for the act of voti ng is what the common man most clearly associates with democracy. Give them all these, but make sure that they have no effect on how things are run. - G. Warren Nutter Most research by Western scholars has emphasized macroeconomics (and to a considerable extent still does) as the method of analysis and growth rates as a standard for evaluating the performance of different economies. In the early 1960s Nutter raised questions about the reported growth rates in socialist states, the importance of growth policies for human welfare, and the abil ity of macroeconomi cs to enhance our understandi ng of soci a 1 and economic processes. In his work, Nutter used the standard price theory adjusted to incorporate the incentive effects of property rights in resources. He was casti gated for defyi ng the traditi ona 1 wi sdom. Not surprisingly, history has validated Nutter's theoretical framework and his conclusions.

The Dilemmas of Social Democracies seeks to advance the eradication of poverty and the ethical construction of social democracy and sustainable peace. Howard Richards and Joanna Swanger argue that the reason that capitalism resists transformation and that social democracy is so hard to achieve is because of the philosophical and institutional underpinnings-the constitutive rules-of capitalism; the book therefore explores the historical origins of these rules, their implications for blocking progress toward social justice, and how they can be improved.

Brown examines the social, cultural, political, and economic dimensions of the Communist takeover of China. He seeks to understand how the 1949-1953 period was experienced by various groups, including industrialists, filmmakers, ethnic minorities, educators, rural midwives, philanthropists, standup comics, and scientists.