The following may be of interest -- Jim Devine
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I am interested in some of the brief comments that have been made
recently on participatory economic planning "from the bottom up"
in the context of a reconstituted socialism.
I would like to make one empirical observation. I did some
investigation of the Yugoslav planning system in 1987 which
was based on enterprise and local community plans which were
integrated at the commune and republic level and then at the
national levle. Reconciliation was then attempted and the
results sent back down to the lower planning levels where
plans were adjusted and the process repeated (i.e. iterative
procedures).
Unfortunately, for the 5 year plans, the procedure took more
than five years so that the plan was never completed until
after the planning period was over. It was not really suprising,
therefore, that the plan goals were never achieved.
IMHO, the model of democratic participatory planning at the micro
level is an unattainable, utopian dream. (This does not mean
that I am either opposed to macro planning or participatory
democracy/socialism -- which I am).
Paul Phillips,
Economics,
University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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