Harry Magdoff wrote:
>The underlying assumption of the essays in 'Why Market Socialism' is that
>central planning inevitably requires bureaucratic control over every
>detail of production and distribution.
IMHO, the role of central planning should be greatest for the most abstract
and general issues (e.g., the rate of real investment, which major sectors
of the economy should be emphasized) while the more concrete and detailed
decisions should be made by decentralized units (co-ops, etc.) within the
framework set by the abstract and general decisions.
Of course, the central planning agency must be subject to democratic
control from below. Of course in the old USSR, Gosplan wasn't. This is one
of the reasons why they emphasized "bureaucratic control over every detail
of production and distribution." If you're trying to protect the CP's
monopoly over state power, you don't want alternative power centers
(independent co-ops, etc.) to arise.
Of course, the image of Soviet-style "planning" is burned into the retinas
of the advocates of "market socialism," impairing their ability to see.
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine "Segui il
tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.)
-- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
