Justin, you keep reminding us of Oskar Lange's economics of socialism quote. He thought that General Equilibrium was a proof of the efficacy of market socialism. I don't want to debate market socialism -- we have worked that one over more than enough -- but his "proof" seems kind of silly to me.
Phil Mirowski does a great job in his new book of showing how this approach easily slid into planning for the Pentagon by his disciples. On Mon, Feb 04, 2002 at 03:10:37PM +0000, Justin Schwartz wrote: > Well, you know better than I. But they don't teach marxian value theory > either, and the USSR's early attempt to use what it thought was that theory > as a planning tool was a disaster. So, anyway, maybe if Daniel was right, we > don't need a value theory at all. jks > > > > > >Oskar Lange used say that Marxian economics is the economics of > >capitalism > > >and neoclassical economics is the economics of socialism. If you want to > >do > > > > >monetary and fiscal policy, design an antitrust regime, figure out the > > >impact of opening new oilfields on existing transportation options, make > >a > > >plan for your own enterprise, you use subjectivist theory. They teach it > >in > > > > >B school cause it works in short and medium term. I don't have to prove > >it: > > > > >the proof is in the practice. > > > >I don't agree with this, and I've been to business school. The > >subjectivist > >value theory of neoclassical economics is the von Neumann/Morgenstern > >axioms, and they are completely orthogonal to the economics you learn at > >business school (you learn them quite thoroughly in an economics degree, > >but > >that's not the same thing). At business school, you learn in detail the > >parts of economics which are not dependent on a value theory and are more > >properly part of what one used to call "operations research", plus you > >learn > >a bit of kiddies' (often surprisingly heterodox) macroeconomics under the > >title of "International Financial System" or some such. > > > >Think about it this way; almost the only module which is compulsory in > >every > >MBA at every business school is Marketing, and there is still, after about > >150 years of trying, no decent classical or neoclassical theory of the > >advertising industry. Subjectivist value theory is honoured much more in > >the ignoring than the observance. > > > >dd > > > > > >___________________________________________________ > >Email Disclaimer > > > >This communication is for the attention of the > >named recipient only and should not be passed > >on to any other person. Information relating to > >any company or security, is for information > >purposes only and should not be interpreted as > >a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any security. > >The information on which this communication is based > >has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable, > >but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. > >All expressions of opinion are subject to change > >without notice. All e-mail messages, and associated attachments, > >are subject to interception and monitoring for lawful business purposes. > >___________________________________________________ > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. > -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
