At 07:19 16/03/2006, Julio wrote:
Michael Lebowitz once told me that,
with exceptions he had a hard time naming, there are virtually no
economists on the side of the revolution. This seems to me like a big
loss that makes it harder for the revolution to carry out its tasks.
Well, there was a saying way back about Eastern Europe that Poland
had the best economists (eg., Lange, Kalecki, Brus et al) and the
worst economy. Is doing without a large cohort of committed
economists a problem or an advantage? Given the training most
economists receive, even committed economists can be a problem (as in
the case of a minister of planning a while back who argued against
currency controls, etc on micro grounds without considering their
place in a coherent strategy-- he was a nice guy, wholly committed
but trained at Chicago). On the other hand, it would be nice to feel
confident that when public sector wages are raised by an average of
over 40% that someone has thought about implications other than happy
public sector workers. Eg., inflationary implications? Or, even less
global effects like the implications for government owned firms (like
the hotel where I live which has to pay workers more but has not
received a corresponding increase in its budget).
But as terrible as that loss may be, judging by the results, people
are making up just fine. Extremely talented young people, with the
heart in the right place and a tremendous appetite for learning solid
economic principles, like Luciano and others (many of them, perhaps
most of them, young women), are working very hard in Venezuela to pull
off amazingly complex projects in the midst of incredible inertias and
day-to-day problems. Michael could say more than I about this, but
this is my impression from one of the briefest weeks of my life.
I think that is true. There are people who are moving mountains. But
many of the problems they face come from within the Chavist camp
itself. I've just finished a book, "Build it Now: Socialism for the
21st Century' for Monthly Review Press (which includes several essays
published in MR); and the concluding essay, 'The Revolution of
Radical Needs: Behind the Bolivarian Choice of a Socialist Path' sums
up a number of points with the following paragraph:
The economic revolution, in short, has begun in
Venezuela but the political revolution (which began dramatically
with the new constitution but requires the transformation of the
state into one in which power comes from below) and the cultural
revolution (which calls for a serious assault on the continuing
patterns of corruption and clientalism) lag well behind. Without
advances in these two other sides, the Bolivarian Revolution cannot
help but be deformed.
in solidarity,
michael
Julio
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at
Residencias Anauco Suites
Departamento 601
Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1
Caracas, Venezuela
(58-212) 573-4111
fax: (58-212) 573-7724
