Kornai and Hayek

[Brad De Long]

>Hi. My name is Sam Pawlett and am new to the list but have been lurking
>and unable to contribute due to lingering medical problems. I am a 26 yr
>old graduate in philosophy and economics from S.F.U. here in Vancouver.
>I studied Marxism and comparative economics with Mike Lebowitz whose
>fine work most of you are probably familiar with. Last time I spoke with
>Mike he was planning a book on Actually Existing Socialism, a kind of
>Reply to the Brus/Kornai Hayekian argument that any kind of planned
>socialism will inevitably lead to economic stagnation because of a lack
>of hard budget constraint and the absence of sufficient material
>incentives.

I don't think Janos Kornai would appreciate being lumped in with Hayek.
Hayek, after all, said that a planned economy could not work. Kornai said
that it was very unlikely to work well--and it is hard for me at least to
see how Kornai's arguments could be refuted: there are no counterexamples...

Brad DeLong