>
>Wrong choice of words. What I meant is this:
>that in a society with social ownership of the means
>of production, dont you think that some of the
>features of toyotaism (JIT, production on demand, etc)
>coupled with stuff like electronic commerce, XML,
>could effectively alleviate the symptoms of
>the capitalist mode of production and exchange,
>without "centralized" planning (and all of its
>shortcomings)? I am thinking of consumers and
>producers being linked electronically.
>I mean, just think of "Napster" but on a much larger
>scale.
>
Well, are you talking about with or without markets? Albert & Hahnel envision nonmarket arrangements with such computer links. The problem is that while it may provide information about current demand, it doesn't help with (a) ensuring accuracy, since people may accidentally overstate (typically) their needs--I am bad myself at guessing what I will want, (b) making long term plans about use of resources, (c) coordinating competing demands, or (d) choosing among production methids. So it would be useful whatever kind of system one has, but it's not a panacea. It doesn'tr forcea choice between market and nonmarket systems, or otherwisre settle the issue, and it's not a substitute for chooseing theright method or mix of economic coordination.
jks
>Thomas
>
>=====
>"The tradition of all the dead generations
> weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living"
>
>-Karl Marx
>
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