Charles really has two main points, both quite complex.
(1) He says that you can't say that markets are better than planning based on the historical experience of the advanced west vs. the formerly existing socialsit ones because:
(a) from an anthropologist perspectives wants are relative, and people won't want the same things under socialism, and
(b) the benefits of advanced capitalism are more unevenly distributed than the benefits of planning.
(2) In addition he attributes virtually all the defects of Soviet planning to the history ofeconomic backwardness and the pressure of the war economy, ratherthan to Hayekian problems,
Quick answers:
(1a) People under central planning did indeed want a lot of the same things that people under capitalism do--more and better consumer goods, in particular. They wanted some different things--they cared more about shorter hours than many here. But the differences were not as great as Charles suggests.
(1b) The success of poor countries in making world market caliber goods shows that there is an important sense in in which Maylasia, etc. are part of the world market economy, and how markets can privide incentives to do better for priducers. The inequalities are terribly troubling, but the question is whether they are due to markets or to private property. I think the latter. Beat in mund that I do not defend capitalism.
(2) I agree with Charles that global class war weaken the USSR. But he does not reply to mypoint about why the warfare footing apparantly did not weaken (that much) the capitalist west, maybe the contrary. Doesn't that shwo that market systems have sources of resliency and stregnth that centrall planned systems don't? Besides, in blowingf ofgf the Hayek problem, he contradicts the hands on experience of every single manager, planner,a nd politician in the centrally planned systems who has ever commented on how they work. I am not willing to do that.
jks
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