I prefer Charlie Andrews' idea of the "Labor Republic" in his book FROM CAPITALISM TO EQUALITY (see http://www.laborrepublic.org/). One of the great things about his proposal is that he starts with a plausible (and feasible) "socialism" and sketches how it can be transformed into "communism." The plausible socialism involves not "market socialism" or Parecon but the competition among not-for-profit agencies embedded in society. The dynamics (investment) involve the kind of grant applications that current-day not-for-profits engage in. It's not perfect, but it's a start.
> Well, the problem is, I don't find opportunity costs to be unique to any
> particular economic system/institution, or even economics itself. It's
> more fundamental than that, a concept which pops up in many classes
> of rational decisionmaking.
>
> AI people use the same concepts when modelling all sorts of rational
> decisionmakers; when deciding what you want on your dinner plate, in
> driving a car, etc.
Of interest is the fact that even Karl Marx uses the concept: someone using their own funds for investment (or whatever) is missing out on the interest income that could have been received (interest is the oppty cost). This is part of his analysis of the illusions created by competition, specifically how "interest" is seen by participants of the capitalist system as a fundamental form of income rather than being (as he sees it) derived from surplus-value, the exploitation of labor.
I wrote:>>> BTW, I don't know of any mainstream economists who are ignorant of opportunity costs. ...<<<
> These economists just can't correctly answer questions about it,
> apparently. (Even though they probably teach it to their students.)
You're right. The results reflect the nature of graduate eduation in economics. Economists learn all sorts of mathematical and statistical methods. They often don't learn the basics until they have to teach them to undergraduates. -- Jim Devine / "the world still seems stuck in greed-lock, ruled by fossilized fools fueled by fossil fuels." -- Swami Beyondananda