Disequilibrium, power and economic systems

Summary

This is a review article of D.B.J. Schouten's new book “Macht en wanorde, Een vergelijking van economische stelsels” (Power and Disorder, A Comparison of Economic Systems). After having summarised the book's contents, three points are discussed: (a) does the book offer a comparison of economic systems as its subtitle suggests; (b) how does Schouten's theory relate to disequilibrium analysis and does it give a better understanding of disequilibria than disequilibrium analysis; (c) is Schouten's proposal of a centrally-guided rate of return policy indeed to be preferred above a centrally-guided wage policy in order to overcome the basic problem in capitalist market economies of slow and sometimes perverse adjustments?