The Economics of Michał Kalecki pp 230-267 | Cite as
Kalecki and the Economics of Socialism
Abstract
Kalecki’s writings on the economics of socialism were undertaken only after his return to Poland in December 1954).1 The first two years of Kalecki’s return to Poland coincided with the growth of overt political opposition to the government, the Poznarń workers’ uprising in June 1956 and the spread of strikes across Poland, and the spontaneous setting up of workers’ councils in October 1956 (the ‘Polish October’ as it is often called). Gomulka was restored to power in that October after having been in disgrace since 1949 (including a 3½ year period under house arrest).2 After the Stalinist era (so far as Eastern European countries were concerned) of the period 1949-53, there had been ‘a thaw’ following the death of Stalin in early 1953, with the famous denunciation of Stalin by Krushchev in February 1956. The first Six Year Plan in Poland, covering the years 1950 to 1956, had followed the Soviet pattern, with an emphasis on rapid and heavy industrialisation, the promotion of investment over consumption, collectivisation and centralisation. Whilst the Six Year Plan was officially declared to have been ‘over-fulfilled’, there was widespread dissatisfaction with its results, exemplified by the Poznań uprising and strikes.3
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes to Chapter 11
- 13.The last part of this quote would apply to, for example, Lange (1937), in which he argued that a socialist economy could use a price mechanism to help allocate resources. This refuted the charge of Mises (1935) that economic calculation were not possible under socialism, although ‘Lange never looked upon his model of market socialism as a blueprint for a socialist state’ (Wellisz, 1968). Lange (1937) also argued that the competitive model might be more applicable to a socialist economy than to a capitalist economy (with oligopolies, advertising and a maldistribution of income). Oscar Lange had, like Kalecki, left Poland in the later 1930s (initially also financed by a Rockefeller Fellowship), and he returned to Poland in 1945. He was, inter alia, Polish ambassador to the USA and delegate to the Security Council of the United Nations (1945–7), and Chairman of the Economic Council in Poland (1957–62). He was politically active in Poland, being member of Parliament and of the Council of State (deputy chairman for part of the time). Lange also maintained a considerable flow of academic work. ‘His activity on behalf of socialist democratization is closely connected with his other aspiration: to found economic planning and management on scientific grounds’ (Kowalik, 1965). For a biography of Lange, see Kowalik (1965) and International Encyclopedia for the Social Sciences, Vol. 8 (Stanislaw Wellisz (1968)).Google Scholar