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Dynamism, rivalry, and the surplus economy
1 online resource : illustrations (black and white)
Kornai examines capitalism as an economic system and in comparison to socialism. He offers a view of capitalism as an economy of surplus - a chronic excess of supply of goods and labour. This environment breeds rivalry among producers, which in turn encourages innovation. Socialism, on the other hand, is defined by a shortage of goods and labour and excess of demand. Whereas socialism is slothful and imitative, capitalism is dynamic and progressive. The two chapters of this book explore these differing ideologies.
Cover; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; Preface; FIRST ESSAY: Innovation; 1. Introduction; 2. Capitalism, Socialism, and Technical Progress; 2.1. Revolutionary new products; 2.2. Following the pioneers, the diffusion of innovation; 2.3. Innovative entrepreneurship under capitalism; 2.4. The impossibility of innovative entrepreneurship under socialism; 2.5. Political factors and technical progress; 2.6. First summary: systems and technical progress; 3. Transformation and the Acceleration of Technical Progress; 3.1. New innovator entrepreneurs
3.2. The acceleration of follow-up and diffusion3.3. Creative destruction; 4. Reflection of Historical Reality in People's Minds; 4.1. The basic phenomenon: lack of understanding; 4.2. The responsibility of the economic profession; 4.3. The responsibility of politicians; 4.4. Interconnectivity and democracy; 5. Concluding Remarks; SECOND ESSAY: Shortage Economy-Surplus Economy; 1. Introduction; 1.1. Impressions; 1.2. A first approach to clarification of concepts; 1.3. The place that the approach taken in the essay occupies in economic discourse
1.4. An advance look at the boundaries and structure of the subject-matter2. The Market for Goods and Services: The Mechanism for the Reproduction of Surplus; 2.1. An example from economic history: the U.S. telephone system; 2.2. Supply-related processes; 2.3. Demand-related processes; 2.4. The pricing process; 3. The Market for Goods and Services: The Conceptual Apparatus and Measurement Methods; 3.1. "Pure," easily handled cases; 3.2. The first difficulty: continual mutual adjustment of supply and demand; 3.3. The second difficulty: parallel occurrences of excess supply and excess demand
3.4. Diversion: observing the obstacles to and micro constraints of production3.5. The third difficulty: distinguishing "necessary" from "superfl uous" stocks; 3.6. The fourth difficulty: unjustified aggregation; 3.7. Pragmatic suggestions for measurement and a conceptual apparatus; 3.8. Formation of synthetic indicators or "composite indices"; 4. The Labor Market: The Mechanism for the Reproduction of Surplus; 4.1. Conceptual clarification and measurement; 4.2. The shock to the labor market caused by the change of system; 4.3. "Keynesian" unemployment; 4.4. Structural unemployment
4.5. Mismatched adjustment, frictional unemployment, and demand4.6. The efficiency wage; 5. A Summary of the Positive Description and Causal Analysis; 5.1. The workability of the concept of "equilibrium"; 5.2. Asymmetry; 5.3. A summary account of the two demand-supply regimes; 5.4. The generation of a surplus economy by the capitalist system: the causal chain; 5.5. Genetic propensities; 6. The Effect and Assessment of the Surplus Economy; 6.1. A view of the effects and the value judgments; 6.2. Innovation; 6.3. The sovereignty and manipulation of the consumer
Includes bibliographical references and index.