Dynamism, rivalry, and the surplus economy : two essays on the nature of capitalism /
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 han...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Oxford University Press,
2014.
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
Table of Contents:
- 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