Rethinking the Economic Problem

• In Event: New Perspectives on the History of Economic Thought

Abstract

The notion that all societies face the common problem of scarce resources in the face of unlimited economic wants has never been a part of Marxian theory. It has been rejected because it depends on a conception of human nature that is immutable. Nevertheless, the notion that resources should be used to satisfy human needs and create the conditions for human fulfillment is one that Marxists must acknowledge as a worthwhile goal of any future society. In this paper, it is argued that it is possible to provide Marxian answers to the traditional questions of what/how much is produced, how it is produced, and for whom it is produced. These answers are novel in the sense that they do not involve central planning but rather require a new method whereby individuals are free to communicate information about their needs to those willing and able to use it for the purpose of allocating resources and distributing products and services. This method is argued to be compatible with the ethical principles that Marx argued would govern post-capitalist societies in his Critique of the Gotha Program.

Author

• Daniel E. Saros, Valparaiso University