II. Socialism and the Market

Abstract

IfHE QUESTION I PROPOSE to discuss in this paper is whether a suitably designed market economy might satisfy the moral aspirations of a socialist. To some people this question may appear nonsensical. Are socialists not, by definition, committed to the abolition of a market economy? I do not believe that essentialist definitions of socialism are particularly helpful.' Socialists are committed to the abolition of capitalism, but beyond that minimal commitment socialism stands for a diverse bundle of aspirations and ideals, together with institutional proposals intended to realise those aspirations and ideals. My method of proceeding will be to ask whether the socialist critique of capitalism, which assumes a number of forms, tells equally against any social system in which the economic market has a significant place. But before embarking on this task, a couple of introductory remarks may help to explain why I think the question is an important one. Historically, many socialists have seen a planned economy, in which the state makes major decisions about production, fixes prices and wages, and so on, as the means to realise socialist ideals, and, of course, this is the form which, to a greater or lesser degree, socialism has taken in practice. But, even after the necessary allowances have been made for the unfavourable economic and political circumstances in which they were established, the record of planned economies in this