Friedrich von Wiesers's theory of socialism
A magnificent failure
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10713402 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Samuel Bostaph (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 723-732 |
| Publication date | 2005-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Politická ekonomie (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0032-3233 • E-ISSN: 2336-8225 |
| Publisher | Prague University of Economics and Business (PUBLISHER • CZ) |
| DOI | 10.18267/j.polek.533 |
| OpenAlex | W1576460704 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
This paper examines Friedrich von Wieser's theory of the socialist or communist planned economy. It identifies in Wieser's Law of Power (1926) the abiding interests that stimulated his attempt to use Carl Menger's theory of subjective value to present a theory of socialism, first in Natural Value (1889) and later in Social Economics (1914). It discusses his conception of a unit of marginal utility, or "natural value," as the basic unit of economic calculation in his imputation theory and his use of that building block in his consequent theory of production and distribution in a socialist economy. Lastly, it argues that Wieser's theory attempts to socially objectify subjective values and is actually a return to a pre-Mengerian supply-side, real cost approach to the theory of value. Wieser's theory of economic calculation under socialism thus represents a failure to understand the radical contribution of Menger's value theory to the theory of exchange
Communism · Economics · Epistemology · Labor theory of value · Marginal utility · Mathematical economics · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Socialism · Value (mathematics) · Value theory · Economic Theory and Institutions · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |