A socialist justification of the market

Bibliographic Data

ID9256537
AuthorsChris Man-Kong Li (0000-0002-9286-8717, Faculty of Social Sciences, UOW College Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume79
Issue3
Pages419-438
Publication date2021-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of Social Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6764 • E-ISSN: 1470-1162
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00346764.2021.1887507
OpenAlexW3134662965
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited33

A wide use of markets is indispensable for a viable socialist economy. Yet, many considered market socialism a normatively compromised form of socialism. Some argue that the use of markets can only be justified by non-socialist values. This article argues that a wide use of markets in the spheres of commodities and finance can be justified by principled socialist reasons. It first recasts the central ideal of socialism as to promote people’s self-realization in productive work. Then it argues that people should freely produce for others’ genuine needs in order to satisfy this ideal. It is then shown that an egalitarian market economy, where citizens have relatively equal income and where extensive provision of public goods that contribute to developing people’s capability is available, better provides for people’s diverse and changing needs than a central-planning economy. Thus, it concludes, there is a socialist justification of the market

Communism · Economic system · Economics · Ideal (ethics) · Market economy · Market socialism · Neoclassical economics · Order (exchange) · Political science · Socialism · Socialist economics · Socialist market economy · Work (physics) · Economic Theory and Institutions · Finance · Law · Political Economy and Marxism · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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