Title: What would have been Keynes' position in the socialist economic calculation debate and why it matters

Authors: Tiago Camarinha Lopes; Rafael Galvão De Almeida

Addresses: FACE, UFG, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil ' FACE, UFMG, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Campus Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract: The socialist economic calculation debate is an important episode in the history of economic thought. It represents the struggle of socialist economists against the claim made by Mises that socialism is theoretically impossible and Hayek's argument that it is practically unfeasible. Keynes showed little interest in both sides of that debate. But, if he had participated, what would have been his position? The paper proposes some possible answers to this question by arguing that he had a unique perspective on economic planning that did not suit the antagonistic sides of the controversy.

Keywords: socialist economic calculation debate; socialism; capitalism; communism; John Maynard Keynes; Friedrich Hayek; Oskar Lange; uncertainty; information problem; economic planning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2019.104862

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2019 Vol.10 No.3, pp.225 - 238

Received: 09 Jun 2017
Accepted: 25 Apr 2018

Published online: 05 Feb 2020 *

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