Calculation in Kind and Marketless Socialism

* Article: Calculation in kind and marketless socialism: On Otto Neurath’s utopian economics. Thomas Uebel. Euro. J. History of Economic Thought 15:3 475–501, September 2008

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From the introduction:

"Otto Neurath was not shy to declare himself a utopian thinker. His standing as an economist depends on what one makes of this feature of his thought. Here I shall be attempting an immanent critique, on Neurath’s own terms.

Without discussing the meaning of utopianism in general, I shall argue that while much of his work in economics amounts to what he called ‘scientific utopianism’ – something he was within his rights to consider part of social-scientific activity – there are also aspects to this work in economics that are utopian in a more problematic sense. I will isolate what these elements are and investigate how, if at all, their presence in Neurath’s thought can be understood without de-legitimizing the rest of his program."