Oskar Lange and calculation debate. A view after years
Damian Winczewski
Abstract
The aim of the article was to look at the famous debate of Oskar Lange with representatives
of the Austrian School of Economics and to critically reconstruct the arguments
of both sides in the light of contemporary economic knowledge. Oskar Lange, initially considered the winner of the debate after Friedrich Hayek’s critique and the collapse of
real socialism, became a loser representing an inappropriate methodological approach
based on the achievements of the neoclassical school in economics. However, the careful
exegesis of the essays of the main participants in the debate and the new economic
concepts make it possible to discount the above conclusions. Firstly, Mises did not prove
the impossibility of a non-capitalist economy – he “overthrew” only his own caricatured
model of socialist economy, which did not have much in common with the real proposals
of Marxist economists. Secondly, Hayek’s argumentation contains inconsistencies and, as
modern knowledge shows, its value is historically limited. Lange’s theses turned out to be
wrong mainly because of the borrowings from the liberal, neoclassical theory of economics.
However, in the light of modern times, his final conclusions that the proper functioning of
the market in a socialist economy is mainly a technological problem related to the issue
of democratic control over means of production seem to be right in the light of modern
knowledge. Therefore, the calculation debate is still an open question.
Keywords:
Mises, Lange, socialism, market, property, pricesReferences
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