ALBERT

Notes: Recent theories of capitalism concentrate upon the defects of markets. The theories of Karl Polanyi and Bruno Seidel are examined in this article. In a broad survey of economic history since the middle ages, Polanyi concludes that the whole economic market system destroys the substance of society and creates disadvantages for all groups. Yet disintegration was halted through the principle of social protection which comprises all forms of collective economic actions, whether by groups or states. Yet, the author has failed to give a specific market analysis which would indicate how specific disadvantages arise in the process of pricing. The all comprehensive “social protection” contains so many diverse elements that one cannot infer from the principle how interventions have reformed the market system of capitalism.In his analysis of industrialism and capitalism, Seidel sees a conflict between the industrial and capitalist elements of our economy. Capitalist elements have been “tamed”, while we have been unable to control the industrial elements. Modern technology has become independent of capitalist property and markets. Industrialism has been economically beneficial and socially disintegrating. Deconcentration of large concerns and decentralization of large cities are proposed as necessary reforms. Interventions in markets spring from cartels of producers, organizations of farmers, unions of laborers, and the interference of states. The multitude of interventions is developing into a planned capitalism. The result of these interventions has been a greater degree of equality in the economic and social relationships among men. Control of capitalism was achieved through introducing social-ethical principles into the economy.The newer version of the defect theory limits control of the market system to the most recent period, and states some of the reasons why organized groups control their markets. The theory of social protection is limited in its scope; its economic, political and social impact upon capitalism is traced in detail. Yet missing is still a theory of deficient markets as well as of controlled markets. The future task of economic research is to provide an analysis of the different market sectors controlled by groups, of the monopoly of concentrated property, of the specific nature of social protection, and the economic role of big government in controlled capitalism.

Notes: Jean-Pierre DE Bodt. La formation des prix.Derek Curtis Bok.The First Three Years of the Schuman PlanP. J. Bouman. Einführung in die Soziologie.Fritz Croner. Die Angestellten in der modernen Gesellschaft.Werner Hofmann.Wohin steuert die Sowjetwirtschaft?W. A. JÖhrand H. W. Singer. The Role of the Economist as Official Adviser.Kenneth K. Kurihara(ed.). Post-Keynesian Economics.Ben Lehbert. Entwicklungstendenzen in der westeuropäischen EnergiewirtschqftW. Arthur Lewis.The Theory of ‘Economic Growth.Edward Nevin. The Mechanism of Cheap Money.Jan A. Richmond. Roman Britain.Giorgio Roletto. La costruzione economica sovietica: formazione, struttura, tenderize.Clarence Seniorand Douglas Manley.A Report on Jamaican Migration to Great Britain.Walter A. Weisskopf. The Psychology of Economics.Charles Wolf, Jr., and SidneyC. Sufrin. Capital Formation and Foreign Investment in Underdeveloped Areas.

Notes: New Aspects of Price and Production Theory. Despite recent progress, price and production theory is still inadequate, because it is not applicable to the management of business enterprises and it cannot be used in macro-economic models. What is needed is not the refinement of a few special points in the theory, which suffers from the defect of narrowness, but rather an effort to extend its scope, particularly in the following respects:(a) Investigation of such relations as may exist between markets or between industries;(b) Specification of the production functions;(c) The working-out of a theory of organisations, which would make it possible to grasp and express, in simple terms, the differences that are to be expected in the behaviour of a co-operative society and a share company, a trust and a cartel a free and a dependent enterprise, etc.;(d) Investigation of cases falling somewhere between a duopoly and a polypoly— the only forms which really exist—detailed treatment being given to the possible reactions of enterprisers (price changes, advertisements, participations etc.), and the result being systematised on the basis of a new logical principle, which, to all appearance, can only be the one underlying the theory of games.It looks as if we are now upon the brink of such an extension of the theory. This would constitute the second “revolution” of the price and production theory. The book Business Concentration and Price Policy reviews the stage now reached by research with regard to a large number of important points, such as:- the concept of industry,- investigation of yields,- the extent of concentration and degree of integration of business firms,- the incidence of taxes,- the tactics of imperfect competition,- the relations between markets.Although it suffers from want of systematic arrangement, the book nevertheless supplies a great many data necessary for the elaboration of a general theory.

Notes: Fictitious Centralism in large enterprises. In order that each of the threads of an increasingly complicated business enterprise may be kept in hand, they are all actually made to converge at the highest level. But this centralisation is fictitious; for, in reality, it leads to an overburdening of the man at the top, who is thus rendered incapable of performing his proper function—namely, to take decisions. Instead, he becomes the weakest link in the routine.Imperfect delegation, i. e., the delegation of matters for treatment without simultaneous surrender of competence, condemns those in the middle grade to subaltern standing, in which they too are unable to take any decision or assume the responsibility that goes with the taking of decisions. The typical result is that nobody decides, that—to exaggerate slightly—the life of an industrial concern is controlled not by definite volition but by the law of cause and effect.Imperfect delegation is one of the causes of the hypertrophy and sluggishness of the internal bureaucracy of business concerns. The fact of clinging to theoretical powers which in reality are not exercised has, for instance, the result that the modern forms of accounting practice not only fail to give the internal life of a big enterprise the elasticity and commerciality which they quite well could have given it, but, instead, lead to a multiplication of bureaucratic processes.The negative effects of the fictitious centralism which distinguishes the industrial system from the great organisations of the past (e. g. the ancient polis and the feudal state, both of which tended to delegate too many rather than too few functions) are certainly well known, yet it seems impossible to overcome it. This fact is only to be explained in the light of the history of ideas (“Geistesgeschichte”). From his predecessor, the capitalistic entrepreneur, the present-day manager has taken over the automatic equation of what he does with work, and the consequent justification of his social position in his own eyes and those of society. This attitude, which was alien to most of the leading groups in history, prevents him from extricating himself from the vicious circle which he has got into as the result of fictitious centralism.

Notes: Hans Albert. Ökonomische Ideologic und politische Theorie.Maurice Allais. Traité d'économic pure.Egon Ernest Bergel. Urban Sociology.Adolf A. Berle, Jr. The Twentieth-Century Capitalist Revolution.RenÉ D. Bollier. Die These einer chronischen Dollarknappheit.FranÇois Boudot. La coopération en FranceArnold Gehlen. Urmensch und Spätkultur.H. D. Henderson.The Inter-War Years and Other Papers.Jean Marchal. Cours d'économie politique.Jacques Milleron. Étude sur l'économie espagnole.Eugene Rotwein(Ed.): David Hume — Writings on Economics.Peter Scherrer. Die Terms of Trade und die Beschäftigung.Hans JÜrgen Seraphim. Theorie der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftspolitik.Hans Thorelli. The Federal Antitrust Policy: Origination of an American Tradition.W. S. Woytinsky and E. S. Woytinsky. World Commerce and Governments - Trends and Outlook.