SOCIALIST ECONOMICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27345, 22 March 1950, Page 2

SOCIALIST ECONOMICS

A SCHOLARLY TREATISE Economic Calculation in the Socialist Society. By T. J. B. Hoff. Hodge. 21s. “ The purpose of this book,” says the author, “is to investigate the possibilities of economic calculation in Socialist societies.” Such an introduction may nowadays have a rather ironic connotation to readers in, for example. New Zealand, for the work was written by an eminent Norwegian economist before the war, and what is here discussed theoretically has been demonstrated in practice since in various countries. The value of this study is, therefore, at once heightened and reduced. The cautiousness with which the author confesses that “my original sympathy for Socialist ideals has given place to an ever-growing doubt as to the political, cultural and economic consequences of Socialism," indicates how he was limited by having to work in theory alone. Today he could have much material apt to his purpose—but at the same time, he would be involved in the heat of emotional controversies. The book is not popularly written. It pre-supposes a certain standard of knowledge in the reader and it requires him to exert his mind—but the effort is frequently well worth while. After long analyses and comparisons of what various writers have commented on a certain point, the author sums up with devastating clarity. The appendix, “Comparison with Experiences in Russia," is a scholarly piece of work, and it ends thus: We began this treatise by saying that the present tendency in most countries is in the direction of Socialism, controlled prices and restrictions on competition. This statement requires to be modified. We must conclude by saying that this tendency exists in all countries except the one wherin Socialism has been tried, Soviet Russia. It would be misleading, however, to attempt to present this book as anything but a close examination of the Socialist theory of economics—of interest, rent, profit, competition and so on.