The Economic System as an End or as a Means and the Future of Socialism: An Evolutionary Viewpoint

24 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2003 Last revised: 3 Apr 2012

Date Written: April 2, 2012

Abstract

After the demise of “real” socialism and the decline of “western” socialism, socialism can be salvaged as a social preference system oriented towards equality and social justice, to be implemented without systemic constraints in the organizational and institutional sense. At the same time there is a case for maintaining an institutional framework allowing different forms of economic organization, capitalist and non-capitalist, to compete on equal footing, in an evolutionary perspective, thus allowing the second to develop if proven efficient. Another way for a spontaneous extension of the domain of socialism could derive from the socialization of consumption, if the consumption of public goods continues to make up a growing component of real consumption.

Keywords: socialism, capitalism, evolutionary approach

JEL Classification: P50

Suggested Citation

Chilosi, Alberto, The Economic System as an End or as a Means and the Future of Socialism: An Evolutionary Viewpoint (April 2, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=372182 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.372182

Alberto Chilosi (Contact Author)

University of Pisa ( email )

via S. Andrea 48
Pisa, PI 56127
Italy
+3475907176 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://chilosi.it

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