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A great overview on how the economic planning of corporate giants like Walmart and Amazon could be the base of a democratic, socialist, planned economy. Phillips and Rozworski argue that with modern (or near future) computational power and telecommunications networks could overcome the Economic calculation problem posed by capitalist economist powerhouses like Hayek and Mises. They argue well that their idea is not merely a technocratic solution that calculates our economy via an algorithm, but a Democratic one that transcends the decentralized/centralized dichotomy.
My one criticism is that Phillips and Rozworksi either didn’t attack/didn’t represent the strongest versions dissenting ideas well or failed to mention them altogether. This leaves room for accusations of misrepresentation and may make this book low hanging fruit for some less-than-good faith actors. If you have a good idea it’s never a bad idea to test it against the strongest criticisms, because you can either show why you’re right or patch that hole that the criticism found
My one criticism is that Phillips and Rozworksi either didn’t attack/didn’t represent the strongest versions dissenting ideas well or failed to mention them altogether. This leaves room for accusations of misrepresentation and may make this book low hanging fruit for some less-than-good faith actors. If you have a good idea it’s never a bad idea to test it against the strongest criticisms, because you can either show why you’re right or patch that hole that the criticism found
informative
medium-paced
Actually love the premise of this book and think there are brilliant points made here. This book is realistic but urgent about the changes needed in our economy for the Anthropocene to go well for humans. Chapters 2-5 were very redundant but once the analysis began on the downfalls of Stalinism in comparison to Khrushchev’s philosophies it got way more interesting. Allende’s fall to a military regime pushed by the CIA is so devastating and predictable. Anyway… let’s make these already existing planned economies democratic to work for us!
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
medium-paced
An interesting first 100 or so pages, with good anecdotes and humorous writing style, even if a bit surface level of an analysis at times. I expected something a bit more nitty-gritty regarding the operations of National and multinational corporations like Walmart and Amazon, but instead, the book starts going into detailed, yet shallow, historical descriptions of the UK’s NHS, the Soviet Union, and Chile, taking quite a while to remember why they were talking about the subject in the first place. It feels like this could have been a pamphlet but got stretched to nearly 250 pages.
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
An intriguing argument that was well formed. I think the chapters on Allende and Gosplan were a wee bit lacking, but not so much as to detract from the rest of the book.
A better world is possible! Educating people on how it is possible is a start to making progress towards that goal. This was a very good read, and a good critique of both the existing capitalist economic system and prior communist experiments in which there was room for improvement. It shines a light on how we can build a post-capitalist society that does not depend on exploitation and works for the collective good of all of humanity.
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced