Introduction
This is the home for the research program on social ownership by David McMullen.
This site adopts the Marxist position that once capitalism has brought a society to a high level of economic development it is then ready for a transition to a more advanced system where the means of production (ie, intermediate inputs) are owned by society. This would mean that they are no longer owned by individuals or groups nor bought and sold, and that they are used to achieve economically efficient outcomes unimpeded by sectional interests.
The superiority of such a system would rest essentially on replacing profit as the primary motivator with a symbiotic mix of enthusiasm for the work, personal sense of responsibility and mutual supervision.
Capitalism itself is providing the prerequisites that will bring this to the fore. Firstly it is progressively eliminating routine labor and creating a work force which is generally keeping up with the more interesting new jobs as they are created. Secondly, it is delivering high and ever increasing average incomes that diminish the need to rise above others. In other words equality would mean shared affluence rather than shared poverty.
However, only social ownership can tap into the new sources of energy and creativity. It will eliminate the alienating nature of work under capitalism which takes out the fun and the desire to do one’s bit for the common good. And it will eliminate the property walls and conditions of subordination which prevent the development of an effective system of mutual supervision.
Economists would argue that even if you could harness this enthusiasm it would be in vain given that the “socialist economic calculation debate” proved that social ownership cannot make effective use of a decentralized price system. However, this “proof” can be easily dismissed because it only applies to a straw man called the Lange model.
There is nothing stopping an economy based on social ownership from making maximum use of decentralized prices. Establishments bid for inputs on the basis of the expected value of their output and the cost of alternative available, and they offer output at prices that reflect their costs and any possible excess demand. However, unlike capitalism or “market socialism”, transfers between establishments are not market exchanges and no individual or group benefits from their outcomes.
Furthermore a system that dispenses with markets for intermediate goods and with profits would be in a position to establish a far better price system because it would be unencumbered by the various “market failures” that currently distort costs and prices. Among these we should include most “government failures” because they are the result of market driven vested interests.
Ironically, social ownership is the only way to achieve small government. Firstly, activities that in capitalist societies tend to be highly politicized, such as education, health care and infrastructure, could under this new system be required to seek funds from independent, “apolitical” and results-orientated funding bodies. Secondly, there would be little need (or pretext) for regulation as producers, in consultation with users and other affected parties, could normally be trusted to work out their own formal and informal codes of practice and act in accord with the general interest. Thirdly, the welfare system would be cut back drastically. There would be work for all and only the seriously ill or disabled would be eligible for welfare payments. Everyone would be able to afford their own retirement and health insurance, and to pay the fees at the schools they choose for their children.
This point of view is developed in more detail in the paper entitled The Economic Case for Social Ownership.
