Planned economy was first practiced in the 20th century by the Soviet Union, which advocated socialism, as an alternative to the capitalist market economy, and then rapidly spread among the satellite countries of the Soviet Union and countries under its influence. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it has almost disappeared to this day. In that sense, the planned economy can be said to be a social experiment in the history of the 20th century that ended in failure.
However, the 20th century planned economy is just one type of planned economy practiced by a system called the Soviet Union - a Soviet-style planned economy. The reasons why the Soviet-style planned economy ended in failure need to be examined - including whether it was truly a "planned economy" - but it is not the only planned economy.In fact, it can even be said that a true planned economy has not yet been invented.
At the moment, the market economy is being promoted as if it is the only possible economic system, and the world's mainstream seems to be solidified in this belief. However, on the other hand, the market economy has not only brought about internal contradictions such as the continuing global economic crisis and widening disparities in living conditions accompanied by poverty both internationally and domestically, but also has brought about external problems for human survival such as the deterioration of the global environment.
Although these adverse events are deplored verbally, they are accepted as a dark side of the bright light of the market economy. Even experts who issue urgent warnings regarding global environmental problems never attempt to transform the market economy itself. It is as if an "environmentally sustainable market economy" exists.
However, the market economy has not found a truly effective solution to the current pressing issue of greenhouse gas regulations to curb global warming. This is because in order to preserve the market economic system, it is not possible to directly regulate production activities themselves.
In order to comprehensively solve global environmental problems in general, including not only global warming but also resource depletion, a planned economic system that can control production activities itself both quantitatively and qualitatively is necessary. It cannot be said that planned economic theory from such a new perspective has yet been consciously proposed.
Although it is important to resolve economic crises and disparity issues that accompany business cycles, there are some "countermeasures" within market economics theory for such issues. However, they would not be realized smoothly. In order to solve such problems, planned economy must be reconsidered.
A planned economy faces various challenges that the Soviet-style planned economy could not solve, such as its practical system design and its relationship with the political system. However, I believe that the successful restructuring of a planned economy is the key to unlocking a vision for an environmentally sustainable and socially just future society that goes beyond mere words.
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism.
