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Jamil

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The Market System: What It Is, How It Works, and What To Make of It

by Charles E. Lindblom

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Jamil said: " While I have not finished just yet, I think this book would be good as an introductory text. There is no doubt that "market fetishism" is a serious problem and for many Lindblom will be palatable because he begins by extolling and marveling at the le While I have not finished just yet, I think this book would be good as an introductory text. There is no doubt that "market fetishism" is a serious problem and for many Lindblom will be palatable because he begins by extolling and marveling at the level of "social coordination" that the market brings to society. I'm sure people will also get the impression that we be reduced to the state of barbarians without the markets in his more transhistorical sense, but Lindblom is careful in avoiding this tendency in some ways. First, Lindblom correctly notes that the system of market exchange does coordinate (in a sense) many millions more people in one unified system than other system in history. Second, as the book proceeds, Lindblom continually adds layers of historical detail, creating complication after complication—often creating more confusion than clarification.

Despite the fact that the book is getting more historical as i read on (at page 100 now), my main concern is Lindblom's tendency to universalize capitalism via description of the market, which, we are told, has no purpose. "It is a mindless and purposeless social system the accomplishes the great tasks of social cooperation" (40). Technically speaking, in the course of history no "mode of production," to use a Marxist phrase, has been consciously planned or designed. However, it is unlikely that Lindblom would deny the fact that that specific classes have exerted inordinate influence over each mode of production, shaping it to their needs and benefit. In other words, a "pure" market system does not exist; it is simply an ideal type. This can be useful for expository purposes but as indicated above, may eventually lead to more confusion.

That said, flashes of brilliant insight are not hard to find and I expect many more as I read on. For example, Lindblom points out that the central organizing institution in capitalist society is the firm. Inside of the firm, the decentralized and dispersed force of the market is replaced by the organizing principles of hierarchy, command, and control. "It is," in Lindblom's words, "a nonmarket or anti-market institution, though lodged within a market system.… To that extent—and it is a great extent—corporate coordination is a rival to rather than an instrument of market-system coordination" (75; emphasis added). Indeed, Marx was the first to venture beyond the sign posted at the gates of private property, warning "no admittance, except on business". And this one of the many reasons why his work is still so important today. ...more "

Jun 22, 2012 03:41PM · see review