Karl PolanyiKirja-arvosteluja

I really didn't like this book, mostly because I felt that it was poorly formulated and based on a lot of incomplete examples. Every time Polanyi tried to prove something he'd give 4 examples of random indigenous populations in which the event occurred. All of his examples seemed like exceptions rather than base cases for a rule, and his strange statements like "previously to our time (the 1940s/Industrial Revolution period in general) no economy has ever existed that, even in principle, was controlled by markets" made me question if we were even living in the same world. Because of this I wasn't able to accept any of his statements, even when they seemed logical, and the book generally fell flat.

Polyani shows that the collapse of the unregulated market economy in the 1930's was not accidental but represented the end of a period in economic history and the beginning of a new one. His conclusions are colored by his socialist presuppositions but do not differ significantly from those of Schumpeter in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. (1963)

12/10/21

"Todo o trabalho de Karl Polanyi se desenvolveu na convicção de que o sistema de mercado ocidental tinha usurpado as funções específicas e a integridade da sociedade humana, convertendo em absolutos os valores económicos e fazendo do homem e da natureza meros utensílios. Desafiou o axioma liberal de que a liberdade e a justiça estavam intrinsecamente ligados à ordem do mercado. Defrontou também o determinismo económico, um dos axiomas básicos da outra ortodoxia do séc. XIX, o marxismo."

It's difficult to review this book. I can see why it has been considered a classic and why it is still read today. The author is very knowledgeable in the economic history of the 19th century and his breadth of vision is impressive enough to captivate even critical readers. On three accounts, he criticizes the idea of a society organized solely on free market principles: (1) labour, (2) land and (3) money cannot be bought or sold as commodities. Attempts to supply them through free markets were made in the 19th century and early 20th, and this book is an attempt to illustrate and emphasize how destructive those attempts were.

However, although the book is fine as far as illustration and emphasis are concerned, I think it falls short on explanation. The writing is superb but the logic of the arguments often seems flimsy. The author discusses a number of events from the history of British industrialization in the 19th century and compares them occasionally to anthropological studies of primitive societies. But far too often the discussion yields no clear conclusion. It seems like the author then skips ahead without having established any cause-consequence relationship, and states his preferred conclusion as a matter of fact: the consequences of this or that policy were disastrous. Considering the breadth of the author's arguments and the consequences he attributes to them, the explanations he provides are far too brief.

I don't mean to say that I was not convinced. As far as I could tell, the author's three main points are valid criticisms of free-market liberalism. But this book needed to be at least twice as long if the author wanted to present truly convincing arguments for his main points. In comparison to the writers whom the author criticizes, such as Hayek and von Mises, his biggest failure is that he does not present any clear theoretical framework for the transformation he describes. I'm not sure if that framework should have been an economic theory or a theory in social or political philosophy, but something theoretical needed to be said to truly make this book a work for the ages. It still stands as a fine intellectual achievement in economic history and a pleasure to read 75 years after it was written, but it's also a product of its age. I could not see what practical implications it might have for societies in the 21st century.

In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the ''great transformation'' of the Industrial Revolution. His analysis explains not only the deficiencies of the self-regulating market, but the potentially dire social consequences of untempered market capitalism. New introductory material reveals the renewed importance of Polanyi's seminal analysis in an era of globalization and free trade.

My favorite quote was:

"utilitarianism...opiate of the comercialized masses."

This book is something of a recap of 'The Great Transformation' [b:The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time|53981|The Great Transformation The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time|Karl Polanyi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924633s/53981.jpg|1997401] as he says idea of stages of development is wrong, hence mkts are not historical progression, but an aberration.

Today is Fri Apr 25 2014, Gregorian Calendar.
Meow Dt: Tuesday, April 24. 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era)

(Remaining notes found and posted 16.2.12016HE:
"2006-03-26 22:25:00
Book notes: Polanyi, The Livelihood of Man
(I love this!) "utilitarianism...opiate of the comercialized masses."

Recap of 'Great Transformation' -says idea of stages of dev. is wrong, hence mkts not historical progression, but aberration.

Economic Solipsism:
19th c. educated thought only of econ. & that pol. didn't matter. i.e. Spencer 'ind. vs. mil. systems'; mkt pushes out justice and law (we're seeing this today w/globalization...); law/justice/freedom
2 meanings of economic: economizing/economical vs. physical sustainment

Carl Menger Principles 1871 -important distinctions w/'2 economies' lost due to selection...

Scarcity as !, economic man !, Aristotle rejected scarcity. (Aristotle 'Politics'...); oikos and polis == life, not $; unlimited $-seeking is the problem.

lbr other goods in specific way -> econ. prod.
See Walt Whitman's 'Democratic Vistas' (1871)


Kin grps ==econ funct. unless econ. sep. from pol/soc. org.

p.63 -"primative man was strongly averse to barter."
p. 73 soc. disruptions (Babylon & Assyrian empire frced relocations) allowed gain-ban elim.

p. 97 $ uses: 1. val. std/account (counters) 2. store of wealth/value 3. medium of exchange


p. 117/9 diff. kinds of money existed for different status/ranks of people -not interchangeable
p. 120 $ was NOT all-purpose in ancient times; recip and redistr need equivalencies

p. 148 hesiod & amos worried about individualist market -> starvation; tribes redist. so !hunger

iron age ->breakdown of kinship/tribal rel.

agora and polis:
cyrus insulted greek mkts ('cheat each other and forswear themselves'); no mkts in persia

athenian citizens rotated offices filled by lot, no second term until every citizen had held the office

Athenians not eng. in trade: dep. on imported grain; Free Trde England also, but controlled wrld mkt until now; Rome dir. contrld grain to prevent Athenian problem

creation of world grain market by Athens & Alexander, Ptolemy

token (local) $ != external $;
p.260 town of Clazomenae minted iron coins, taxed wealthy citizens & gave the iron coins to wealthy, retiring iron over several years for silver to no income lost (to pay loan to foriegners in silver...)
pottery 'drafts' as temp coin for merchants w/eventual redemption by Timotheus, of Athenian army, told by Polyaenus: 'bore no value beyond the king's domain' but it worked, as king took it for grain, etc.
p. 263 NO INFLATION or devaluing happened.
Dionysius 'sober and temperant' saved Syracuse from Carthage; no good coins forced out for bad...

-----That's not what I've read up to now...
Says nonmkt econs ==recip. redistr. mtehods; Unlike Africa, Greeks interchanged local and foreign coinages.

P. 265-6 bankers often held coin hoards but not allowed to foreclose (since they're either slaves, foreigners, or freemen, so not allowed to own property); Greek banks did not create credit
p. 268 banks fac. payments
p. 273 Ptolemaic egypt -> best centrally planned mktless system in world; Max Weber says ancient capitalism diff. from modern -'grounded in politics' & says Rome's spread beyond coast stretched thin ->fall.
Last page: mkts did not channel to appreciable extent in ancient world"
Read, Write, Run, Teach !

ShiraDest
16 February, 12016 HE

Everyone should take the time to read this book, along with Keynes [b:The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money|303615|The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money|John Maynard Keynes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415594896s/303615.jpg|1711698] (esp. chapter 26 if I recall well...)

This was a pivotal book in my PhD (accepted as an MPhil due to methodology and scope problems, partially due to my inability to separate out all of the issues discussed by Polanyi across multiple books) work on Economic Social policy.

ShiraDest,
5 November, 12015 HE (the Holocene Calendar)

My favorite quote was:

"utilitarianism...opiate of the comercialized masses."

This book is something of a recap of 'The Great Transformation' [b:The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time|53981|The Great Transformation The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time|Karl Polanyi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924633s/53981.jpg|1997401] as he says idea of stages of development is wrong, hence mkts are not historical progression, but an aberration.

Today is Fri Apr 25 2014, Gregorian Calendar.
Meow Dt: Tuesday, April 24. 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era)

(Remaining notes found and posted 16.2.12016HE:
"2006-03-26 22:25:00
Book notes: Polanyi, The Livelihood of Man
(I love this!) "utilitarianism...opiate of the comercialized masses."

Recap of 'Great Transformation' -says idea of stages of dev. is wrong, hence mkts not historical progression, but aberration.

Economic Solipsism:
19th c. educated thought only of econ. & that pol. didn't matter. i.e. Spencer 'ind. vs. mil. systems'; mkt pushes out justice and law (we're seeing this today w/globalization...); law/justice/freedom
2 meanings of economic: economizing/economical vs. physical sustainment

Carl Menger Principles 1871 -important distinctions w/'2 economies' lost due to selection...

Scarcity as !, economic man !, Aristotle rejected scarcity. (Aristotle 'Politics'...); oikos and polis == life, not $; unlimited $-seeking is the problem.

lbr other goods in specific way -> econ. prod.
See Walt Whitman's 'Democratic Vistas' (1871)


Kin grps ==econ funct. unless econ. sep. from pol/soc. org.

p.63 -"primative man was strongly averse to barter."
p. 73 soc. disruptions (Babylon & Assyrian empire frced relocations) allowed gain-ban elim.

p. 97 $ uses: 1. val. std/account (counters) 2. store of wealth/value 3. medium of exchange


p. 117/9 diff. kinds of money existed for different status/ranks of people -not interchangeable
p. 120 $ was NOT all-purpose in ancient times; recip and redistr need equivalencies

p. 148 hesiod & amos worried about individualist market -> starvation; tribes redist. so !hunger

iron age ->breakdown of kinship/tribal rel.

agora and polis:
cyrus insulted greek mkts ('cheat each other and forswear themselves'); no mkts in persia

athenian citizens rotated offices filled by lot, no second term until every citizen had held the office

Athenians not eng. in trade: dep. on imported grain; Free Trde England also, but controlled wrld mkt until now; Rome dir. contrld grain to prevent Athenian problem

creation of world grain market by Athens & Alexander, Ptolemy

token (local) $ != external $;
p.260 town of Clazomenae minted iron coins, taxed wealthy citizens & gave the iron coins to wealthy, retiring iron over several years for silver to no income lost (to pay loan to foriegners in silver...)
pottery 'drafts' as temp coin for merchants w/eventual redemption by Timotheus, of Athenian army, told by Polyaenus: 'bore no value beyond the king's domain' but it worked, as king took it for grain, etc.
p. 263 NO INFLATION or devaluing happened.
Dionysius 'sober and temperant' saved Syracuse from Carthage; no good coins forced out for bad...

-----That's not what I've read up to now...
Says nonmkt econs ==recip. redistr. mtehods; Unlike Africa, Greeks interchanged local and foreign coinages.

P. 265-6 bankers often held coin hoards but not allowed to foreclose (since they're either slaves, foreigners, or freemen, so not allowed to own property); Greek banks did not create credit
p. 268 banks fac. payments
p. 273 Ptolemaic egypt -> best centrally planned mktless system in world; Max Weber says ancient capitalism diff. from modern -'grounded in politics' & says Rome's spread beyond coast stretched thin ->fall.
Last page: mkts did not channel to appreciable extent in ancient world"
Read, Write, Run, Teach !

ShiraDest
16 February, 12016 HE

Everyone should take the time to read this book, along with Keynes [b:The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money|303615|The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money|John Maynard Keynes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415594896s/303615.jpg|1711698] (esp. chapter 26 if I recall well...)

This was a pivotal book in my PhD (accepted as an MPhil due to methodology and scope problems, partially due to my inability to separate out all of the issues discussed by Polanyi across multiple books) work on Economic Social policy.

ShiraDest,
5 November, 12015 HE (the Holocene Calendar)

Written just after WW II, Polanyi's book provides a strong criticism of the market liberalism of people like Hayek. He explains that market liberalism's belief in pure self-regulating markets is a myth that has never existed or even been tested in practice. Market liberals explain away all of the failures their theories encounter in the real world as being the fault of not following their ideas with enough purity.

Polanyi begins by attacking the principles of many of the classical economists by examining the anthropological record showing that their assertions about how primitive societies worked has been shown to be pure fantasy. He then criticizes the market liberal approach to labor by looking at English economic history during the 18th and 19th centuries. This will make his book difficult for those totally unfamiliar with English history; however, those with patience will be rewarded with observations from these times that fit with today's political discussions.

For example, the Speenhamland Laws of 1795, which topped up worker's wages so they would not starve, resulted in employer's actually lowering wages since they knew that the public sector would keep them from starving. This can, of course, by compared to the wages policies of Walmart where many employees need to collect Food Stamps in order to make ends meet. After many years, the English abolished the Speenhamland approach and offered no support to able-bodied workers. Discussions of this at the time, saw major benefits in people suffering from hunger since it would force them to work for lower wages. it would also force them to become cannon fodder in English wars. This can be compared to recent Republican ideas for reforming welfare.

The book also has an outstanding introductions by Joesph Stiglitz and Fred Block who point out the relevance of the book to today.

My favorite quote was:

"utilitarianism...opiate of the comercialized masses."

This book is something of a recap of 'The Great Transformation' as he says idea of stages of development is wrong, hence mkts are not historical progression, but an aberration.

Today is Fri Apr 25 2014, Gregorian Calendar.
Meow Dt: Tuesday, April 24. 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era)

The ideology of economic liberalism is a bankrupt utopia. Private enterprise, "sound" currency, libertarianism, deregulation--the still familiar ideas that originated with Malthus, Smith, and Ricardo are shown here to be based wholly on fictions that defy the evidence of all human history.

Among those fictions are that:

* the motive of economic gain governs all "rational" social behavior--conclusively disproved by mountains of ethnographic evidence from all over the world;

* human labor, land, and money are actually "commodities" produced for sale--an obvious falsehood in each case (just look at non-market societies)

* and the world is strictly divided into economic and political spheres--this contradicts our actual experience of society, as a world of continuous human interaction.

Despite their absurdity, these fictions were nonetheless enforced by the liberal state in the midst of the industrial revolution, eventually supplanting traditional economic practices all over Europe (and beyond) and leading predictably to social chaos and suffering for the most vulnerable classes.

According to Polanyi, industrialization seemed to proceed independently of any ideology; the fictions of economic liberalism merely filled this ideological vacuum, becoming the axioms of economic life for a century.

By the close of the 19th century, these fictions increasingly gave way to the social reality (as Polanyi sees it), and social protections against destructive market forces were widely implemented.

The transformation the title refers to was the overall social outcome of those protective measures that he claims culminated in the interwar period, decisively ending the era of the self-regulating market, and giving rise to the New Deal, Fascism, and Stalinism.

A conventional teleology of progress is disappointingly apparent in Polanyi's conception of industrialization (Weber has a much more disinterested approach), and he makes it explicit in the final chapter.

Writing in 1944, he predicts that a balance will be found between the traditional ideals of peace and freedom on the one hand and the "demands" of industrial civilization on the other. The only alternative he saw was total surrender to industry--in short, Fascism.

Polanyi's faith in progress looks more than a little ridiculous now. I guess this is what people mean when they refer to "the post-war dream." He envisioned the development of a post-liberal society. He could not imagine that in a few decades we would in fact be living in a neo-liberal society based on the resurrected image of the same utopia that he was certain had already passed.

Yet, for the same reason that his prognostications are now useless, his insight into the theory and practice of economic liberalism is now more relevant than ever. The fictions of the market may now be approaching a breaking point once again.

This is a fascinating book, I'm astonished I haven't heard of it earlier.

Polanyi is not your run of the mill economist - he does not use equations - he uses context and does not describe events in a vacuum, integrating various disciplines from the social sciences. He describes four elements which comprised 19th century civilization, and which have all been swept away by the great bloodbaths of the early 20th century - the gold standard, the international balance of power, the classical liberal state, and the self-regulating market. The first three are elements of the final element.

That is, Polanyi posits that the free market is not free, nor is it self-perpetuating, nor is it a natural state of affairs - instead, governments have had to act in order to create economies on a national scale. Before this, there were community markets, and some distant trade, but nothing uniquely like this. The 'free market' is a creation of states and interests.

The 'free market revolution' was staged. The government has had to act in order to create the free market. Economy and society are inextricably linked, an apparatus which he calls the 'Market Society'. Massive societal extraction and mass upheavals are necessary. Vast populations are moved around, forced to work, thrown out, in ways which were wholly alien to our experience, and still crack and grumble at the bottom of society. Labour is an abstract term used to treat persons as commodities.

Polanyi uses historical examples and some abstract thinking to reach his conclusions. He is disappointing in his advocacy of the Soviet model of centralization, and some of his lines of reasoning. Some might go after his characterization of the pre-industrial era, calling it a rehash of the 'noble savage'. He does not deny that on a simple level of raw productivity or GDPs, the 'free-market' system works. But that, of course, is not the whole story.

This book is not easy to read or simple as Ayn Rand or Hayek or Mises are. It is perhaps even more turgid than Marx. His complexity makes it far too difficult to slap an ideological label onto him. He shares some things with John Maynard Keynes and the Christian socialists and the Humanists. He does, however, provide a stunning criticism of the ideas of the free market, and of some of the ideas of neoliberalism. People should be treated as more than statistics or economic figures, these cannot possibly tell the whole story.

I know of no work more important to understanding the rise of modern capitalism than this one. It is the antidote to Hayek, von Mises, and Friedman. The work should mark Polanyi as one of the greatest thinkers of all time and certainly he ranks as a great historian. If you want to understand how we are where we are, this is the book to read.

great book!

330.9 POL

Contains Goldstein on Hipparchus and Eudoxus

SUMÁRIO:

[007] - Nota da Edição Brasileira.
(.)
[011] - A Teoria institucional de Karl Polanyi: a sociedade de mercado e sua economia "desenraizada:, por Michele Cangiani.
(.)
[047] - I. A SUBSISTÊNCIA DO HOMEM:
[047] - 01.01 A Falácia Economicista;
[063] - 01.02 Os Dois Significados de Econômico;
[083] - 01.03 Formas de Integração e Estruturas de apoio;
[095] - 01.04 A Economia enraizada na Sociedade;
[107] - 01.05 A Origem das Transações Econômicas;
[115] - 01.06 Equivalências nas Sociedades Arcaicas;
[127] - 01.07 A Tríade Catalática: Comércio, Dinheiro e Mercados;
[133] - 01.08 Comerciantes e Comércio;
[153] - 01.09 Objetos Monetários e Usos do Dinheiro;
[183] - 01.10 Elementos de Mercado e Origens do Mercado.
(.)
[209] - II. ENSAIOS CORRELATOS:
[209] - 02.01 Nossa Obsoleta Mentalidade de Mercado;
[229] - 02.02 Aristóteles Descobre a Economia;
[269] - 02.03 O Lugar das Economias nas Sociedades;
[293] - 02.04 A Economia como Processo Instituído;
[331] - 02.05 A Semântica dos Usos do Dinheiro;
[361] - 02.06 Interesse de Classe e Mudança Social.
(.)

SUMÁRIO:

[015] - PRIMEIRA PARTE - O SISTEMA INTERNACIONAL;
[017] - Capítulo 01 - Cem Anos de Paz;
[036] - Capítulo 02 - A década de 1920 Conservadora; - A década de 1930 Revolucionária.
(.)
[049] - SEGUNDA PARTE - ASCENSÃO E QUEDA DA ECONOMIA DE MERCADO;
[049] - I. O MOINHO SATÂNICO:
[051] - Capitulo 03 "Habitação versus Progresso";
[062] - Capítulo 04 Sociedades e Sistemas Econômicos;
[076] - Capítulo 05 Evolução do Padrão de Mercado;
[089] - Capítulo 06 O Mercado auto-regulável e as mercadorias fictícias: trabalho, terra e dinheiro;
[099] - Capítulo 07 Speenhamland, 1795;
[109] - Capitulo 08 Antecedentes e consequências;
[128] - Capítulo 09 Pauperismo e Utopia;
[137] - A Economia Política e a Descoberta da Sociedade.
(.)
[159] - II. AUTOPROTEÇÃO DA SOCIEDADE;
[161] - Capítulo 11 Homem, Natureza e Organização Produtiva;
[166] - Capítulo 12 O Nascimento do Credo Liberal;
[184] - Capítulo 13 O Naccimento do Credo Liberal (Continuação): O interesse de classe e Mudança social;
[198] - Capítulo 14 Mercado e Homem;
[214] - Capítulo 15 Mercado e Natureza;
[228] - Capítulo 16 Mercado e Organização Produtiva;
[237] - Capítulo 17 Auto-RegulaçAo Imperfeita;
[246] - Capítulo 18 Forças de Ruptura;
(.)
[259] - TERCEIRA PARTE - TRANSFORMAÇÃO EM PROGRESSO;
[261] - Capítulo 19 Governo Popular e economia de Mercado;
[276] - Capítulo 20 A História na Engrenagem da Mudança Social;
[289] - Capítulo 21 A Liberdade Numa Sociedade Complexa.
(.)
[302] - APÊNDICE - Notas sobres as fontes;
[302] - 01 O Equilíbrio de poder como política, lei histórica, princípio e sistema;
[306] - 02 Cem anos de paz;
[307] - 03 Parte-se o fio dourado;
[308] - 04 Os Balanços do Pêndulo após a Primeira Guerra Mundial;
[308] - 05 Finanças e Paz;
[309] - 06 Referências Selecionadas a "sociedades e sistemas econômicos";
[313] - 07 Referências Selecionadas à "evolução do padrão de mercado";
[317] - 08 Literatura sobre Speenhamland;
[322] - 09 Speenhamland e Viena;
[323] - 10 Por que não o Whitbread's Bill?;
[324] - 11 As "duas nações: de Disraeli e o problema das raças de cor;
[327] - 12 Nota adicional: Poor Law e a Organização do trabalho.
(.)
[337] - O Autor.
(.)
[339] - Índice.
(.)