On Socialist Planning

Socialists have always known the values they want to serve; they have had more difficulty working out an economic system that would have to serve them. Since the early days of the Labour movement, socialists have talked of producing for use instead of profit; of aiming the economy directly at the needs of the people; of deciding what to make and provide on grounds of social benefits and social costs. In the 1930s many socialists in England, like their counterparts elsewhere, thought they had found the answer in economic planning. Since the 1930s the meaning of the phrase itself has changed, as the ambitions expressed by it have eroded. However, many socialists still cling to it; the alternative for them seems to be the abandonment of bas...