Economics for Rebels What kind of socialism have we ever tested?
Sep 29, 2025
Attila Melegh, a Hungarian sociologist and economist known for his expertise in demographics and migration, dives into the complex world of socialism and its historical experiments. He discusses the varied outcomes of socialist practices in Eastern Europe, emphasizing their successes in stability and welfare compared to neoliberalism. Melegh critiques the misconceptions surrounding state capitalism and advocates for a reevaluation of the past to inform current ecological economic theories. He argues for historically grounded models to address today's pressing ecological challenges.
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Study Socialism As Diverse Experiments
- Attila Melegh urges we study historical socialism as diverse experiments rather than a single monolith.
- He recommends using Polanyi's framework of multiple forms of economic integration to analyze past systems.
Planning Utopias Broke Embedded Economies
- Early socialist regimes began with a planning utopia that over-dominance broke local social relations and caused shortages.
- Melegh highlights how reforms later reintroduced markets and household economies to restore stability.
Hungary's Non-Capitalist Mixed Model
- Hungary experimented with cooperatives, market pricing and household symbiosis without privatizing land or capital.
- Melegh argues these were non-capitalist mixed economies distinct from 'state capitalism.'
