We willingly believe that if nothing else but academics is properly nuanced and open in the present world. The reality is different: systems-based critical economics – although its representatives have foretold the possibility of a coming crisis years before its outbreak, and analysing its features now also getting into its roots and further perspective – has been and still missing from the mainstream of Hungarian economics, in addition making such studies public is difficul.
sz szilu84 összes bejegyzése
Surviving Financial Meltdown: Argentina’s Barter Networks
In this chapter of his Money and Liberation, the author describes how millions – in order to survive – started barter trade, one-to-one exchanges after the Argentinean economy collapsed at the end of 2001, throwing away free market and profit principles. They did not try to change the big system or take power themselves. What are the lessons from this case, when masses opted out of a failed capitalism?
Transition Movement
The ultimate goal of the transition movement is to develop a social-economic form by practice, which is able to satisfy social needs for everyone in a sustainable way, in an environment of shortages created by the climate change and increasing energy prices, a consequence of the depleting oil reserves. This requires radical cut backs on globalised production and transport and also meeting food and energy needs mostly from local sources in global network of local communities talking to each other. This vision contradicts the logic of global capitalism, although the movement is making an attempt to establish parallel economic and social institutions without open confrontation.
The main topic of this issue of Eszmélet is the "structural crisis of capitalism". Historical and theoretical analysis is presented on the social-economical features of "new capitalism" of Easter Europe or by the words of A. Tarasov on the "second edition of capitalism" on the semi-periphery. One crucial element of these is the regression in the agricultural development: the extreme weakness of the SME sector, that is a severe step backwards even comparing to the state socialist era. Although there is a historically determined inherent tension between the socialist-communist ideas of emancipation propagated by the state socialist system and its actual reality but a sophisticated judgement on the system is made in relation to the concurrent developments in Western Europe. No. 96 | (Winter 2012)
In the documents section a letter of József Szigeti is published from his archives, which casts light on the background why Ágnes Heller defamed István Mészáros. The sociographic photos of Lewis Wickes Hine from the "dark past of America" illustrate that the historical foundations of the most modern capitalism are still working this days despite any change in its present forms.
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Untrue Readings or How to Constructa Disputant
The author, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, reacts to the study of Tamás Krausz published as a supplement of the previous issue of our journal on the links between Hungarian historiography and Marxism. The author considers Krausz not understanding or misinterpreting his writings thus 'at the moment' rejects the possibility of a serious debate.