ap/sosc 2340/2349 9.0 foundations of business & society lecture 1
TRANSCRIPT
AP/SOSC 2340/2349 9.0
Foundations of Business & Society
Lecture 1
Centrally Planned EconmiesI. Points covered in this lecture:- The ‘economic problem’- Centrally planned economies- The economy of the Soviet Union- Problems of central planning
II. Writing skills: quotations/page references
sample reading question
The ‘Economic Problem’The ‘Economic Problem’
How does society organize its economy?
1) What is to be produced and how much?
2) Who is to produce it?
3) How is it to be produced?
4) Where is it to be produced?
5) When is it to be produced?
6) For whom is it to be produced?
Soviet Union circa 1920
i) Population ≈ 150 million
ii) Over 80% worked in agriculture
iii) GDP per capita < 20% of U.S. figure
The Soviet EconomyThe Soviet Economy - Priority: Industrialization (heavy industry)- Enterprise building - Setting productions targets for enterprises- Using modern technology
By 1932: doubling of output of oil, coal, iron ore; 50% increase in steel production doubling of unskilled industrial workers
The Information ProblemThe Information Problem
Vast complexity and number of variables to plan
Too much for a single mind or a planning authority to know.
Planning in PracticePlanning in Practice
1) Planning from the achieved level
2) Taut planning
3) Bonuses for plan fulfilment
4) Punishment for under fulfilment
The Enterprises’ PerspectiveThe Enterprises’ Perspective
Enterprises wanted:1) Just to fulfil their plan target
2) An easy (‘slack’) plan target (mendacity)
3) To avoid technological innovation
4) To acquire inputs through illegal means if there were shortages (tolkachi)
ResultsResults1) Inefficiency due to:
a) Hoarding of inputs (labour, materials, etc.)
b) ‘Self-supply’ (Bleaney, pp. 51, 55)
2) Disregard of product quality: ‘storming’ (ibid., pp. 48-9), targets in terms of weight
Advantages of the Command EconomyAdvantages of the Command Economy
1) Social justice (?)
2) Mobilization of resources to priority areas
3) No waste through advertising costs
What’s Missing?What’s Missing?
α) Competition
β) Bankruptcy
γ) Entrepreneurship
δ) Private property
ε) Market prices
ζ) Freedom
The ‘Economic Problem’The ‘Economic Problem’
1) What is to be produced and how much?
2) Who is to produce it?
3) How is it to be produced?
4) Where is it to be produced?
5) When is it to be produced?
6) For whom is it to be produced?
Next week
The ‘economic problem’ in a market society
How are markets coordinated?
Who makes the plans?
Sample reading question
Word List
p. 50: myopic p. 55: profligate
Dictionaries and ThesauriShea, V. and Whitla, W. (2005). Foundations:
Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing (Toronto: Pearson/Prentice Hall), chapter 5.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/thesaurus
http://www.m-w.com/
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
http://www.oed.com/
Writing skills
Quotations
Page references (p. or pp.); p. 27; pp. 43-44.
ibid.
Sample reading question
‘What is ‘storming’ and why did it occur?’ (see the section ‘Success indicators’, pp. 47-50)?
Next week’s reading question
‘How, according to Marx, is the manufacturing division of labour (‘within the workshop’) determined (see pp. 212-14)?