Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Another new book to read
The review makes clear that Kornai is no conservative -- he is said to have respected Marx as an economist -- but there is little doubt he understood the perils of transition from socialism.
At one point in 1974, under the more relaxed rule of J�nos K�d�r, when Hungary was the "most cheerful barrack in the camp," Mr. Kornai and his wife decided to build their own home. Over the course of several months, they personally confronted the corruption, endemic shortages and shoddy construction materials that were so common in Eastern Europe. A year later, on a trip to India, Mr. Kornai was faced by idealistic young Maoists whose concern for the desperately poor reinforced their support for socialism. Mr. Kornai responded to them by arguing, as he puts it here, that "rationing systems that spread misery equally may assuage feelings of injustice for a while, but they will not solve anything."