Democratic Economic Planning

"Robin Hahnel’s remarkable study, the product of a lifetime of serious thought and direct engagement, is directed to dreamers and skeptics. The dreamers aspire to "an alliance of free groups of men and women based on cooperative labor and a planned administration of things in the interest of the community," in the words of a traditional left-libertarian ideal. The skeptics regard this as hopeless utopianism. With scrupulous analysis, deft technical skill, and incisive vision, Hahnel explores a wide range of potential problems and exciting opportunities, constructing a strong case that the dreamers are the realists."

- Noam Chomsky

"This new book occupies a unique position in the writings about alternatives to capitalism. Robin Hahnel and his coauthors present both a vision and a technical model of a participatory economy that does not rely on competition or markets, while also reviewing other approaches to capitalist alternatives. A must read for anyone interested in structural solutions to the severe and persistent economic and social problems of today."

- David M. Kotz, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Senior Research Fellow in the Political Economy Research Institute

""A key contribution to the on-going debate on democratic and participatory socialism. A must-read!"

- Thomas Piketty

"Robin Hahnel’s remarkable study, the product of a lifetime of serious thought and direct engagement, is directed to dreamers and skeptics. The dreamers aspire to "an alliance of free groups of men and women based on cooperative labor and a planned administration of things in the interest of the community," in the words of a traditional left-libertarian ideal. The skeptics regard this as hopeless utopianism. With scrupulous analysis, deft technical skill, and incisive vision, Hahnel explores a wide range of potential problems and exciting opportunities, constructing a strong case that the dreamers are the realists."

- Noam Chomsky

"This new book occupies a unique position in the writings about alternatives to capitalism. Robin Hahnel and his coauthors present both a vision and a technical model of a participatory economy that does not rely on competition or markets, while also reviewing other approaches to capitalist alternatives. A must read for anyone interested in structural solutions to the severe and persistent economic and social problems of today."

- David M. Kotz, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Senior Research Fellow in the Political Economy Research Institute

"In Democratic Economic Planning, Professor Hahnel proposes a theoretical conceptualization of participation and self-management to address the different dilemmas of a more just, fair and democratic economy, while avoiding bureaucratization...The chapters of this book are exciting and suggest how we must work on the transition process of moving from today’s societies as they are…because it appears we humans are animals of acquired habits."

- José "Pepe" Mujica

"Robin Hahnel has emerged as a major figure in the movement to build a vision of a superior economic way of life, one that could replace the capitalist present with a system of equality, worker participation, democracy, planning, and human fulfillment...[thisbook] should be considered essential reading in a field that will become more and more central to social and political debate in our polarizing and dangerous world."

- David Laibman, Science & Society