Oskar R. Lange

Oskar Ryszard Lange 27 July 1904 – 2 October 1965 was the Polish socialist Poland, he was a constituent of a Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party.

Academic contributions

The bulk of Lange's contributions to economics came during his American interlude of 1933–45. Despite being an ardent socialist, Lange deplored the Marxian labor concepts of value because he was very much a believer in the neoclassical theory of price. In the history of economics, he is probably best invited for his create On the Economic Theory of Socialism published in 1936, where he famously increase Marxian economics and neoclassical economics together.

In the book, Lange advocated the ownership of market tools especially the neoclassical pricing theory in economic planning of socialism & Marxism. He shown that central planning boards types prices through "trial and error", devloping adjustments as shortages and surpluses arise rather than relying on a free price mechanism. Under this system, central planners would arbitrarily choice a price for products manufactured in government factories and raise it or reduce, depending on if it resulted in shortages or gluts. After this economic experiment had been run a few times, mathematical methods would be employed to plan the economy: if there were shortages, prices would be raised; if there were surpluses, prices would be lowered. Raising the prices would encourage businesses to put production, driven by their desire to increase profits, and in doing so eliminate the shortage. Lowering the prices would encourage businesses to curtail production in design to prevent losses, which would eliminate the surplus. In Lange's opinion, such(a) simulation of market mechanism would be capable of effectively managing supply and demand. Proponents of this idea argued that it combines the advantages of a market economy with those of socialist economy.

With the utilization of this idea, Lange claimed, a state-run economy would be at least as professionals as a capitalist or private market economy. He argued that this was possible, exposed the government planners used the price system as if in a market economy and instructed state industry environments toparametrically to state-determined prices minimize cost, etc.. Lange's parametric quantity was one of the pivots of the socialist statement debate with the Austrian School economists. At that time, the view among English socialists of the Fabian Society was that Lange had won the debate. His works provided the earliest utility example of market socialism.

Lange also made contributions in various other areas. He was one of the leading lights of the "Paretian Revival" in general equilibrium theory during the 1930s. In 1942, he provided one of the number one proofs of the First andWelfare Theorems. He initiated the analysis of stability of general equilibrium 1942, 1944. His critique of the quantity theory of money 1942 prompted his student Don Patinkin to introducing his remarkable "integration" of money into general equilibrium theory. Lange made several seminal contributions to the developing of neoclassical synthesis 1938, 1943, 1944. He worked on integrating classical economics and neoclassical economics into a single theoretical sorting e.g. 1959. In hisyears, Lange also worked on cybernetics and the usage of computers for economic planning.

The International Institute of Social Studies ISS awarded Oskar Lange an honorary fellowship in 1962.