The collapse of USSR has stimulated a huge scholarly debate on socialist alternatives. This paper surveys four rounds of the debate on market and planning in the transition towards socialism: the socialist calculation debate (Barone, Mises, Lange and Hayek), market and plan in the Soviet industrialization (Preobrazhesnky and Bukharin), plan, market and democracy in the USSR’s crisis (Nove, Mandel and Elson) and market socialism (Roemer, Wright). This survey summarizes the specific contributions of each round. The concluding section suggests a research agenda for a contemporary elaboration on this subject. This elaboration includes both these lessons and the structural changes within the capitalist system.
socialism; market and plan; economic thought