The economic problem of a community: ontological reflections inspired by the Socialist Calculation Debate

Implicitly, the Socialist Calculation Debate is about the connection between neoclassical theory and reality. It involves several ontological presuppositions, with wide-ranging implications. Our purpose is to discuss one of these presuppositions. We want to scrutinise the view, implicit in the ‘market socialist’ arguments, that things have economic roles or functions independently of the social environment in which they exist. ‘Primary factors’ and techniques of production are taken to exist independently of social arrangements; jointly with consumer preferences, they are supposed to define the economic problem of a community. In analysing this view, we borrow from F. A. Hayek, complementing his reflections with those of Donald Davidson, Willard Quine, and Tony Lawson. We also discuss a second problem, which follows from the first: if, in contrast with market socialists’ view, the economic roles of things depend holistically on complex social processes, how can we compare alternative forms of economic organisation?