Theoretical Analysis of Socialism: Mises vs. Brutskus (to the Centenary of thе Publications of Books)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the centenary of the publication of books by L. von Mises and B.D. Brutskus dedicated to the criticism of the socialist system. The similarity of the theoretical arguments used by the authors in the analysis of the economic aspects of socialist society makes it possible to call the theorem on the impossibility of socialism the double name of Mises-Bruckus. The authors consider the abolition of the institutions of private property on the means of production, as well as the market as a mechanism for coordination, and entrepreneurship to be the main factor of the rational impossibility of the economic system of socialism. Without these institutions, it is impossible to form a price system as a signaling mechanism about the most efficient directions for the distribution of resources. Without this information, the planning body will not be able to determine the goods that should be produced. Mises' analysis does not focus exclusively on the form of socialism that was realized in Soviet Russia, however it can be applied to any pseudo-socialist system or form of interventionism. Brutskus confirms the theoretical arguments with examples from Soviet practice.