Open Access Journal Article

Pseudocode and algorithms for computer simulations of democratically planned economies

by Mitchell Szczepanczyk a,*
a
OpenMarkets, Inc., Chicago, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 12 August 2023 / Accepted: 13 September 2023 / Published Online: 26 October 2023

Abstract

The claim that “there is no third way” besides the economic models of capitalism and communism has faced a challenge from a new and growing body of research into a “third way” economic paradigm known as democratic planning. In this paper, we explore one of these democratic planning models–Robin Hahnel and Michael Albert’s model of a participatory economy, focusing in particular on its allocation mechanism–a non-market, non-command-planning procedure known as “participatory planning.” This procedure has recently been implemented in computer programs to explore its feasibility, the encouraging results of which have been published elsewhere and which we summarize here. But I present here for the first time the detailed algorithms and related pseudocode powering all of these computer programs for others to consider, examine, and build as their own programs. I also describe future directions for this avenue of research.


Copyright: © 2023 by Szczepanczyk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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ACS Style
Szczepanczyk, M. Pseudocode and algorithms for computer simulations of democratically planned economies. Journal of Information Economics, 2023, 1, 15. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie01030004
AMA Style
Szczepanczyk M. Pseudocode and algorithms for computer simulations of democratically planned economies. Journal of Information Economics; 2023, 1(3):15. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie01030004
Chicago/Turabian Style
Szczepanczyk, Mitchell 2023. "Pseudocode and algorithms for computer simulations of democratically planned economies" Journal of Information Economics 1, no.3:15. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie01030004
APA style
Szczepanczyk, M. (2023). Pseudocode and algorithms for computer simulations of democratically planned economies. Journal of Information Economics, 1(3), 15. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie01030004

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References

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  2. Albert, Michael, and Hahnel, Robin. (1991). The Political Economy of Participatory Economics. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691216003
  3. Hahnel, Robin. (2021). Democratic Economic Planning. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003173700
  4. Hahnel, Robin. (2022). A Participatory Economy. Chico, California: AK Press.
  5. Hahnel, Robin, and Wright, Erik Olin. (2016). Alternatives to Capitalism. London: Verso Books.
  6. Nove, Alec. (1983). The Economics of Feasible Socialism. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315000015