Transition to socialism in the European Union

Cockshott, W.P., Cottrell, A. and Dieterich, H. (2010) Transition to socialism in the European Union. World Review of Political Economy, 1(2), pp. 275-289.

Abstract

This article attempts to outline the economic steps that would be necessary to convert a capitalist economy like the EU into a socialist one. We examine the issue in very concrete terms and propose specific policy measures. The measures we propose differ significantly from the tradition of 20th-century European Social Democracy. The main differences are (1) that we advocate measures to abolish exploitation prior to measures to take the means of production into public ownership; (2) that we advocate radical action against the accumulation of debt both private and public; (3) we see the transition to socialism as something that has to take place at a regional or continental level rather than within individual European nation states; (4) we take the Marxian labor theory of value as a practical guide in monetary policy; (5) we argue for a shift in the financial basis of the EU from indirect taxes which are regressive to direct progressive taxes on income and property.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: UNSPECIFIED
• Authors: Cockshott, W.P., Cottrell, A., and Dieterich, H.
• Subjects: J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe)
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: World Review of Political Economy
• Journal Abbr.: WRPE
• Publisher: Pluto
• ISSN: 2042-891X