Oskar Lange

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Oskar Lange monument at the Wrocław University of Economics

Oscar Ryszard Lange (born July 27, 1904 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland - died October 2, 1965 in London, United Kingdom) was a Polish economist and diplomat. He is probably most known for his work On the Economic Theory of Socialism published in 1936. He was an advocate of using market tools (especially the neoclassical pricing theory) in economic planning of socialism and Marxism. He also worked on integrating classical and neoclassical economics into a single theoretical structure. In terms of economic philosophy, he is sometimes considered to be a "market socialist".

Lange emigrated to the United States in 1937, was a professor at the University of Chicago from 1938, and became a U.S. citizen in 1943. Lange served as a go-between for F.D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin during the post-war discussion on Poland. Lange returned to the United States at the end of May, met with Free Polish London Exile Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk, who happened then to be in Washington, and stressed how reasonable Stalin was prepared to be, and asked the State Department to pressure on the exiled Poles. Lange's covername with the KGB was FRIEND.

After the War ended in 1945 Lange renounced his American citizenship and returned to Poland. Lange returned in 1946 as the new Polish Communist régime's first Ambassador to the United States.

In 1974, the Wrocław University of Economics was named after Lange (the official Polish name is Akademia Ekonomiczna we Wrocławiu im. Oskara Langego).

Bibliography

• "The Determinateness of the Utility Function", 1934, RES.
• "Marxian Economics and Modern Economic Theory", 1935.
• "The Place of Interest in the Theory of Production", 1936, RES
• "On the Economic Theory of Socialism, 1936, RES.
• "On the Economic Theory of Socialism, I & II", 1936, 1937.
• On the Economic Theory of Socialism, 1938.
• "The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume", 1938, Economica
• "Saving and Investment: Saving in process analysis", 1939, QJE
• "Is the American Economy Contracting?", 1939, AER
• "Complementarity and Interrelations of Shifts in Demand", 1940, RES
• "Theoretical Derivation of the Elasticities of Demand and Supply: the direct method", 1942, Econometrica
• "The Foundations of Welfare Economics", 1942, Econometrica
• "The Stability of Economic Equilibrium", 1942, Econometrica.
• "Say's Law: A restatement and criticism", 1942, in Lange et al., editors, Studies in Mathematical Economics.
• "A Note on Innovations", 1943, REStat
• "The Theory of the Multiplier", 1943, Econometrica
• "Strengthening the Economic Foundations of Democracy", with Abba Lerner, 1944, American Way of Business.
• Price Flexibility and Employment, 1944.
• "The Stability of Economic Equilibrium" (Appendix of Lange, 1944)
• "The Rate of Interest and the Optimal Propensity to Consume" 1944, in Haberler, editor, Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
• "The Scope and Method of Economics", 1945, RES.
• "Marxian Economic in the Soviet Union", 1945, AER
• "The Practice of Economic Planning and the Optimum Allocation of Resources", 1949, Econometrica
• "The Economic Laws of Socialist Society in Light of Joseph Stalin's Last Work", 1953, Nauka Paulska (repr. IER, 1954).
• The Political Economy of Socialism, 1958.
• Introduction to Econometrics, 1958.
• Political Economy, 1959.
• "The Output-Investment Ratio and Input-Output Analysis", 1960, Econometrica
• Theories of Reproduction and Accumulation, 1961
• Economic and Social Essays, 1930-1960, 1961.
• Economic Development, Planning and Economic Cooperation, 1963.
• Essays on Economic Planning, 1963.
• Optimal Decisions: principles of programming. 1964.
• Wholes and Parts: A general theory of system behavior. 1965
• "The Computer and the Market", 1967, in Feinstein, editor, Socialism, Capitalism and Economic Growth.
• Introduction to Economic Cybernetics, 1965.

References

• Charles Sadler, Pro-Soviet Polish-Americans: Oskar Lange and Russia's Friends in the Polonia, 1941–1945, Polish Review, 22., no. 4 (1977), 25–39.
• Venona 956-957 KGB New York to Moscow 6 July 1944 states that KGB agent Boleslaw Gebert had reported on 30 June 1944, "the other day Lange presented to the State Department and to Roosevelt’s Secretariat a report on the journey to the USSR and the conversation with Comrade Stalin. Gebert read this report." [link][link][link]

External links

• [The History of Economic Thought: Oscar Lange]

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