How to Change Course

This book looks back at the history of this notion in the 20th century, between war economies,developmental catch-up, and socialist experiments, revisits the classic debates between theproponents of the "price signal; and those of"calculation in kind" and shows how the current situation offers new possibilities for planning. The cautious deployment of digital tools,innovative accounting techniques, and the deepening of institutions of collective deliberation cangive rise to a needs-based government of production. As long as they remain trapped in thestraitjacket of the "free market" consumer eco-gestures will prove powerless. Beyond growth,ecological planning offers a realist, transformative path toward a balanced human ecologicalfootprint by deepening economic democracy.