How does a socialist planned economy work? China, Romania, Bulgaria, Part 1

“On the Barricades” s06e54

In this three-part release of this week’s “On the Barricades”, hosts Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski invite back Pat Byrne, the UK-born, Brazil-based political analyst, author, and historian of the European left who is currently writing a book, “Why China will lead the world and what it could look like.”

Inspired by Maria’s article* on “Socialism with Romanian Characteristics”, a phrase lifted from China, Pat wanted to provide us with an understanding of China’s planned economy and how it works– in comparison to Romania and also Bulgaria, which we get to in part 2. How did Eastern European economies in the socialist republics balance between market and centralization pressures, and what can we learn from the experience and current reality of China? In Part 3, we get to the question of what is to be done now, to possibly bring back the advantages of the economic models of the socialist period and to not repeat the mistakes of the past? The hosts weigh in on what would be priorities for Eastern Europe in terms of fundamental change in structuring the energy sector, agriculture, the army, and in terms of geopolitical orientation?

*https://thebarricade.substack.com/p/socialism-with-romanian-characteristics