[ekianjo]

It may not be obvious from the name of the publication, but Monthly Review is a Marxist magazine, therefore their view and what they publish is far from neutral. Regarding what Einstein had to say, it can be easily detracted by multiple arguments that are usually a cause of long and heated discussions on HN for those who do not understand economics and do not support free markets. Einstein was certainly a brilliant physicist, but genius does not always translate well in other disciplines.

[ifnspifn]

To be fair, Einstein addresses his inexperience in the field of economics in the first few paragraphs, and argues that the "[facts deriving from the science of economics] belong to [Veblen's "predatory" phase, i.e. capitalism] and even such laws as we can derive from them are not applicable to other phases. Since the real purpose of socialism is precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory phase of human development, economic science in its present state can throw little light on the socialist society of the future."

In other words, he claims that a lack of expertise in economics translates into an inability to describe the rules of a capitalist state, but not an inability to describe the resulting observable socioeconomic effects.

[olalonde]

> Regarding what Einstein had to say, it can be easily detracted by multiple arguments that are usually a cause of long and heated discussions on HN for those who do not understand and support economics and free markets.

Feel free to flag. Personally, I prefer to leave the "socialism vs capitalism" debates to Reddit/Facebook.