Tokens make the world go round: socialist tokens as an alternative to money

Jan Philipp Dapprich ()
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Jan Philipp Dapprich: University of Potsdam

Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, 2023, vol. 4, issue 3, 497-513

Abstract: Abstract The paper argues that non-circulating tokens should be used as an alternative to money in a socialist economy. These tokens would be used to distribute consumer products out of socialised production to individual consumers. Like modern fiat money, these tokens are a kind of IOU. But unlike money, these tokens are not intended to facilitate the private exchange of commodities. Marx’s proposal to eventually abolish a token-based lower phase of communism in favour of a distinct higher phase is rejected because the ‘needs principle’ of the higher phase can be sufficiently realised within the token system. It is further shown that the prices of items should not be tied to the socially necessary labour time needed to produce them. Instead, prices should be regulated towards market clearing rates.

Keywords: Money; Labour tokens; Socialism; Communism; Marx (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B14 B24 B51 B52 D3 D4 D61 D63 E31 E4 E5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s43253-022-00091-6

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