Science and the Cold War

Geoffrey M. Hodgson ()

Chapter 1 in From Marx to Markets, 2025, pp 2-20 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter covers Geoffrey Hodgson's life from his birth in 1946 to when he left school in 1964. Science and planning were seen as solutions to world problems. The Second World War against fascism created extensive sympathy for the Soviet Union, including among the author's family. Limited accounts of purges and famines were downplayed or disbelieved. This empathy was eroded by the Cold War from 1947, the Korean War of 1950–1953, Nikita Khrushchev's revelations about Joseph Stalin in 1956, and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Prominent economists argued that the Soviet Union could overtake the US in economic terms. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought the world close to nuclear war. US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Harold Wilson led the UK Labour Party to win the 1964 general election, holding up science as a solution to social and economic problems.

Keywords: Labour governments; Soviet Union; Cold War; Harold Wilson; Faith in science; Early computers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035350094
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