By force of thought

• Preface
• p. xiii

• 1
• My Family and Youth-1928-1944
• p. 1

• My father
• p. 1

• My family
• p. 5

• The Imperial German School
• p. 8

• Seeking an intellectual path
• p. 9

• 1944 The fate of my father
• p. 12

• 1944 My escape
• p. 14

• 2
• How I Became a Communist-1945-1947
• p. 23

• Grades of identification
• p. 23

• Reaction to the trauma of 1944
• p. 25

• Intellectual conversion and acceptance of Communist political ideas
• p. 29

• Charismatic personalities
• p. 34

• Belonging to a community
• p. 36

• Chance influences and my own capabilities
• p. 37

• 3
• On a Communist Newspaper-1947-1955
• p. 41

• Onward and upward
• p. 41

• Motivations
• p. 44

• Life in the newspaper office
• p. 47

• My perceptions of the economy
• p. 49

• Intellectual emptiness
• p. 52

• A moral reckoning
• p. 54

• 4
• Waking Up-1953-1955
• p. 57

• The "New Course"
• p. 57

• A meeting with an ex-prisoner
• p. 59

• Clarifying discussions and readings
• p. 61

• My first show of "insubordination"
• p. 64

• Reviewing writings by Imre Nagy
• p. 65

• Rebellion at Szabad Nep
• p. 67

• The end of my period at Szabad Nep
• p. 68

• 5
• The Beginning of a Research Career-1955-October 23, 1956
• p. 71

• Overcentralization

• The background
• p. 71

• Intellectual impulses
• p. 73

• Breaking with Marxian political economy
• p. 78

• I
• begin my research
• p. 82

• The main conclusions in my dissertation
• p. 86

• The initial reception of the book
• p. 92

• Political background
• p. 94

• 6
• Revolution and After-October 23, 1956-1959
• p. 99

• The new government program of Imre Nagy
• p. 99

• Magyar Szabadsag-A new newspaper
• p. 103

• Troubled days, troubled years
• p. 105

• Overcentralization continues its career

• Dismissed from the institute
• p. 110

• At large, but under threat of imprisonment
• p. 113

• Friendship and solidarity
• p. 120

• 7
• My Universities-1957-1959
• p. 123

• Self-instruction
• p. 123

• The Lange-Hayek debate
• p. 125

• Continued research into light industry
• p. 127

• Dissociation
• p. 128

• A blind alley
• p. 130

• Decisions for a lifetime
• p. 132

• 8
• The Economic Application of Mathematical Methods-1957-1968
• p. 135

• Two-Level Planning

• Making the acquaintance of Tamas Liptak
• p. 135

• A mathematical investigation of profit sharing
• p. 137

• Programming of the textile industry
• p. 140

• Two-level planning
• p. 142

• An idealized model of central planning
• p. 144

• Programming the national economy: Some initial principles
• p. 147

• The computations
• p. 150

• Was it worth it?
• p. 152

• Cooperating with mathematicians
• p. 157

• 9
• Traveling to the West-1963 Onward
• p. 159

• Previous events
• p. 159

• Cambridge, England
• p. 160

• At the London School of Economics
• p. 162

• The same, through the eyes of spies and informers
• p. 163

• General remarks on my travels and publications abroad
• p. 169

• A blighted attempt at a "fabricated trial"
• p. 172

• 10
• Against the Current-1967-1970
• p. 177

• Anti-Equilibrium

• The antecedents of the book
• p. 177

• What prompted me to write the book
• p. 179

• Some thought-provoking similarities
• p. 181

• What can and cannot be expected from general theory
• p. 182

• Rational decision makers
• p. 185

• Non-price indicators
• p. 188

• Equilibrium and buyers' and sellers' markets
• p. 188

• The interpretation of the general equilibrium theory from the political point of view
• p. 190

• Reform or revolution in science
• p. 191

• Initial reception and influence in the longer term
• p. 192

• Worth writing?
• p. 192

• Some subjective closing comments
• p. 196

• 11
• Institute, University, and Academy-1967 Onward
• p. 199

• The economics supremo
• p. 199

• As if nothing had happened
• p. 200

• Trust and tolerance
• p. 202

• An aborted reform of the institute
• p. 206

• Banned, but teaching nonetheless
• p. 209

• How I became an academician
• p. 211

• The privileges of an academician
• p. 214

• 12
• Pathfinding and Preparation-1971-1976
• p. 217

• Rush versus Harmonic GrowthNon-Price Control

• Growth: Forced or harmonic
• p. 217

• An invitation to Cambridge
• p. 219

• In a cast to the waist-Keynes and Hirschman
• p. 220

• Teaching at Princeton
• p. 222

• Continuation in Stanford and Washington
• p. 224

• Autonomous control
• p. 226

• Creaking machinery of adaptation
• p. 231

• Building a new home
• p. 233

• Market-oriented reform, through the eyes of Maoists in Calcutta
• p. 234

• 13
• Pieces Falling into Place-1971-1980
• p. 237

• Economics of Shortage

• Inspiring surroundings
• p. 237

• The message of the book
• p. 240

• Self-censorship
• p. 242

• Publishers'

• referees
• p. 244

• First impressions
• p. 246

• A dispute with the ''disequilibrium''

• school
• p. 247

• A dispute with an orthodox Russian economist
• p. 250

• Helping to erode the system
• p. 250

• The political and ethical dilemmas of publication again
• p. 253

• 14
• A Breakthrough-1979 Onward
• p. 257

• The Soft Budget Constraint

• The meaning and significance of the concept
• p. 257

• The antecedents
• p. 259

• Empirical confirmation
• p. 262

• Mathematical modeling of the phenomenon
• p. 263

• The story behind the first summarizing article
• p. 265

• Some lessons from the incident
• p. 267

• 15
• Amicable, Dispassionate Criticism-1968-1989
• p. 273

• The Hungarian Reform Process: Visions, Hopes, and Reality

• Half-fulfilled, half-blighted hopes
• p. 273

• From a naive reformer to a critical analyst
• p. 275

• "Instead of saying what should be done . . ."
• p. 280

• Efficiency and socialist ethics
• p. 282

• The importance of property rights
• p. 284

• The Lange model and the reality of Hungarian reform
• p. 286

• A detour: Another piece of Hungarian reality
• p. 287

• Looking back with today's eyes
• p. 288

• 16
• Harvard-1984-2002
• p. 291

• A Princeton institution
• p. 291

• How Harvard appoints its professors
• p. 294

• Moving to Cambridge
• p. 299

• The joys and cares of teaching
• p. 302

• Diversity and tolerance
• p. 304

• Ethical rigor
• p. 305

• 17
• At Home in Hungary and in the World-1985 Onward
• p. 309

• 17
• What tied me to Hungary
• p. 309

• Comparisons: Life in Cambridge and in Budapest
• p. 312

• A center of world culture
• p. 314

• Friends
• p. 315

• Among the economists of Europe and the world
• p. 320

• A visit to China
• p. 322

• Feeling at home
• p. 325

• 18
• Synthesis-1988-1993
• p. 329

• The Socialist System

• How the book was written
• p. 329

• An intention to synthesize
• p. 332

• Positive analysis and values
• p. 334

• General models
• p. 335

• Too late or too early?
• p. 338

• Recognition from East and West
• p. 339

• Rejection from right and left
• p. 340

• A bizarre episode
• p. 341

• 19
• Turning Point-1989-1992
• p. 343

• The Road to a Free Economy

• The bounds of prediction
• p. 343

• Resolutions in the park of Harvard's Business School and on Budapest's Gellert Hill
• p. 345

• How The Road to a Free Economy was written
• p. 347

• Initial reactions
• p. 348

• An end to simulation
• p. 350

• For the healthy development of the private sector
• p. 352

• Responsibility for public funds
• p. 355

• Surgery for stabilization
• p. 356

• On balance
• p. 358

• 20
• On the Boundaries between Science and Politics-1990 Onward
• p. 363

• Highway and BywaysStruggle and HopeWelfare, Choice, and Solidarity in Transition

• Positions on Hungary's macroeconomic policies
• p. 364

• Reform of the health system
• p. 368

• Do they ask you? Do they heed you?
• p. 371

• The actual effect
• p. 375

• Monetary policy making
• p. 377

• Comments on transformation in other countries
• p. 379

• 21
• Continuation-1990 Onward
• p. 381

• What the Change of System Does and Does Not MeanHonesty and Trust

• Interpreting the change of system
• p. 381

• Expectations and frustrations, optimism and pessimism
• p. 383

• Collegium Budapest
• p. 388

• A splendid intermezzo: My seventieth birthday
• p. 390

• Harvard: Teaching and farewell
• p. 392

• Back at home
• p. 397

• "What are you working on?"
• p. 399

• Endnotes
• p. 401

• Chronology
• p. 413

• Glossary
• p. 419

• References
• p. 431

• Index
• p. 449