From George Dalton (19 May 1959)

[163] Dear Professor Polanyi,

It was a disappointment not to see you this time… […] Accordingly it would be most desirable, I feel, to emphasize not only the need for a substantive concept of the economy, as you do, but also the actual concept of reciprocity and redistribution as the basic forms of the pre-industrial economic institutions. […] (Aristotle) […]

It was very interesting to me to hear again that Menger was concerned with distinction between the economizing aspect and the technico-economic aspect of the economy. Of course, this is not yet your concept of the substantive meaning of the economy. Or, rather, that was my inference. It appears not to be … […]

[164] … But it should not be suggested, if I understood your references to Menger correctly, that Menger knew about the institutional, rather than the technical side of the substantive meaning of the world “economy”. That is your own contribution …

[165] [166]

Letter Information

Reference:
KPA: 50/04, 163-166