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[NOTE: Further contributions to this discussion will be identified with  
HES: DISC -- Polanyi. Lynch's comment and this one have been  
cross-posted to Eh.Res (the Economic History discussion group) and  
comments posted there will be posted back on HES.-- RBE] 
 
Michael P. Lynch wrote: 
 
> Aside from Moses Finley [no small aside], I know of no historian or 
> economist who finds Polanyi's thesis credible. 
 
 
I do.  I know that Dierdre McCloskey was working on a project to debunk 
Polanyi.  The question is not whether prices were used.  They were.  
Rather, the question is the degree to which prices penetrated the 
economy.  Yes, some grain was sold, but what percentage.  I have never 
seen any credible evidence to support the notion that the majority of 
the economy was a cash-price economy. 
 
Yes, I do agree that the book is a blockbuster that still evokes strong 
feelings. 
-- 
Michael Perelman 
Economics Department, California State University 
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