Lange had close ties to Stalin, and served as a Polish delegate to the U.N. Lange wrote a positive review of Stalin as an economist- "The Economic Laws of Socialist Society in Light of Joseph Stalin's Last Work", 1953. This was not Lange's best work. Lange gave some speeches in Belgrade, where he discussed 'bureaucratic degeneration'. 

Lange held some posts in planning and statistical bureaus. It is not known if this experience changed his views of socialism. There are two rumors about Lange's views in later years. Milton Friedman visited Warsaw and met a prominent Polish economist, probably Lange. Friedman asked him if he still believed in Socialism. His reply was that he still believed in it, but that it would only work under the correct conditions.  You had to 
wait until everyone had a house, and a car, and a maid. David Friedman is not sure of this was Lange, and I waited too long to try to ask his father.

The other rumor is that Lange renounced socialism at a conference. According to this rumor, Lange said that socialism was unnecessary now that Keynes had fixed capitalism. 


--- On Thu, 9/23/10, Tiago Mata <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Tiago Mata <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [SHOE] Query on Poland, economists and government, post 1945
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 2:51 PM
> Dear SHOE list,
> 
> I am interested in the role of the economist in government
> and public
> life in Poland, post -1945.
> Can anyone suggest some good overviews on the events,
> characters or
> institutions?
> Or anything more specific such as M. Kalecki and O. Lange's
> fortunes
> in their homeland?
> 
> With my thanks in advance,
> Tiago Mata
>