Many advocates of economic justice have long believed that capitalism needs to be transcended. However, positive programs for a just economy have been lacking compared to the hailstorm of anti-capitalist critiques that the left has produced. This shortage of vision has resulted in activists lacking a common praxis and prevents them from connecting with potential sympathizers. In an attempt to remedy this problem, two schools of thought have developed visions for a post-capitalist economy: market socialism and what may be called democratic-participatory economics.

The present post concerns a debate between two visions of an alternative economic system to capitalism:

- Participatory Economics or Parecon advocated by Michael Albert
- Economic Democracy* (*SEE NOTE BELOW) or EconDem advocated by David Schweickart

Parecon is a proposed economic system that uses participatory decision making as an economic mechanism to guide the allocation of resources and consumption in a given society. Proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalist market economies and also an alternative to centrally planned “socialism” or coordinatorism. The underlying values that parecon seeks to implement are equity, solidarity, diversity, and participatory self-management. It proposes to attain these ends mainly through the following principles and institutions:
workers' and consumers' councils utilizing self-managerial methods for decision making,
balanced job complexes,
remuneration according to effort and sacrifice, and
participatory planning.
For a deeper understanding here is the whole online version of the book: Participatory Economics: Life After Capitalism.

Schweickart’s EconDem is a proposed form of market socialism that embodies three key ideas:
Democratic management of each productive enterprise by the workers
Democratic management of capital investment by a form of public banking
A (mostrly free) market for goods, raw materials, instruments of production, etc.
The firms and factories are owned by society and managed by the workers. These enterprises, so managed, compete in markets to sell their goods. Profit is shared by the workers. Each enterprise is taxed for the capital they employ, and that tax is distributed to public banks, who fund expansion of existing as well as new industries.
For a deeper understanding see the book: After Capitalism by David Schweickart.

Albert and Schweickart do not agree on each others proposed economic model. The heated debate that follows focuses mostly on Parecon (see poursuivre la lecture) and raises many important issues for Economic Democrats to think about, discuss, debate and eventually act on whether one advocates either model, rejects both or likes features of each...