SKU: 81204987608

Comp Cams Xtreme Energy XE250H; Hyd. Flat Tappet Cam & Small Kit; '58-'98 Chevy

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Description

Comp Cams Xtreme Energy XE250H; Hyd. Flat Tappet Cam & Small Kit; '58-'98 ChevyXtreme Energy" XE250H; Hyd. Flat Tappet Cam & Small Kit; '58 '98 Chevy Small Block Includes Cam, Lifters, & Timing Set: Hydraulic Flat Tappet; For '58 '98 262 400 cid Small Block Engines w Flat Tappet Cam. Very Strong Torque Excellent Mileage Smooth Idle Specifications Lifter Type: Hydraulic Flat Tappet Engine Family: Chevrolet 262 400 c. i. 8 cyl. 1958 1998 Cam Family: Xtreme Energy" RPM Range: 600 to 4600 Valve Timing: 0. 006 Lobe Separation: 110

Xtreme Energy" XE250H; Hyd. Flat Tappet Cam & Small Kit; '58-'98 Chevy Small Block

Includes Cam, Lifters, & Timing Set:

Hydraulic Flat Tappet; For '58-'98 262-400 cid Small Block Engines w/ Flat Tappet Cam.

Very Strong Torque

Excellent Mileage

Smooth Idle

Specifications

Lifter Type: Hydraulic Flat Tappet

Engine Family: Chevrolet 262-400 c.i. 8 cyl. 1958-1998

Cam Family: Xtreme Energy"

RPM Range: 600 to 4600

Valve Timing: 0.006

Lobe Separation: 110°

Intake Centerline: 106°

Valve Lash: Hyd.(Intake)/Hyd.(Exhaust)

Duration: 250(Intake)/ 260(Exhaust)

Duration @ .050" Lift: 206(Intake)/ 212(Exhaust)

Valve Lift: 0.432(Intake)/ 0.444(Exhaust)

Lobe Lift: 0.288(Intake)/ 0.296(Exhaust)



Vehicle Fitments:

Year Make Model Submodel
1995 - 1996 AM General Hummer Base
1980 - 1991 Avanti II Base
1985 Avanti II GT
1980 Buick Century Sport, Estate, Limited, Base
1991 - 1996 Buick Commercial Chassis Base
1980 Buick Regal Sport, Base, Limited
1991 - 1995 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon
1996 Buick Roadmaster Limited Collector's Edition, Collector's Edition, Estate Wagon Collector's Edition
1992 - 1995 Buick Roadmaster Limited, Base
1990 - 1992 Cadillac Brougham Base, d'Elegance
1992 - 1996 Cadillac Commercial Chassis Brougham, Base
1993 - 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, Base
1980 - 1982 Checker Marathon Deluxe, Base
1994 Chevrolet Blazer Base, Silverado Sport
1992 - 1993 Chevrolet Blazer Cheyenne
1987 Chevrolet Blazer Custom Deluxe
1991 - 1994 Chevrolet Blazer Nevada
1988 - 1991 Chevrolet Blazer Scottsdale
1987 - 1994 Chevrolet Blazer Silverado
1980 Chevrolet C10 Big Ten, Custom Deluxe
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet C10 Cheyenne
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet C10 Custom, Scottsdale, Silverado
1981 Chevrolet C10 Deluxe
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet C10 Suburban Custom
1980 Chevrolet C10 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet C10 Suburban Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet C10 Suburban Scottsdale, Silverado
1990 - 1993 Chevrolet C1500 454 SS
1989 - 1995 Chevrolet C1500 Base
1988 - 1992 Chevrolet C1500 Scottsdale
1988 - 1995 Chevrolet C1500 Silverado, Cheyenne
1990 - 1995 Chevrolet C1500 WT
1992 - 1995 Chevrolet C1500 Suburban Base
1995 Chevrolet C1500 Suburban LT, LS
1992 - 1994 Chevrolet C1500 Suburban Silverado
1986 Chevrolet C20 Base
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet C20 Cheyenne, Silverado, Scottsdale
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet C20 Custom
1980 Chevrolet C20 Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet C20 Deluxe
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet C20 Suburban Custom
1980 Chevrolet C20 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet C20 Suburban Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet C20 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1993 Chevrolet C2500 400 SS, Custom
1988 - 1995 Chevrolet C2500 Base, Cheyenne, Silverado
1988 - 1992 Chevrolet C2500 Scottsdale
1994 - 1995 Chevrolet C2500 WT
1992 - 1995 Chevrolet C2500 Suburban Base
1995 Chevrolet C2500 Suburban LT, LS
1992 - 1994 Chevrolet C2500 Suburban Silverado
1980 - 1982 Chevrolet C30 Base
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet C30 Cheyenne
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet C30 Custom
1980 Chevrolet C30 Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet C30 Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet C30 Silverado, Scottsdale
1994 - 1995 Chevrolet C3500 Base
1988 - 1995 Chevrolet C3500 Cheyenne, Silverado
1988 - 1992 Chevrolet C3500 Scottsdale
1980 Chevrolet Camaro Base, Rally Sport
1985 - 1986 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet Camaro Sport
1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, Berlinetta
1980 - 1992 Chevrolet Caprice Base
1980 - 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic
1986 - 1990 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Brougham
1981 - 1982 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Estate
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Landau
1993 - 1994 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LS
1987 - 1990 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LS Brougham
1991 - 1993 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ
1980 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Sport
1991 - 1994 Chevrolet Commercial Chassis Base
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Base
1982 Chevrolet Corvette Collector's Edition
1986 Chevrolet Corvette Indianapolis 500 Pace Car
1980 - 1987 Chevrolet El Camino Base, SS
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet El Camino Conquista
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet El Camino Royal Knight
1996 Chevrolet Express 2500 LS, Base
1983 Chevrolet G10 Base
1981 - 1987 Chevrolet G10 Bonaventure
1980 - 1995 Chevrolet G10 Sportvan, Chevy Van, Beauville
1995 Chevrolet G20 Base
1980 - 1995 Chevrolet G20 Beauville, Sportvan, Chevy Van
1983 - 1984 Chevrolet G20 Bonaventure
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet G20 Nomad
1980 - 1996 Chevrolet G30 Beauville, Sportvan, Chevy Van, Hi-Cube
1983 - 1984 Chevrolet G30 Bonaventure
1980 - 1985 Chevrolet Impala Base
1981 - 1982 Chevrolet Impala Estate
1980 Chevrolet Impala Sport
1994 - 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet K10 Cheyenne
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet K10 Custom
1980 Chevrolet K10 Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet K10 Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet K10 Scottsdale, Silverado
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet K10 Suburban Custom
1980 Chevrolet K10 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet K10 Suburban Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet K10 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1994 - 1995 Chevrolet K1500 Base
1988 - 1992 Chevrolet K1500 Scottsdale
1988 - 1995 Chevrolet K1500 Silverado, Cheyenne
1991 Chevrolet K1500 Sport
1990 - 1995 Chevrolet K1500 WT
1992 - 1995 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban Base
1995 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban LT, LS
1992 - 1994 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban Silverado
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet K20 Cheyenne
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet K20 Custom
1980 Chevrolet K20 Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet K20 Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet K20 Silverado, Scottsdale
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet K20 Suburban Custom
1980 Chevrolet K20 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet K20 Suburban Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet K20 Suburban Scottsdale, Silverado
1994 - 1995 Chevrolet K2500 Base, WT
1988 - 1992 Chevrolet K2500 Scottsdale
1988 - 1995 Chevrolet K2500 Silverado, Cheyenne
1992 - 1995 Chevrolet K2500 Suburban Base
1995 Chevrolet K2500 Suburban LS, LT
1992 - 1994 Chevrolet K2500 Suburban Silverado
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet K30 Cheyenne
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet K30 Custom
1980 Chevrolet K30 Custom Deluxe
1981 Chevrolet K30 Deluxe
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet K30 Scottsdale, Silverado
1994 - 1995 Chevrolet K3500 Base
1988 - 1992 Chevrolet K3500 Scottsdale
1988 - 1995 Chevrolet K3500 Silverado, Cheyenne
1981 - 1986 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom
1980 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom Deluxe, Cheyenne
1981 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Deluxe
1984 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Scottsdale
1980 - 1986 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Silverado
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet Malibu Base, Classic Landau
1980 - 1983 Chevrolet Malibu Classic
1980 Chevrolet Malibu Sport, Estate, Classic Sport, Classic Estate
1981 - 1988 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Base
1983 Chevrolet Monte Carlo CL
1980 - 1981 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Landau
1986 - 1988 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LS
1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Sport
1983 - 1988 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
1980 - 1989 Chevrolet P20 Base, Step-Van
1980 - 1996 Chevrolet P30 Base
1980 - 1990 Chevrolet P30 Step-Van
1987 Chevrolet R10 Scottsdale, Custom Deluxe, Silverado
1987 Chevrolet R10 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet R10 Suburban Scottsdale, Silverado
1989 - 1991 Chevrolet R1500 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1988 Chevrolet R20 Cheyenne
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet R20 Silverado, Scottsdale, Custom Deluxe
1987 Chevrolet R20 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet R20 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1989 Chevrolet R2500 Cheyenne, Silverado, Scottsdale
1989 - 1991 Chevrolet R2500 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1988 Chevrolet R30 Cheyenne
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet R30 Custom Deluxe, Scottsdale, Silverado
1989 - 1990 Chevrolet R3500 Scottsdale
1989 - 1991 Chevrolet R3500 Silverado, Cheyenne
1995 Chevrolet Tahoe LS, Base, LT
1987 Chevrolet V10 Custom Deluxe, Scottsdale, Silverado
1987 Chevrolet V10 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet V10 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1989 - 1991 Chevrolet V1500 Suburban Scottsdale, Silverado
1987 Chevrolet V20 Silverado, Custom Deluxe, Scottsdale
1987 Chevrolet V20 Suburban Custom Deluxe
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet V20 Suburban Scottsdale, Silverado
1989 - 1991 Chevrolet V2500 Suburban Silverado, Scottsdale
1988 Chevrolet V30 Cheyenne
1987 - 1988 Chevrolet V30 Scottsdale, Silverado, Custom Deluxe
1989 - 1991 Chevrolet V3500 Cheyenne, Silverado
1989 - 1990 Chevrolet V3500 Scottsdale
1993 Excalibur Limited Base
1985 Excalibur Phaeton Anniversary
1980 - 1989 Excalibur Phaeton Base
1980 GMC C1500 Heavy Half
1980 - 1986 GMC C1500 High Sierra, Base, Sierra Classic
1994 - 1995 GMC C1500 Sierra SL, Sierra Special, Sierra SLT
1988 - 1995 GMC C1500 Sierra SLE
1988 - 1993 GMC C1500 Sierra, Sierra SLX
1980 - 1982 GMC C1500 Street Coupe, Sierra Grande
1980 - 1995 GMC C1500 Suburban Base
1980 - 1986 GMC C1500 Suburban Sierra Classic, High Sierra
1980 - 1982 GMC C1500 Suburban Sierra Grande
1992 - 1995 GMC C1500 Suburban SLE
1995 GMC C1500 Suburban SLT
1980 - 1986 GMC C2500 Sierra Classic, High Sierra, Base
1980 - 1982 GMC C2500 Sierra Grande
1994 - 1995 GMC C2500 Sierra SL, Sierra SLT
1988 - 1995 GMC C2500 Sierra SLE
1988 - 1993 GMC C2500 Sierra SLX, Sierra
1980 - 1995 GMC C2500 Suburban Base
1980 - 1986 GMC C2500 Suburban High Sierra, Sierra Classic
1980 - 1982 GMC C2500 Suburban Sierra Grande
1992 - 1995 GMC C2500 Suburban SLE
1995 GMC C2500 Suburban SLT
1980 - 1986 GMC C3500 High Sierra, Sierra Classic, Base
1980 - 1982 GMC C3500 Sierra Grande
1988 - 1995 GMC C3500 Sierra SLE
1994 - 1995 GMC C3500 Sierra SLT, Sierra SL
1988 - 1993 GMC C3500 Sierra SLX, Sierra
1981 - 1986 GMC Caballero Amarillo
1980 - 1987 GMC Caballero Base, Diablo
1981 GMC Caballero Conquista, Royal Knight
1980 GMC Caballero Laredo
1983 - 1984 GMC G1500 Rally Custom
1980 - 1995 GMC G1500 Rally STX, Rally, Vandura
1983 - 1984 GMC G2500 Rally Custom
1980 - 1995 GMC G2500 Vandura, Rally, Rally STX
1981 - 1988 GMC G3500 Rally Custom
1980 - 1996 GMC G3500 Rally, Rally STX, Vandura Special, Vandura, Rally Camper Special, Magnavan
1980 - 1991 GMC Jimmy Base
1980 - 1985 GMC Jimmy High Sierra
1980 - 1990 GMC Jimmy Sierra Classic
1986 GMC Jimmy Silverado
1980 - 1982 GMC Jimmy Street Coupe, Sierra Grande
1980 - 1986 GMC K1500 High Sierra, Base, Sierra Classic
1980 - 1982 GMC K1500 Sierra Grande
1988 - 1995 GMC K1500 Sierra SLE
1995 GMC K1500 Sierra SLS
1988 - 1993 GMC K1500 Sierra SLX, Sierra
1994 - 1995 GMC K1500 Sierra Special, Sierra SLT, Sierra SL
1993 GMC K1500 Sierra Sport
1980 - 1995 GMC K1500 Suburban Base
1980 - 1986 GMC K1500 Suburban Sierra Classic, High Sierra
1980 - 1982 GMC K1500 Suburban Sierra Grande
1992 - 1995 GMC K1500 Suburban SLE
1995 GMC K1500 Suburban SLT
1980 - 1986 GMC K2500 Base, High Sierra, Sierra Classic
1980 - 1982 GMC K2500 Sierra Grande
1988 - 1995 GMC K2500 Sierra SLE
1994 - 1995 GMC K2500 Sierra SLT, Sierra SL
1988 - 1993 GMC K2500 Sierra SLX, Sierra
1980 - 1995 GMC K2500 Suburban Base
1980 - 1986 GMC K2500 Suburban High Sierra, Sierra Classic
1980 - 1982 GMC K2500 Suburban Sierra Grande
1992 - 1995 GMC K2500 Suburban SLE
1995 GMC K2500 Suburban SLT
1980 - 1986 GMC K3500 Sierra Classic, High Sierra, Base
1980 - 1982 GMC K3500 Sierra Grande
1988 - 1995 GMC K3500 Sierra SLE
1994 - 1995 GMC K3500 Sierra SLT, Sierra SL
1988 - 1993 GMC K3500 Sierra, Sierra SLX
1980 - 1989 GMC P2500 Value Van, Base
1980 - 1996 GMC P3500 Base
1980 - 1990 GMC P3500 Value Van
1987 GMC R1500 Base, High Sierra, Sierra Classic
1987 - 1991 GMC R1500 Suburban Base
1987 GMC R1500 Suburban High Sierra
1987 - 1989 GMC R1500 Suburban Sierra Classic
1990 GMC R1500 Suburban SLE
1987 - 1989 GMC R2500 High Sierra, Base, Sierra Classic
1987 - 1991 GMC R2500 Suburban Base
1987 GMC R2500 Suburban High Sierra
1987 - 1989 GMC R2500 Suburban Sierra Classic
1990 GMC R2500 Suburban SLE
1987 - 1991 GMC R3500 Base
1987 - 1989 GMC R3500 Sierra Classic, High Sierra
1990 - 1991 GMC R3500 SLE
1987 GMC V1500 High Sierra, Sierra Classic, Base
1987 - 1991 GMC V1500 Suburban Base
1987 GMC V1500 Suburban High Sierra
1987 - 1989 GMC V1500 Suburban Sierra Classic
1990 GMC V1500 Suburban SLE
1987 GMC V2500 Sierra Classic, High Sierra, Base
1987 - 1991 GMC V2500 Suburban Base
1987 GMC V2500 Suburban High Sierra
1987 - 1989 GMC V2500 Suburban Sierra Classic
1990 GMC V2500 Suburban SLE
1987 - 1991 GMC V3500 Base
1987 - 1989 GMC V3500 Sierra Classic, High Sierra
1990 - 1991 GMC V3500 SLE
1993 GMC Yukon GT
1992 - 1995 GMC Yukon SLE, Base
1995 GMC Yukon SLT
1992 - 1994 GMC Yukon Sport
1991 - 1992 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Base
1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass LS, Base, Brougham
1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Base
1980 - 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser Base
1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser Brougham
1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Base, Brougham
1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham, Base
1983 - 1986 Pontiac Bonneville Base, Brougham
1984 - 1986 Pontiac Bonneville LE
1980 - 2002 Pontiac Firebird Base, Trans Am, Formula
1980 - 1981 Pontiac Firebird Esprit
1982 - 1986 Pontiac Firebird S/E
1994 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GT
1989 - 1992 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA
1989 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA SE
1980 Pontiac Grand Am Base
1980 Pontiac Grand LeMans Safari, Base, LE
1980 - 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix Base
1983 - 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix Brougham
1984 - 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix LE
1980 - 1983 Pontiac Grand Prix LJ
1980 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ
1980 Pontiac LeMans Safari, Base
1983 - 1986 Pontiac Parisienne Brougham, Base
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SKU: 81204987608

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4.8 ★★★★★
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Product Reviews
B
Verified Purchase
Blake West
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 4
Interesting anthropology and critique, but dense and obtuse writing
Format: Kindle
The good part is that at the end of the day, I learned a lot here, and Polanyi raised a lot of very interesting and under-discussed historical points to create his argument. It felt very similar to David Graeber (or I guess Graeber is similar to Polanyi) in that way. The bad part is that, whereas Graeber writes with exceptional clarity and vividness, Polanyi is obtuse and dense. And I've read other books from this era, I don't think it's the time. I think it's Polanyi's writing. Beyond that, his work serves more as analysis than prescription. It's a bit unclear exactly what he's advocating for. Which maybe is OK, though I prefer when non fiction writers offer solutions rather than just pointing out problems. All in all, if you can settle in with his writing, there are definite gems in there.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2026
K
Verified Purchase
Kitty Bryant
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 5
Inspiring analysis of economic history
Format: Paperback
Polanyi presents economic history through an analysis of the "utopian" catastrophy of the self-regulating market economy. Polanyi argues that the free market economy treats the most essential elements of human society - labor, nature, and money - as if they should be exploited like commodities. When liberalism (free marketeerism) rules, then the economy dictates what is possible in human society, and these rules are intolerable because they create conditions under which humans are impoverished and disempowered. In his final chapter he lays out the battle ground between liberalism and its alternatives, which when he was writing (1945) were socialism and fascism. Fascism refuses the dictates of economic liberalism but substitutes in its place the dictates of a state that denies individual freedom. Socialism, alternatively, holds the only promise of true freedom for the individual where economic and political rules are developed and enforced democratically for the protection of society. While this is not an easy read because it demands a background in history, he is a fluent and persuasive writer.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2023
F
Verified Purchase
Freh
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 5
This 1944 classic recounts the fatal flaws of market liberalism that led to the Great Depression and World Wars I & II
Format: Paperback
The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Karl Polanyi. 1944. In 1944, the opposing monumental classics, The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek and The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi, were published. From the right, Hayek argued that market liberalism led to prosperity, political liberty, and prevention of authoritarian governance. From the left, Polanyi argued that the rise of market liberalism during the industrial revolution led to intolerable hardship, inevitable unsustainable countermeasures, and finally collapse into fascism, the Great Depression, and World Wars I and II. Since their publication during World War II, these markedly opposed ideas have now been tested by seventy years of history. For the first thirty years after the war, policies reflecting Polanyi’s ideas led to a mixed economy of government policies and regulated markets in the US, northern Europe, and elsewhere that produced robustly increased prosperity broadly shared at all income levels. For the next forty years, ascendency of Hayek’s ideas led to reduction of the role of government with attendant economic instability, rising inequality (with all economic gains going to the rich in the US), and coercive imposition of market liberalism by authoritarian governments with disastrous results throughout Latin America and the former Soviet Union. Given the adverse consequences of resurgent market liberalism, the rebuttal of its ideas in The Great Transformation is as important today as ever. In The Great Transformation, Polanyi maintains that before the industrial revolution, markets did not play an important role in human society—they were embedded in society rather than the other way around. Goods and services were generally distributed without the motive for profit by the non-market mechanisms of reciprocity according to social relations, centralized storage with redistribution, and production for one’s own use known as householding. When present, the role of markets was peripheral and subordinate to politics, religion, and social relations. The industrial revolution brought about an almost miraculous improvement in the tools of production accompanied by catastrophic dislocations of the lives of the common people, of which poverty was merely the economic aspect. During this time, English thinkers created the theory of market liberalism, which radically reversed the previous subordination of markets to society by removing the role for government so that society was instead subordinated to self-regulating markets (without government interference). This change required that human labor, nature, and money be turned into commodities that could be bought and sold without regard to human and social considerations. Efficient functioning of markets also required callous indifference to the social dislocation, poverty, and damage to nature that resulted and even to hunger as a motivating factor for the working class. This change from regulated to self-regulating markets that organized the whole of society on the principle of gain and profit marked a great transformation of the nature of society by the removal of democratic control of markets. The goals of this transformation were unrealistically utopian and could never be achieved without annihilating the human and natural substance of society. Even during its installation, laissez-faire proved to be a myth. Government action was mandatory to adjust the supply of money and credit, to enforce provisions for labor and land, and to prevent political disruption. Even with this level of government activity, market liberalism still imposed unsustainable hardships on ordinary people from speculative excess, growing inequality, competition from imports, depressions, unemployment, poverty, and reduced entitlement to assistance. By the late 1800s, these impossible pressures of the self-regulating market necessarily led to a countermovement in industrialized nations to protect their societies from the market. This countermovement included protectionism for national markets and competition for colonies to take resources from other societies. In exotic and colonial regions with the absence of protective measures unspeakable suffering resulted. Thus Polanyi characterizes market societies as having two opposing movements, referred to as a “double movement.” These two contradictory movements resulted in simultaneous struggles to expand the scope of the market because of the opportunities for some and to limit the scope of the market because of the adverse consequences for many. These internal contradictions led to disruptive stresses and strains that were unsustainable for market societies. In the domestic economy, class conflict resulted from issues like the choice between inflation for stability of workers incomes and employment and deflation for stability of currency for investors. Market liberals from Spencer to Mises held that popular democracy was a danger to capitalism and that workers should not have the right to vote. In the international economy, relentless shocks imposed by the gold standard forced nations to consolidate around heightened national and imperial boundaries. In international politics, intensified political, military, and economic rivalries finally culminated in World War I. By this time, the class struggle over market liberalism was at an impasse. For a critical decade, economic liberals supported authoritarian intervention in service of their deflationary policy to protect currency exchange and investment. This merely weakened the democratic forces that might otherwise have averted the fascist catastrophe. During the Great Depression, the gold standard finally collapsed, foreign debts were repudiated, capital markets and world trade dwindled away, and the global political and economic system disintegrated. In a second great transformation of society that followed, the replacements of market society by fascism, socialism, and the New Deal were similar only in discarding laissez-faire principles. The conflict between the market and the elementary requirements of an organized social life had ultimately destroyed society. World Wars I and II merely hastened its destruction. In 1944, Polanyi appears to have regarded the utopia of market liberalism as utterly discredited. He expressed the hope that the passing of market economy could become the beginning of an era of unprecedented freedom. He noted that freedom as the absence of power and compulsion as claimed by market liberals is not possible in a complex society. The function of power is to ensure the measure of conformity which is needed for the survival of the group: its ultimate source is opinion. Regulation both extends and restricts freedom; only the balance of freedoms lost and won is significant. The comfortable classes enjoy the freedom provided by leisure in security. They resent the suggestion to spread out income, leisure, and security to extend to others the freedom they enjoy. Obviously, those who lack security cannot enjoy the same freedom as the comfortable classes. Those who want more freedom for all need not fear that either power or planning will undermine their freedom. Regulation and control in a complex society strive to give us all the security we need to achieve freedom not only for the few, but for all.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2017
U
Verified Purchase
Usman A. Ghani
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 5
Must read for contemporary (and all) times.
Format: Paperback
This is a great book. I wonder why we were not taught this in the freshman year, or at least as a counterpoint to Econ101. It opens up the perspective to seeing culture, economics, politics, and technology in an integrated way with an emphasis on social choesion as a unifying fabric for humanity and, looking for the right rate of economic reform. Much of what we do as "development" can in fact be harmful in the long (also short) run if we are not sensitive to the premises Polanyi is alerting us to. This is not counterpoint or counterfactual thesis per se. I am a strong proponent of the market system and also realize that this system is subsumed and must be complementary to the larger, complex social system where things are interconnected. An effective policy can only result from the collective consideration of these together. Polanyi's writing style is clear, direct, and simple and, unlike deeply nomenclature-intense economics write-ups, this book is rather an easy read. When we prescribe/teach The Industrial Revolution as an essential or secondary reading, The Great Transformation should also be a companion reading.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2013
T
Verified Purchase
Tanthallas
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 5
Read!
Format: Paperback
Well, I was going to review this wonderful work. However, Robert Moore's review is so spot on that there is really no need to take up more space. Also I need a nap. Anyway, this book is truly fascinating. If you are at all interested in Political Economy, this is perhaps one of the most important books you will ever read. There is no school which has the authors name attached to it, nor is there a political movement dedicated to the realization of his ideas. In most cases this is because the author did not contribute original thought or make an adequate connection of his thought process with reality. In Polanyi's case, this is because the originality of his thought cuts through the specialized form in which science and social studies is presented today and cannot possible be claimed to belong to 'economics' any more than it can of 'sociology', 'anthropology', 'history', 'international relations', etc.. Read this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2009

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