Abstract

An attempt was made to sum up the basic socio-economic issues in Karl Polanyi's book "The Great Transformation", which is less known by the economists in our country. Suggesting an alternative to Marx's market economic analysis at the early stages of establishing and imposing the capitalist social system, this significant work of Polanyi questions at the same time a lot of the postulates of the modern liberal economic doctrines. The study highlights the formation of free market not as a natural process, based on natural human aptitudes, but on the contrary - as forcing a framework of rules, contrary to the traditional social organization of the people.