The “Montias case,” 1964 Excerpt from János Kornai’s book By Force of Thought: Irregular Memoirs of an Intellectual Journey By Force of Thoughts” (extracts). In English. In Journal of Comparative Economics, 2007. No 35, pp. 438-442. Original 1.15, in Hungarain 2005.

Kornai János: The “Montias case,” 1964 Excerpt from János Kornai’s book By Force of Thought: Irregular Memoirs of an Intellectual Journey By Force of Thoughts” (extracts). In English. In Journal of Comparative Economics, 2007. No 35, pp. 438-442. Original 1.15, in Hungarain 2005.

Journal of Comparative Economies CO-EDITORS Daniel Berkowitz University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Abhijit Banerjee Massachusetts Institute of Technology John Bennett Brunei University Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK Simeon Djankov Financial and Private Sector Vice Presidency World Bank Xiao-yuan Dong The University of Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada William Easterly New York University Paul Gregory University of Houston Gérard Roland University of California Berkeley, California EDITORIAL BOARD Simon Johnson Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jozef Konings Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium Ali Kutan Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Illinois Mathilde Maurel Université Paris I Paris, France Yingyi Qian University of California Berkeley FOUNDING EDITOR: John Michael Montias Martin Raiser The World Bank Tashkent, Uzbekistan J. Mark Ramseyer Harvard Law School Pablo Spiller University of California Berkeley Shujie Yao University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK Ekaterina Zhuravskaya New Economic School Moscow, Russia Publication information: Journal of Comparative Economics (ISSN 0147-5967). For 2007, Volume 35 is scheduled for publication. Subscription prices are available upon request from the Publisher, from the Regional Sales Office nearest you, or from this journal’s website (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jce). Further information is available on this journal and other Elsevier products through Elsevier’s website (http://www.elsevier.com). Subscriptions are accepted on a prepaid basis only and are entered on a calendar year basis. Issues are sent by standard mail (surface within Europe, air delivery outside Europe). Priority rates are available upon request. Claims for missing issues should be made within six months of the date of dispatch. USA mailing notice: Journal of Comparative Economics (ISSN 0147-5967) is published quarterly by Elsevier Inc. (PO Box 211. 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Annual subscription price in the USA $606.00 (valid in North, Central, and South America), including air speed delivery. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, NJ 07065-9998, USA, and at additional mailing offices. USA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, Customer Service Department, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800, USA. AIRFREIGHT AND MAILING in the USA by Mercury International Limited, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001-2231, USA. Orders, claims, and journal inquiries: Please contact the Customer Service Department at the Regional Sales Office nearest you. Orlando: Elsevier. Customer Service Department, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800, USA; phone: (+1) (877) 839 7126 or (+1 ) (800) 654 2452 [toll-free numbers for customers inside USA] or (+1) (407) 345 4020 or (+1 ) (407) 345 4000 [customers outside USA]; fax: (+1) (407) 363 1354 or (+1) (407) 363 9661; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com or elspcs@elsevier.com. Amsterdam: Elsevier, Customer Service Department, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands; phone: (+31) (20) 4853757; fax: (+31) (20) 4853432; e-mail: nlinfo-f@elsevier.com. Tokyo: Elsevier, Customer Service Department, 4F Higashi-Azabu, 1-Chome Bldg., 1-9-15 Higashi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0044, Japan; phone: (+81) (3) 5561 5037; fax: (+81) (3) 5561 5047; e-mail: jp.info@elsevier.com. Singapore: Elsevier, Customer Service Department, 3 Killiney Road, #08-01 Winsland House I, Singapore 239519; phone: (+65) 63490222; fax: (+65) 67331510; e-mail: asiainfo@elsevier.com. Author inquiries: For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available), please visit this journal’s homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/journals. From here you can also track accepted articles (http://www.elsevier.com/ trackarticle) and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article’s status has changed, as well as detailed artwork guidelines, copyright information, frequently asked questions, and more. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration of an article for publication. Advertising information: Advertising orders and inquiries should be sent to: USA, Canada, and South America: Tino DeCarlo, Advertising Department, Elsevier Inc., 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710, USA; phone: (+1) (212) 633 3815; fax: (+1) (212) 633 3820; e-mail: t.decarlo@elsevier.com. Europe and ROW: James Kenney, Advertising/Commercial Sales Department, Elsevier Ltd., 84 Theobald’s Road, London WCIX 8RR, United Kingdom; phone: +44 (0) 20 7611 4494; fax: +44 (0) 20 7611 4463; e-mail: j.kenney@elsevier.com. Printed by Krips B.V.. Meppel, The Netherlands (0) The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper)