some thoughts on Great Transformation

Just started reading the introduction of Great Transformation (K. Polanyi), written by F. Block and M.R. Somers. Didn't finish reading it yet but have some thoughts.

The neoclassical economics which we are taught can only shed us some lights on how a policy or an external shock might finally lead us to, that is, the equilibrium. However, the power of this prediction is only valid given the MARKET SOCIETY which we've been living in since the 19th century. When the economic life does not dominate other parts of our society, the explanatory power of economics will fade to a very superficial and material level. In fact, economics is sufficiently capable of explaining the behavior of commerical exchange. It is our peculiar market society that is giving neoclassical econoimics such a special role in the academia.

Problem of Marxism: the economistic fallacy

(A very imprecise quote) "To transform men into commodities is the core element of the market society. However, this is inevitably opposed by human instincts to protect our social structure from being ruined." That is why low wages, long working hours, and poor working conditions are well recognized as problematic (although there are still some jerks who would say "What's wrong with some people getting low wages?" Yeah, I am talking about one of the profs I talked to before in L.A.) Polanyi thinks that unfortuanately there is not a functionable free market that are able to provide safety nets to those who are vulnerable to economic fluctuations (this point contradicts Perelman's "stimulated competition" which I don't agree with). This is because once the obstacles to the complete free flow of commodities are built, the mechanism leading to equilibrium would be disrupted, just like a short-circuited bulb that would no longer give out any lights as it's supposed to do.