Although Colin Leys argues that redistribution with growth is directed against revolutionary change, this article shows the charge to be unjustified. The quantitative models which the IBRD/IDS volume develops to analyse distribution and growth, and the basic strategies considered, are as equally applicable to socialist as to capitalist transformations. It is not RwG which rules out radical change – it is rather Colin Leys who attempts to rule out serious consideration of what might be done to alleviate poverty and improve income distribution when radical change appears very unlikely. This article elaborates these points, beginning with a summary of the basic argument of RwG and concluding with an alternative statement of the weaknesses in RwG and of fruitful directions for future work and refinement.
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