Far the most acknowledged and influential author in the economics of Eastern Europe
has been János Kornai, the theorist of economic systems and a prolific writer on a
variety of subjects in the seventy years of his academic career. His output appeared
in more than a dozen of languages. He was criticized and appreciated, especially on
the occasion of his 90th birthday, commemorated by – yet another – Festschrift, special
issues of academic journals, later followed up by countless obituaries paying the
due tribute to someone who has never made to the Nobel Prize, but whose influence
definitely exceeded that of many recipients. In this essay we avoid the usual chronological
description and highlight certain major themes and try to establish his place in the
history of global economic thought. We are aware of our constraints, since it would
perhaps take a monograph rather than an article to serve justice to this exceptional
academic output of his.