Economics of the U.S.S.R.

Abstract

IN a recent issue of the Manchester School, Vol. 6, No. 2, there is an interesting article on “U.S.S.R. Economics—Fundamental Data, System and Spirit” by Prof. M. Polanyi, who points out that the present moment appears to be a favourable one for taking stock of the achievements of the Russian Revolution. Socialism has been definitely instituted, and communism has been relegated to an uncertain future. Also the recent introduction of a marketing system makes it easier to review the economic situation, as we can now compute values in terms of money. Planned economy is a corollary of communism, but in fact, Prof. Polanyi states, a system of planned economy has never been attempted in the U.S.S.R. since the repeal of communism in 1921. For one thing, as Stalin bluntly admits, there has never been a proper distributive system at all. The First and Second Five Year Plans were not systems of planned economy, but merely systems of planned production, and even this is an overstatement for no great stress was laid on the systematic nature of the plan. The Soviets claim that they have carried out the First Five Year Plan, but in doing so they pass over in silence the biggest item of their plan, namely, the planned increase of agricultural production by fifty-five per cent; instead of this being achieved, a very serious fall took place during the first five year period. During the last four years, the outline of an economic system based on the principles of marketing has been developed. Prof. Polanyi concludes that while he is convinced that no return to private ownership is possible in the U.S.S.R., it seems that public and collective management is developing on lines almost identical with those in the marketing system of capitalism.