The Political Economy of Stalinism: Evidence from the Soviet Secret Archives [Paperback]

Paul R. Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0521533678 | ISBN-13: 978-0521533676 | Edition: 1

Using formerly secret Soviet state and Communist Party archives to describe the Soviet administrative command system, this study concludes that the system failed not because of Stalin and later leaders, but because of the economic system. It pinpoints the reasons for failure such as poor planning, unreliable supplies, preferential treatment of indigenous enterprises as well as the basic principal-agent conflict between planners and producers, which created a sixty-year reform stalemate. Although the command system was the most significant human experiment of the twentieth century, its basic contradictions and inherent flaws would re-surface if it were to be repeated.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an incisive account of the insurmountable contradictions of the Stalinist economic system....Professional economists and political scientists, especially those trained in North America, will find this book informative and satisfying as it stands....chapters are richly textured and brilliantly illustrated with salient quotations from the archives..."
--Donald Filtzer, University of East London, United Kingdom, Slavic and East European Journal

Book Description

This book uses the formerly secret Soviet state and Communist Party archives to describe the creation and operations of the Soviet administrative command system. It concludes that the system failed not because of the "jockey"(i.e, Stalin and later leaders) but because of the "horse" (the economic system). This study pinpoints the reasons for the failure of the system--poor planning, unreliable supplies, the preferential treatment of indigenous enterprises, the lack of knowledge of planners, but also focuses on the basic principal-agent conflict between planners and producers, which created a sixty-year reform stalemate. The Soviet administrative command system was th most significant human experiment of the twentieth century. If repeated today, its basic contradictions and inherent flaws would remain, and its economic results would again prove inferior.

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (October 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521533678
• ISBN-13: 978-0521533676
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #825,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting details and (mostly) sensible themes, December 26, 2011

By 

John W. Christmas - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Political Economy of Stalinism: Evidence from the Soviet Secret Archives (Paperback)

Professor Gregory looked into the Soviet State and Communist Party Archives to put together this enlightening study of the Stalinist economy.

I am very sensitive to the treatment of this topic and find offense when writers proclaim that socialism is wonderful and only failed in the USSR because the wrong people were in charge. Therefore, I found it refreshing to read already in the preface of this work that such excuses come from "apologists." The author wisely mocks the absurd concept that a selfless "new Soviet man" would emerge thus allowing the Soviet government to stop using violent coercion to make people work having outlawed positive incentives.

The book contains many interesting details of how the central planning was carried out including tables of statistics.

The author only loses me when he discusses "fair" wages, for example by insinuating that Soviet people would have been more happy if the government had legislated higher wages. A government strategy to make people richer by legislating higher wages even while productivity remains the same will never work because it is mathematically impossible.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"