THE TURNING POINT: Revitalizing the Soviet Economy

by Nikolai & Vladimir Popov Shmelev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 23, 1989

Here, two Soviet economists provide a detailed and fascinating look at the perils and prospects of the ongoing restructuring of Soviet economy. The authors offer a thorough and surprisingly candid account of the manifold failures of the Soviet socialist economy. Initiative is stifled by a huge planning bureaucracy and shortages are endemic, they say, citing numerous horror stories of waste, mismanagement, technological backwardness, enormous budget deficits, and bureaucratic obduracy. Stalin is properly blamed for creating the command system ruled by the central planning bureaus in Moscow. The authors turn to Lenin's relatively market-oriented New Economic Policy of the 1920's for guidance toward a free-market economy. They have a remarkably deep appreciation of the wealth-creating capabilities and efficiencies of free-market economies. No communist country has made a transition from a command economy to a market economy, and the authors acknowledge that the passage is fraught with political danger. However, they insist that the Soviet Union has no choice but to pursue perestroika despite considerable internal opposition from Communist Party hard-liners who fear losing power and workers who fear losing jobs. Equally informative but certainly more hopeful than Judy Shelton's The Coming Soviet Crash (p. 39), and, like the Shelton, excellent reading for anyone concerned about the Soviet future.

Pub Date: Nov. 23, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION