Ran across this book review in the Economist this week. "Red Plenty" is an interesting economic survey inside the Soviet Union. One might ask me why I would want to read about the Soviet economy post collapse?? The author posed an interesting thought. It is difficult to understand things clearly when you are inside the model. If the economic model is all you know then all your thoughts and attempts to solutions become framed by your situation.
It is going to be interesting to read this book and see how thousands of people thrashed about trying to resolve economic issues inside of this static framework. Is our workplace often such a closed economic system? Do you have a Nikita Khrushchev in the corner office?
This reminds me of a story about Stalin and the building of the Kremlin. When I visited Red Square the gentlemen showing me around mentioned that Stalin had several architects work on the plans for the main building. Two architects presented their different plans to Stalin at the same time. One building design was on one side of the desk and another building design was on the other side. Stalin said to go build it. Everyone was afraid to tell him it was two different buildings. So if you look at the building today, they built one building with one elevation on the left and another elevation on the right.
I will give you a full report when I am finished. As a side note - I found very few copies of this book in United States.
When I've spoken with people who lived in formerly communistic countries, I've been struck by how objective they are about it. No doubt due to my American-ness, I expect only gratitude and gratefulness that it's over. But, consistently, these people mentioned to me how they always had a job during communism. Though that didn't make things easy or enjoyable, they had work and could, for the most part, provide for their family. Of course, now the former Warsaw pact nations often struggle with high unemployment and the ability to provide economic stimulus, jobs or unemployment benefits. Professor Margaret Lavinia Anderson (History, Berkeley) states that at the end of the 80s in Russia proper, there were 1 million people living in extreme poverty. Ten years later, there were 17 million living in extreme poverty.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, I look forward to your full review. Economics is slightly out of my brain's scope of comprehension, but I do find it fascinating nonetheless. And I'm fascinated by Russian/Soviet history.