Abstract

The Soviet Economy

This article discusses the two books "Management in Russian Industry and Agriculture," by Gregory Bienstock, Solomon M. Schwartz and Jacob Marschak, and "The Structure of Soviet Wages. A Study in Socialist Economics," by Abram Bergson. The decisive characteristic of the Soviet economy is not managerial rule but overall planning under the political direction of the Communist Party. The Individual manager is merely a cog in the gigantic wheel of Socialist planning. The manager participates of course in the making of the plan, and he necessarily plays an important part in adjusting the plan in accordance with practice. But for all practical purposes he has only one outlet for his independent energies, namely, the reduction of real unit costs of production.