Faulty foundations : Soviet economic policies, 1928-1940 / Holland Hunter and Janusz M. Szyrmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hunter, Holland.

Contributor:

Szyrmer, Janusz.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Soviet Union--Economic policy--1928-1932.

Soviet Union.

Economic policy.

Soviet Union--Economic policy--1933-1937.

Soviet Union--Economic policy--1938-1942.

Soviet Union--Economic conditions--1917-1945.

Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

xvi, 339 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [1992]

Summary:

Could the USSR have been prepared for World War II more humanely and efficiently? In this first integrated evaluation of Stalin's economic goals and initiatives, Holland Hunter and Janusz Szyrmer reconstruct and test Soviet results annually and by sector. Addressing historians, political scientists, and economists, the authors have created a new, internally consistent, twelve-sector annual record of output and capital growth (assembling and reconciling Western reconstructions of Soviet data) to assess policy effectiveness and test how alternative policies might have worked. As the Soviet Union gropes toward economic reform, the authors point out lessons from the 1930s that can be applied to today. The authors analyze the basic steps marking the prewar Soviet drive: agricultural collectivization, head-long investment in heavy industry, autarkic foreign trade, and rearmament. They conclude that the economy's growth potential was misused, that collectivization was a mistake, and that with a slower drive to build heavy industry, living standards could have been higher throughout the 1930s while the ability to withstand invasion would have been stronger. A related implication for the 1990s is that correct prices, small-scale production, and individual initiative are key requirements for an effective Soviet economy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [329]-335) and index.

ISBN:

0691042810

OCLC:

24068494