Developed Socialism

History of the Soviet Union since 1917

November 15, 2002

The Developed Socialist Economy: They Pretend to Pay Us, We Pretend to Work

I. Challenges of the command-administrative system

How to develop feasible and rational plans?

How to enforce fulfillment of feasible and rational plans?

II. Three Soviet incentive systems

"socialist" (including propaganda from the "Fighting Pencil" group)

"Stalinist"

"materialist"

III. What inhibits plan fulfillment

lying

understatement of targets

overstatement of requirements

going outside the plan (tolkachi)

sacrificing quality

lack of innovation

Bread, the nation's wealth

(red market)

IV. Response of consumers: colored markets

Legal markets (red, pink, and white)

Semi-legal market (gray)

Illegal markets (brown and black)

V. Colored Markets in Slides

Red market (housing, department stores, specialty stores)

White market (kolkhoz markets)

Red market services and lack thereof (dining out, drinking in, the Frunze 14, March 8)