The Socialist System: The Political Economy Of Communism

Contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 14
List of Tables......Page 16
Preface......Page 20
PART ONE: POINTS OF DEPARTURE......Page 30
  1.1 Specific Lines of Historical Development and General Features......Page 32
  1.2 Socialist Countries......Page 33
  1.3 Interpretation of the Term \"Socialism\"......Page 38
  1.4 Political Economy......Page 40
  1.5 Positive Analysis......Page 41
  1.6 Models......Page 44
  1.7 Evaluation......Page 45
  2.1 Marx\'s Image of Socialism......Page 47
  2.2 System Prototypes......Page 48
  2.3 The System before the Socialist Revolution......Page 50
  2.4 The Revolutionary Transition toward the Classical System......Page 55
PART TWO: THE ANATOMY OF THE CLASSICAL SYSTEM......Page 60
  3.1 The Party......Page 62
  3.2 The State......Page 65
  3.3 The Mass Organizations......Page 68
  3.4 Cohesive Forces......Page 69
  3.5 Internal Conflicts......Page 73
  3.6 Repression and the Totalitarian Nature of Power......Page 74
  4.1 The Official Ideology......Page 78
  4.2 The Socialist System\'s Sense of Superiority......Page 79
  4.3 The Basic Promises......Page 82
  4.4 The Self-Legitimation and Paternalistic Nature of Power......Page 84
  4.5 Discipline, Willing Sacrifice, and Vigilance......Page 86
  4.6 Power and Ideology......Page 88
  5.1 Explanation of the Concepts......Page 91
  5.2 Some Characteristic Property Forms before the Advent of the Socialist System......Page 96
  5.3 The State-Owned Firm......Page 100
  5.4 Other State Property Forms......Page 104
  5.5 The Cooperative......Page 105
  5.6 Private Property and Production Activity of a Private Nature......Page 112
  5.7 Capitalism, Socialism, and Property......Page 116
  6.1 Main Types......Page 120
  6.2 Some Observations on the Main Types......Page 124
  6.3 Bureaucratic Coordination......Page 126
  6.4 Market Coordination......Page 129
  6.5 Self-Governing Coordination......Page 132
  6.6 Ethical Coordination......Page 134
  6.7 Family Coordination......Page 135
  6.8 Spontaneous and Artificial Changes......Page 137
  7.1 The Precursors of Socialism on the Subject of Planning......Page 139
  7.2 Initial Approach: Elaboration of the Plan......Page 140
  7.3 Initial Approach: Plan Implementation and Management......Page 143
  7.4 The Motivation of Leaders in the Economic Bureaucracy......Page 147
  7.5 Bargaining and Inner Conflict......Page 150
  7.6 Planning, Management, and Politics......Page 153
  7.7 The Problem of Information......Page 156
  8.1 Banking......Page 160
  8.2 The State Budget......Page 163
  8.3 Survey of Money Flows......Page 168
  8.4 Soft and Hard Budget Constraint......Page 169
  8.5 Income and Price Responsiveness......Page 174
  8.6 Administrative Producer Prices......Page 178
  8.7 Administrative Consumer Prices......Page 182
  8.8 Market Prices......Page 184
  8.9 Nonprice Signals......Page 185
  9.1 Expansion Drive and Investment Hunger......Page 189
  9.2 Central Allocation and Investment Tension......Page 192
  9.3 Investment and Consumption......Page 194
  9.4 Priorities......Page 200
  9.5 Extensive and Intensive Methods......Page 209
  9.6 Fluctuations in Growth; Cycles......Page 215
  9.7 Measurement of Aggregate Output......Page 222
  9.8 The System-Specific Growth Type: Forced Growth......Page 226
  9.9 Growth Performance......Page 228
 10. Employment and Wages......Page 232
  10.1 The Road to Full Employment......Page 233
  10.2 The Development of Chronic Labor Shortage......Page 240
  10.3 Direct Bureaucratic Control of Employment and Wages......Page 245
  10.4 Employer-Employee Relations in the Factory......Page 247
  10.5 Bureaucratic and Market Influences on Wages......Page 253
 11. Shortage and Inflation: The Phenomena......Page 257
  11.1 Shortage Phenomena and the Shortage Economy......Page 258
  11.2 The Process of Demand Adjustment......Page 263
  11.3 Horizontal and Vertical Shortage......Page 269
  11.4 Shortage and Surplus......Page 272
  11.5 Market Regimes: The Buyers\' and the Sellers\' Market......Page 274
  11.6 Normal Shortage and Normal Surplus......Page 281
  11.7 Open, Declared, and Hidden Inflation......Page 284
  12.1 The Behavior of the Firm: Short-Term Decisions......Page 291
  12.2 The Behavior of the Firm: Long-Term Decisions......Page 297
  12.3 The Behavior of the Bureaucracy Managing Production......Page 299
  12.4 Relative Prices......Page 302
  12.5 Repressed Inflation in Interfirm Relations......Page 304
  12.6 Repressed Inflation in the Consumer Sphere......Page 307
  12.7 Excess Demand on the Macro Level......Page 309
  12.8 The Propensity to Inflation; the Relationship between Shortage and Inflation......Page 312
  12.9 The Self-Inducement and Reproduction of Shortage......Page 315
  12.10 The System-Specific Nature of the Causes......Page 317
  12.11 Economic Efficiency and Technical Progress......Page 321
  13.1 The Growth of Consumption......Page 331
  13.2 Other Factors in Material Welfare......Page 333
  13.3 Economic Security......Page 340
  13.4 First Approach: Distribution of Money Income......Page 345
  13.5 The Distribution of Material Welfare: Other Manifestations......Page 347
  13.6 The Explanation for the Distribution......Page 352
  13.7 Tendencies toward Equalization and Differentiation......Page 360
 14. External Economic Relations......Page 362
  14.1 The External Political Environment......Page 364
  14.2 The Institutional System of External Economic Relations......Page 370
  14.3 Capitalist Relations; Import Hunger, Export Aversion, and Propensity to Indebtedness......Page 374
  14.4 Socialist Relations: Tie-Ins, Export Preferences, and the Pursuit of a Zero Balance......Page 380
  14.5 An Attempt at Integration: The Council of Mutual Economic Assistance......Page 384
  15.1 The Main Line of Causality......Page 389
  15.2 The Affinity among Elements of the System......Page 394
  15.3 The Prototype and the National Variations......Page 397
  15.4 The Soviet Effect......Page 401
  15.5 Verification......Page 404
  15.6 The Viability of the Classical System......Page 406
PART THREE: SHIFTING FROM THE CLASSICAL SYSTEM......Page 410
  16.1 The Inducements for Change......Page 412
  16.2 The Depth and Radicalism of the Changes......Page 415
  16.3 Reform and Revolution......Page 416
  16.4 A Chronological Survey of Reforms and Revolutions......Page 421
  17.1 General Description of the Tendency......Page 425
  17.2 Reorganizations on the Upper Level......Page 427
  17.3 Merger of Firms......Page 428
  17.4 The Development of Planning and Direct Control......Page 432
  17.5 Preview: The Organizational Structure under the Postsocialist System......Page 436
  18.1 The Monopoly of Power......Page 438
  18.2 The Easing of Repression......Page 441
  18.3 The Constant and Variable Elements in the Official Ideology......Page 443
  18.4 The Seeds of Pluralism......Page 447
  18.5 Opening toward the Capitalist World......Page 452
  18.6 Change in the Scale of Publicity and Candor......Page 454
  18.7 The Limits to Political Reform......Page 457
  18.8 Preview: The Political Structure of the Postsocialist System......Page 459
  19.1 The Inducements behind the Development of the Private Sector......Page 462
  19.2 A Survey of the Private Sector......Page 464
  19.3 The Private Sector and the Official Ideology......Page 473
  19.4 The Affinity of Private Ownership and Market Coordination......Page 476
  19.5 The Private Sector and the Bureaucracy......Page 479
  19.6 The Economic Role of the Family......Page 484
  19.7 Preview: The Private Sector under the Postsocialist System......Page 488
  20.1 Self-Management as an Intellectual and Political Trend......Page 490
  20.2 Political Relations......Page 492
  20.3 Economic Effects......Page 495
  20.4 Relations between Manager and Workers......Page 498
  20.5 Ethical Coordination......Page 499
  20.6 Preview: Self-Management under the Postsocialist System......Page 501
  21.1 Ideological Antecedents......Page 503
  21.2 Generalization from the Historical Applications......Page 508
  21.3 Classification of Alternative Strategies for Deregulation......Page 509
  21.4 The Firm\'s Vertical Dependence......Page 511
  21.5 The Softness and Hardness of the Budget Constraint, and the Firm\'s Responsivenes to Prices......Page 518
  21.6 The Affinity between Public Ownership and Bureaucratic Coordination......Page 526
  21.7 Horizontal Relations of Firms in Public Ownership......Page 529
  21.8 Proportions of the Two Kinds of Dependence......Page 533
  21.9 The Relation between Publicly Owned Firms and the Private Sector......Page 534
  21.10 Interaction between the Mechanisms: Assessment of the Changes......Page 536
  21.11 Preview: The State Sector under the Postsocialist System......Page 540
  22.1 Determination of Product Prices......Page 542
  22.2 Determination of the Prices of Production Factors......Page 546
  22.3 The Principles and Practice of State Price Determination and Fiscal Redistribution......Page 550
  22.4 The Scope and Limits of Price Reforms......Page 554
  22.5 Preview: Prices under the Postsocialist System......Page 556
 23. Macro Tensions......Page 558
  23.1 Employment and Wages......Page 559
  23.2 Growth and Investment......Page 563
  23.3 The State Budget and Fiscal Policy......Page 566
  23.4 The Credit System and Monetary Policy......Page 572
  23.5 Shortage and Inflation: Internal Economic Relations......Page 577
  23.6 Foreign Trade and Foreign Debt......Page 581
  23.7 Shortage, Inflation, and Indebtedness......Page 587
  23.8 The Standard of Living......Page 588
  23.9 Preview: Macro Tensions in the Postsocialist System......Page 592
  24.1 The Depth and Radicalism of the Changes, and the Main Line of Causality......Page 594
  24.2 The Incoherence of the Tendencies to Reform......Page 599
  24.3 Reforms and Public Sentiment......Page 604
  24.4 Preview: The Socialist System\'s Legacy and Postsocialism......Page 606
References......Page 610
Appendix: Bibliography on Postsocialist Transition......Page 656
 D......Page 660
 K......Page 661
 M......Page 662
 S......Page 663
 Z......Page 664
 C......Page 665
 E......Page 666
 G......Page 667
 L......Page 668
 P......Page 669
 S......Page 671
 W......Page 672