1 Aydelotte, William O., “The England of Marx and Mill as Reflected in Fiction,“ The Journal of Economic History, Supplement VIII, 1948 (New York, 1949), p. 43.Google Scholar

2 Walter Bagehot, Works, IV (Hartford, 1891), 500. The Russians are not unaware of this degradation of their economic literature. K. V. Ostrovitjanov, who was Varga's successor in the reformed Institute of Economics, said at a session of the Scientific Council of the Institute: “The fear of committing an error in posing and elaborating new problems causes economists to move away from analyses of contradictions arising in the process of development of socialist economy and reduces scholarly work to a mastication of existing resolutions, or to publication of propaganda articles and pamphlets, while serious scholarly investigation of the economic problems of socialism is avoided.” He added that only a few of the recent dissertations for the degree of candidate and doctor of economics were published, because the authors did not relish having their theses printed. Cf. Voprosy Ekonomiki, 1948: 8, p. 74. The probable effectiveness of the speaker's admonitions for “a bolder, bolshevist approach to economic research“ must be judged in the light of the recent sweeping and severe decree concerning disclosure of state secrets (Pravda, June 10, 1947), and Ostrovitjanov's immoderate strictures in the same speech of “errors” committed by a number of Soviet economists.

3 Grigori Konovalov, “Universitet,” Oktjabr', 1947: 6, 7; subsequently published in book form.

4 Solov'ëv, Vladimir S., “Nacional'nyj vopros v Rossii,” Sobranie sočnenij, V, (St. Petersburg, n. d.), 88.Google Scholar

5 K. Simonov, “The Russian Question,” Soviet Literature, February, 1947; Koševnikov, V. and Prut, I., “Sud'ba Redšinal'da Devisa,” Zvezda, 1947: 4.Google Scholar

6 Simonov, K., “Čušaja ten”, Znamja, 1949: 1.Google Scholar

7 At times such attacks lead to discontinuation of the publication of a work of fiction which has been appearing serially; cf., e.g., the case of Y. German's novel “Podpolkovnik medicinskoj slušby,” Zvezda, 1949: 1.

8 Cf., e.g., the article by N. Gribačev, “Za novyj pod'ëm sovetskoj poesij,” Znamja, 1949: 1. p. 17.

9 Most Soviet works of fiction are first published in one of the literary journals of which at present the following should be noted: Novyj Mir, Oktjabr', Znamja, and Zvezda. The first three journals appear in Moscow, and the last one in Leningrad. For years, Mrs. Vera Aleksandrova has been publishing reviews in Russian on current Soviet fiction in various periodicals, most notably in the Socialističeskij Vestnik, the magazine of the Russian Social Democratic Party in exile, now appearing in New York. While Mrs. Aleksandrova's interests do not lie specifically in the economic field, she in general addresses herself to the social significance of Soviet belles lettres, and economists interested in the problems raised in this paper will find her reviews a most excellent introduction to Soviet fiction. It is, incidentally, very regrettable that these reviews are inaccessible to those who have no reading knowledge of Russian. A translation into English of at least a selection of these reviews would be desirable indeed.

10 Ganibesov, V., “Starateli,” Oktjabr', 1948: 3.Google Scholar

11 Littlepage, John J., In Search of Soviet Gold (New York, 1938).Google Scholar

12 Serebrovskij, A. P., Na zolotom fronte (Moscow-Leningrad, 1936).Google Scholar

13 Cf. Znamja, 1947: 11, 12. Subsequent page references are to edition in book form (Moscow-Leningrad, 1948).

14 Sofronov, A., “Kar'era Beketova,” Novyj Mir, 1949: 4.Google Scholar

15 Bienstock, Gregory, Schwarz, Solomon M., and Yugow, Aaron, Management in Russian Industry and Agriculture (New York, 1944).Google Scholar

16 An example may serve to illustrate the point. Production and consumption of copper is centrally planned. Copper is included in what is called in Russia “material balances,” that is, balance-sheet-like juxtapositions of output and consumption of individual commodities in terms of physical quantities. In Soviet literature very much emphasis is placed on this method of planning through “material balances.” It is said to assure absence of disproportionalities. Now copper remained in short supply throughout most of the thirties. Domestic production grew at too slow a rate; imports remained substantial, and the Soviet government attempted for years to reduce the consumption of copper by introduction of substitutes in less essential lines of production. These attempts showed but a moderate degree of success, until, in 1937, the government decided to increase drastically the price of copper while keeping constant the planned cost of commodities in the production of which the metal was used. Apparently, the effect was all that could be desired. Copper was thenceforth confined to more essential uses, and substitutes began to be utilized on a significant scale. (Cf.G. Kozlov, Khozjajstvennyj rasčët v socialističeskom obščestve [Ogiz, 1945], p. 65).

This obviously raises a question: why did not the central planning authority simply change the pattern of copper consumption in its “material balances.” Why did the Soviet government have to have recourse to the indirect device of a price increase which surely is more uncertain and less transparent in its effects? There is a strong presumption in favor of believing that the Soviet government could not use the more direct method because it did not know in what segments of the copper-using industry and to what extent the restrictions should and could be applied. In other words, the central planning authority accepted decisions of the managers of the individual plants. Presumably, after the rise in price, the pattern of copper consumption in the “material balances” was adapted to the new situation.

17 Sofronov, A., “Moskovskij kharakter,” Oktjabr', 1949: 1.Google Scholar

18 For a very similar retort by which a manager of a railroad is reprimanded, cf. the recent play by Surov, A., “Zelenaja ulica,” Oktjabr', 1949: 5, p. 118.Google Scholar

19 Virta, Nikolaj, “Khleb naš nasuščnyj” Zvezda, 1947: 6 Google Scholar; Babaevskij, Semën, “Kavaler zolotoj zvezdy,” Oktjabr’ 1947: 4; 1948: 4, 5.Google Scholar

20 Pravda, March 7, 1947.

21 E.g., 50 percent in 1937; cf. Galimon, L. S., Dokhody mashino-traktornykh stand (Moscow, 1948), p. 8.Google Scholar

22 II'enkov, V. “Bol'šaja doroga,” Oktjabr', 1949: 1, 2.Google Scholar

23 “Working day” is a conventional measure of work performed by the members of the kolkhoz, and is not identical with a calendar day.

24 II'enkov, op. cit., p. 93.

25 Ibid., p. 59.

26 The previously quoted play by A. Surov, The Green Street, pivots around a sharplycriticized attempt on the part of a railroad administration to establish a record of performance merely for window-dressing purposes in lieu of sustained improvements in the speed of transportation and the volume of goods carried. Cf. Novyj Mir, 1949: 5.

27 Babaevskij, op. cit., p. 5.

28 Simonov, Konstantin, “Dym Otečestva,” Novyj Mir, 1947: 1 Google Scholar, particularly pp. 32–37.

29 Fadeev, A., Molodaja Guardija (Moscow, 1947)Google Scholar; Popov, V., “Stal i Šlak,” Znamja, 1949: I, 2.Google Scholar

30 Pavlenko, P., “Ščast'e,” Znamja, 1947: 7.Google Scholar