Alienation and the Soviet Economy

The Collapse of the Socialist Era

Description

In 1971, Paul Craig Roberts created a firestorm among professional Sovietologists by proclaiming that the economies of the USSR and its East Bloc allies were doomed because their "planned" economies were, in reality, anything but planned.

In this revised edition, Paul Craig Roberts examines how reality triumphed over Marxist theory and the implications for the future of Russia and eastern Europe. Expanding on his original ideas, Roberts demonstrates the fatal shortcomings of Marxist economies, ranging from misallocation of resources to ersatz capitalistic concepts grafted onto a system that calls for production without regard to profit. Roberts argues that the economies of the nations emerging from the USSR’s collapse must grasp the profound truths in this book if they are to become viable.

About the author(s)

Paul Craig Roberts is the John M. Olin fellow at the Institute for Political Economy and former senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Dr. Roberts has held academic appointments at Virginia Tech University, Tulane University, University of New Mexico, George Mason University where he had a joint appointment as professor of economics and professor of business administration, and Georgetown University where he held the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy in the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In addition, Dr. Roberts was President of the Inlet Beach Water Company, President of Economic & Communication Services; advisor to J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Tiedemann-Goodnow, and Lazard Freres Asset Management; and a member of numerous corporate and financial boards. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia.

Aaron B. Wildavsky (1930–1993) was a Research Fellow and founding member of the Board of Advisors at the Independent Institute, Class of 1940 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Founding Dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley, and President of the California Association of Scholars. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University.

Reviews

“Professor Roberts’ explanation of Soviet economic development is timely, and it fills a noticeable void in the existing literature. The book is beneficial reading for experts and non-experts alike who wish to understand the theoretical Marxian framework within which the Soviet economy grew and declined.”

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, former National Security Advisor

“Alienation and the Soviet Economy analyzes the inherent weaknesses of Soviet planning, and has been widely praised by members of the Russian Academy of Sciences.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES

“This book of original scholarship, Alienation and the Soviet Economy, exposes the ideological origins of socialist efforts at central planning and confirms that there is no alternative to the market for a modern economy.”

OLEG BOGOMOLOV, Director, Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences

“Paul Craig Roberts, in an almost unique combination of economic expertise and common sense, has devastatingly shown not merely the inherent non-viabilities within the Soviet economy, but also how and why some supposed Western experts thought it was working fairly well.”

ROBERT CONQUEST, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

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