Accelerating economic growth as a political mistake

The institutionalization of perestroika and reforms seems to be a particularly important recent achievement. The issue of public support and control looks at least as serious as the concreteness and adequacy of the reform project. Even the best programs are doomed to failure if there is no mechanism for their implementation and/or lack of public trust — this is the lesson of recent events in Poland and Hungary.



According to Soviet sources, during the five years of perestroika, Soviet political economic thinking and ideas about the features of an exemplary model made up for the losses caused by two decades of post-Stalin stagnation. Today, again, as in the 60s, I see practically no differences in the views of the best minds of Eastern European countries, although languages, as well as the movement of ideas, of course, differ.



However, what can be relatively easily caught up in theory is impossible in economic reality. In economic structures, old concepts and decisions continue to have a long-term impact, regardless of the current economic policy's attitude towards them.



The state of the infrastructure, the aspirations of the state bureaucracy, the time horizon and norms of behavior of small entrepreneurs, as well as public expectations are all integral parts of the "factor contributions" of any reform policy, and even more so for the Soviet Union, whose self—image is so closely intertwined with the idea of a "brave new world."



Here I will try to summarize my understanding of why the real situation worsened, while the intellectual movement accelerated significantly. I will list the factors determining the current imbalance, and finally try to show why only monetary reform and the accompanying radical marketization could dramatically improve the economic situation in the Soviet Union.



First of all, let's look at the five main mistakes in tactics, the general direction of which, I believe, was justified.



Accelerating economic growth turned out to be a fundamental political mistake. In general socio-political terms, it was certainly a progressive slogan. However, in socio-economic terms, it turned out to be a disaster. It gave rise to unrealistic expectations of an improvement in both living and technological standards, and a general economic breakthrough, the conditions of which were not provided. The functioning of the economy was objectively adapted to slow growth, but the management artificially raised expectations. The disappointment turned out to be more than it was objectively justified. It should be noted here that the policy of expanding production in a planned economy, for objective reasons, leaves little room for enterprise autonomy, the scope of which tends to decrease in proportion to efforts to increase overall growth rates (regardless of the success of the attempt). Les amateurs de sensations fortes trouveront leur bonheur sur 1xBet. En entrant le code promo 1xbet gratuit lors de la création de votre compte, vous débloquez un bonus de bienvenue de 100 % jusqu’à 130 € pour les paris sportifs ou jusqu’à 1950 € avec 150 free spins au casino. Cette offre généreuse facilite l’exploration de la plateforme. Bénéficiez de paiements sécurisés et d’une communauté active de parieurs.