Was Stalin Really Necessary?
Some Problems of Soviet Economic Policy
1st Edition
Published on 11. July 2014
316 pages
978-1-136-62948-8 (ISBN)
Description
First published in 1964, Was Stalin Really Necessary? is a thought-provoking work which deals with many aspects of the Soviet political economy, planning problems and statistics. Professor Nove starts with an attempt to evaluate the rationality of Stalinism and discusses the possible political consequences of the search for greater economic efficiency, which is followed by a controversial discussion of Kremlinology. The author goes on to analyse the situation of the peasants as reflected in literary journals, then looks at industrial and agricultural problems. There are elaborate statistical surveys of occupational patterns and the purchasing power of wages, followed by an examination of the irrational statistical reflection of irrational economic decisions. Professor Nove's essay on social welfare was, unlike some of his other work, used in the Soviet press as evidence against over-enthusiastic cold-warriors, among whom the author was not always popular. Finally, the author seeks to generalise about the evolution of world communism.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
File size
13,02 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-136-62948-8 (9781136629488)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2012
1st Edition
Routledge
€63.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
11/2011
1st Edition
Routledge
€222.84
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Alec Nove
Content
Part 1: Political Economy 1. Was Stalin really necessary? 2. The uses and abuses of Kremlinology 3. The politics of economic rationality Part 2: Industrial Growth and Planning 4. The prospects of Soviet economic growth 5. The problem of 'success indicators' in Soviet industry 6. Soviet planning: reforms in prospect 7. Principal problems of Soviet planning Part 3: Agriculture 8. The peasants in Soviet literature since Stalin 9. Soviet agriculture marks time 10. Rural taxation in the USSR 11. Incentives for peasants and administrators Part 4: Labour, Welfare 12. A Study of Soviet Wages 13. Social welfare in the USSR Part 5: Statistics 14. The purchasing power of the Soviet rouble 15. Occupational patterns in the USSR and Great Britain 16. Economic irrationality and irrational statistics Part 6: Ideology 17. Communism
