Economic History of Ussr 1917-1991 Book

I picked this up after reading Vivek Chibber’s article in the new Jacobin where he argued that socialists have not done enough to study centralized planning.

I learned a lot. Here are a few highlights:
* the classical “command economy” did not develop immediately. It was put in place by Stalin during the period of the first five year plan. During the NEP period, planning was less rigid, there was of course a large private market, and nationalized enterprises had more leeway to determine production targets and buy inputs.
* from the first five year plan on, Soviet leaders maintained a confusing pricing system for food and consumer goods. A certain amount of goods would be sold at a ration-price below the cost of production. And another set would be sold at much higher prices. It encouraged black markets, hoarding, and distorted any chance that prices could be used to signal useful information. Pricing policy worsened inflation and shortages without making life better for workers - but Soviet leaders could brag about lower prices.
* Nove makes the point that the particular form of Soviet planning - where Gosplan would say “if we want to increase tractor production by x %, then we’ll y additional tons of steel, and to make that z tons of coal ... “ and so on - worked well to expand existing sectors of industry. But broke down when you wanted to create new products or industries. The Soviet chemical industry lagged for example.
* Production targets for furniture were measured in tons. Furniture makers made heavier couches.
* For a time in the 30s, each Machine Tractor Station had its own secret policeman. Stalin’s brutal deportation of the kulaks and forced collectivization couldn’t have happened without the vast expansion of the police system.
* 630,000 civilians died of freezing or starvation in Leningrad during the winter of 1941-42. The Soviet defeat of the Nazis was a remarkable achievement won at a huge cost.

This book didn’t make me a market socialist. If anything it made me want to study more the different varieties of socialist planning that started to develop in the 20s before Stalin assumed complete control. A good read.