Book Review: U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe: The Political Economy of Communism
| Published date | 01 December 1964 |
| Date | 01 December 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900432 |
| Author | H. E. Ronimois |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
585
sistance
to
foreign
Communist
uprisings,
which
McKenzie
notes,
may
be
read
as
an
indication
of
the fundamental
frailty
of
the
community
that
the
Stalinists
glibly
described
as
fraternal
and
united.
A
less
literal-
minded
interpretation
than
Professor
McKenzie's
might
find
in
this
hiatus
a
foreshadowing
of
Maoism
and
Titoism,
of
the
reaction
against
the
Stalinist
effort
to
paper
over
the
gulf
between
Soviet
interests and
those
of alien
Communist
parties.
Surely
this
problem
was
at
all
times
inherent
in
the
nature
of
the
Third
International,
despite
the
unwilling-
ness
of
Stalinist
spokesmen
to
face
it
frankly,
but
McKenzie's
deter-
mination
to
focus
on
a
question
that
preoccupied
American
observers
some
years
ago
prevents him
from
reconsidering
the
doctrinal
evidence
in
the
light
of
post-Comintern developments.
In
sum,
this
is
a careful and learned study, but
its
approach
to
doctrinal
analysis
is
not
one
that
many students
now
find
congenial.
University
of
Toronto
ROBERT
H.
McNEAL
THE
PoLrrmcAL ECONOMY
OF
COMMUNISM.
By
P. J.
D.
Wiles.
1962.
(Ox-
ford:
Basil Blackwell.
Toronto:
Copp
Clark.
xv,
404pp.
$10.00)
Peter
Wiles'
recent
contribution
to
our
understanding
of
Soviet-type
economies
deals
with
some
of
the
most
important
problems of
centralized
allocation
(part
two)
and
planned
economic
growth
(part
three).
It
begins
with
a
list
of
models-ten
for
Socialism
(pp.
1-27),
eight
for
allo-
cation
(pp.
67-90)
and
eight
for
distribution
(p.
106).
And
it
concludes
with
critical
comments on
Marxian
ideology
(part
four).
Wiles'
book
is
addressed
primarily
to
graduate
students
of
economics
and
repre-
sents,
in
the author's
own
words,
"a critical study
of
Communist
econ-
omic
theory
and
practice".
Wiles
deals
in
his
book
mainly
with
the
Soviet
economy.
His
brief
comments
on
the
Yugoslav
and
Chinese
economies
are
nevertheless
instructive
and
interesting.
Part
two
of
Wiles'
book
deals
with
such
basic
issues of
centralized
allocation
as
planners'
criteria
and
the
rationality
of
their
decisions
(chap.
5),
pricing
in
practice
(chap.
6),
territorial
planning
and
recent
decentralization
of
Soviet
administration
(chaps.
7
and
8),
the
Soviet
distribution
system
(chap.
9)
and,
finally,
the
possibilities
of
improving
central
planning along
the
lines
suggested
by
Lerner,
Lange
and
Leontieff
(chap.
10).
It
is,
however,
part
three
of
Wiles'
book
which
contains
his
original
thoughts
on
the
subject of
central
planning.
In
this
part
Wiles
deals
with
the
important
problems of
balanced
and
imbalanced
growth
(chap.
11),
the
crucial
measurement
issue
(chap.
12),
the
question of
planned
savings
and
investment
(chap.
13),
the
distinction
between
the
heavy
and
the
light
industry
(chaps.
14
and
15)
and
the
effect
of
increasing capital
intensity
upon
economic
growth
(chap.
16).
Wiles
admits
that
"the
whole
meaning
of
economic
advance
is
that
there
is
reduction
of
inputs
per
unit
of
output"
(p.
235),
yet
is
prepared
to
accept
waste
as
long
as
it
is
offset
by
high
rates
of
growth
(p.
214).
He
maintains
that
"nearly
all
existing output and
cost
of
living
indices
are
wrong"
(p.
247)
and
that
the
Communist
economies
To continue reading
Request your trial