Panel on the Economic and Political Consequences of Chernobyl'

This article summarizes a discussion by a panel of leading experts on Soviet energy analyzing the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl' nuclear plant in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986.

The near-term economic costs associated with clean-up, relocation, and compensating for losses to electricity supplies are significant but manageable. The longer-term effects will focus on likely modifications in Soviet strategies for the nuclear industry, which may shift emphasis back towards conventional fuels and conservation.

The political consequences were managed fairly well by the leadership. Consistent with Secretary Gorbachev's policy of glasnost' (openness) more information has been available on this event than was the case in previous analogous situations. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 723.     

The Economic Consequences of Soviet Disintegration

A noted British economist and specialist in the affairs of the former USSR discusses the economic consequences of the disintegration that followed the coup d'etat in August 1991. The assessment begins with a look at inter-republican economic flows in an attempt to indicate the benefits, if any, derived by the individual republics from membership in a unified state. It follows with a brief overview of the “invisible” components of the balance of payments, deals with the gains and losses traced to the so-called common economic space, and sketches implications for the rest of the world. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, F3, O1.     

Gorbachev's Economic Reform: A Soviet Economy Roundtable

The proceedings of a panel of American specialists devoted to the recent economic reform are summarized. The panelists noted that the most substantial changes to date have accompanied efforts to restructure the decisionmaking hierarchy—in particular, a recentralization of authority through the creation of biuros and state committees and legislation on individual economic activity. Changes in the systems of economic planning and incentives, on the other hand, have been minor, suggesting a continuing debate over the extent to which price reform and various economic incentives should be implemented. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113, 124.     

The Soviet Periphery: Economic Development of Belorussia

This paper analyzes the development of Belorussia, focusing upon its industrialization in the post-war period. Belorussia has changed from a lesserdeveloped part of the Soviet periphery to one of the USSR's more developed regions. This has been the result of a number of locational advantages for certain types of industry, particularly machine-building and chemicals. Its experience is similar to the U.S. periphery, and in conformity with Western regional development models, but apparently a typical of most of the Soviet periphery. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 940.     

Soviet Union and the Third World: The Economic Dimension

This paper surveys some of the outstanding issues and changes in the economic dimension of Soviet involvement in the non-communist Third World over the last 30 years. It attempts to identify and integrate salient features of current knowledge about Soviet economic policy toward the less developed countries. After a survey of the evolution of Soviet arms transfers and economic aid and trade relations, the paper concludes with some reflections on the effectiveness of Soviet policy and prospects for future change. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 420.     

Soviet Economic Reforms Since Stalin: Ideology,Politics, and Learning

An American political scientist reinterprets the politics of economic reform in the USSR from 1953 to 1991. The paper offers an integrated explanation for three features of reform policies: their reappearance during periods of political succession; their persistent partiality; and their radicalization over time. The explanation focuses on the interaction over time among political competition, ideology, and collective learning. Reasoning leads to conclusions that a consensus on the superiority of a market economy finally emerged within the Soviet leadership in 1990, but that the learning process has not resulted in a consensus on strategies and costs of transition, journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 040, 052.     

Economic and Strategic Position Of the Soviet Far East

The role of the Soviet Far East in the Soviet regional system is conditioned by its remoteness from the country's commanding center, its harsh physical environment, and strategic importance. The region is weakly integrated into the mainstream of the Soviet economy. At the same time, its most powerful economic links are with the distant metropolis—a strongly dependent, parasitic relationship made more dominant by the cost of the massive military build-up. Huge Soviet efforts to accelerate the growth of the Far East are proving largely unsuccessful, despite the construction of the BAM. Economic priorities are shifting to West Siberia, while Far Eastern resource projects are proving increasingly unattractive to Japan. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 731.     

Budget Deficit,Market Disequilibrium and Soviet Economic Reforms

Problems within the present fiscal and monetary system of the USSR are examined (a) as a function of both past systemic shortcomings and of fiscal developments caused by economic reforms enacted to date and (b) as obstacles that must be overcome during the transition to a more market-oriented economy. Major sources of disequilibrium in the present economy are identified through analysis of Soviet budgets from both the reform and pre-reform periods, and a concluding section presents policy options for the period of transition to a more radical economic reform. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 300.     

苏联对战后经济重建的思考——迈斯基关于战后英、美经济政策的报告

二战后期和战后初期,在构建关于战后世界政治安排的同时,苏联领导人也非常关注在战后同美英发展经济关系的问题.迈斯基向莫洛托夫提交的关于战后美英经济政策的报告正是在这种情况下制订出来的.在这两份报告中,迈斯基对战后美英的经济政策以及苏美和苏英经济关系进行了深刻的分析,他提出的关于苏联与美英发展经济关系的构想,对当时苏联领导人在战后与美英发展经济关系等问题上的认识产生了影响,并且这种构想与苏联领导人在战后初期奉行的大国合作战略以及关于国内经济重建问题的一些思考是一致的.     

新经济政策时期苏联社会组织管理体制的初创与确立

新经济政策时期是苏俄社会组织发展的"黄金时代"。苏维埃国家在这一时期探索建立社会组织管理体制。1921年3月-1924年5月,社会组织管理体制初创,建立了宪法框架下社会组织部分自治的管理体制。从1924年5月至1928年2月,随着在经济领域运用市场经济机制措施的收缩,开始构建苏共主导型的社会组织管理体制。1930 年 8 月通过了关于社会组织的新的条例,明确地将社会组织的宗旨与苏联社会主义的战略目标联系在一起。该条例的颁布和实行,标志着宪法框架下部分自治的管理体制终结,苏共主导型的社会组织管理体制确立。新经济政策时期社会组织管理体制的初创与确立,是年轻的苏维埃国家摸索和建立治理国家模式,从相对分权到中央集权的一个缩影和组成部分。     

Turkish transformation and the Soviet Union: navigating through the Soviet historiography on Kemalism

Being founded in the wake of the First World War, both Turkey and the Soviet Union followed revolutionary modernizing pathways. At the outset, one could trace many similar patterns in their radical modernization paradigms; however, their development models as well as political and social orders were radically distinct, which became more obvious with the passage of time. The paper discusses the external interpretations of Kemalism by observing the Soviet perspectives on the inception and evolution of Kemalism. Paying more attention to diplomatic, geopolitical and economic complexities of the Turkish-Soviet relations, scholars have rarely problematized the Soviet Union perceptions of Turkish ideological transformations. In reality, since the early 1920s, different state institutions, intellectual schools of thought and research in the Soviet Union closely observed the domestic transformations in Turkey by providing valuable insights on the perspective and the implications of the Kemalist transformation. The article also looks at the question of how the incorporation of Soviet perspectives can enrich the historiography and our understanding of Kemalism.     

After and Beyond Amoral Familism: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Social Capital Italian-style

Abstract

The economic crisis that began with the great crash of 2008 has brought about a significant increase in inequality in Italy between individuals and families as well as between different geographic areas. A higher degree of inequality has had negative effects on social capital, reducing so-called bridging and linking elements of social capital while strengthening bonding elements, with a concomitant decline in civic culture. These effects can be dangerous for democracy, in so far as they lower the citizens’ trust in institutions. Since social capital is created as well as destroyed by political and social actors, a relevant question is whether these actors have had a role in transforming social capital into trust in institutions. From an analysis of the changes that have taken place in the Italian political system, it would appear that a significant segment of the political system has destroyed more institutional social capital than it has helped to create.