In a work with significant implications for present-day economic reform in the Soviet Union, Paul Gregory examines Russian and Soviet economic history prior to the installation of the administrative command system. By drawing on basic economic statistics from 1861 to the 1930s, Gregory's revisionist account debunks a number of myths promulgated by historians in both the East and the West. He demonstrates that the Russian economy under the tsars performed much better than has previously been supposed; the Russian economy and its financial institutions were integrated into the world economy, allowing Russia to attract significant foreign capital. Furthermore, he shows that Stalin's justifications for the abandonment of the New Economic Policy in the late 1920s were incorrect: the so-called crises of NEP were either fabricated or the result of misguided economic thinking. Before Command is the culmination of the author's lifelong study of the economic history of Russia and the Soviet Union.
In convincing detail it describes little-known Russian and Soviet successes with market capitalism, while it also shows the problems inherent in a mixed system, such as the NEP, which seeks to combine very strong elements of command with market resource allocation. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
By:
Paul R. Gregory
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 4450
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780691637006
ISBN 10: 0691637008
Series: Princeton Legacy Library
Pages: 198
Publication Date: 28 June 2016
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
PrefaceCh. 1Perestroika and Lessons of the Past3Ch. 2Economic Growth and Development of Tsarist Russia14Ch. 3The Agrarian Crisis37Ch. 4State Policy, the Gold Standard, and Foreign Capital55Ch. 5The Last Market Economy81Ch. 6The Crises of NEP102Ch. 7Comparisons of Tsarist and Soviet Economic Performance128Appendix A: Russian Economic Statistics139Appendix B: The Economic Recovery of NEP153Notes167Index185
Reviews for Before Command: An Economic History of Russia from Emancipation to the First Five-Year
"""Gregory has produced the best overview of Russian economic development from 1861 through the 1930s. Along the way, he has illuminated many of the blockages current policy makers confront as they 'plan' for the transition to a market economy... [T]he book ... is outstanding.""--American Historical Review"
