Always there has been a miserable Russian economic science?
The flowering of Russian economic science was at the end of XIX – beginning of XX century. Having received an excellent education in Russian and Western universities and unlimited access to the world’s scientific literature, Russian economists have made an original contribution to world economics. Unfortunately, this contribution is a long time has not been properly evaluated. Thus, in the three-volume “History of Economic Thought” Schumpeter, completed in 1954, hundreds of authors almost no names of Russian scientists and economists. Only 50-60 years in the West discovered the works of AV Chayanov, MI Tugan-Baranovsky, NA Kondratiev, E. Slutsky, VK Dmitriev, AA Bogdanov and others.
The October Revolution and civil war have affected the state of economic science. Have almost ceased to go out economic journals published economic books, defend the dissertation. But at the same time a star has risen and AV Chayanov in his brilliant book on how to besstoimostnoy assessment of products and costs and BD Brutskusa with his criticism of the socialist economy (ahead of the works of Hayek and Mises) as well as SG Strumilin . In 1918 a number of talented economists put forward the draft financial reforms.
In the period of the NEP were sent abroad for some of the big Russian economists, including BD Brutskus. Yet economists’ professional knowledge was in demand for their knowledge and experience were based economic departments, they formed the economic policy. The best works of ND Kondratieff, LN Yurovsky, AV Chayanov, A. Weinstein came just in this period. Published a very informative and highly qualified economic journals. Was quite successful scientific activity EA Transfiguration with his theory of socialist accumulation, long formed the economic policies of the Soviet Union and many developing countries, E. Varga, I. Trachtenberg. Already in the late 20′s came out pioneering work of G. Feldman on models of economic growth for many years ahead of Western research. The first draft five-year plan and annual targets established under the leadership of V. Groman, were very skilled and were pioneering in nature.
I think that in this period of our economic science as a whole was at a global level, taught economics at universities predominantly highly skilled and brightest economists, which gives hope for the formation of good scientists.
Freezing and thawing of the Stalin period
Black page to the Soviet economic science were the 30′s and 40′s. I will not describe the tremendous persecution suffered by economists pre-revolutionary schools. In particular, the mention of the arrest and shooting of a leading researcher, Institute of Economics of the USSR MI Kubanina a truthful article on productivity in the agriculture of the USSR and the USA. For a similar article on the industry in the same collection was arrested and convicted SA Heynman. And the most tragic was not even the destruction or imprisonment of many prominent economists, as established in those years, the atmosphere of aversion to scientific creativity, conviction and prosecution of independent scientific thinking. Last substantial theoretical discussion was in 1930 on the fate of the money in the command economy.Degraded and the system of research training.
But the 30-40′s were characterized for economic science period of alternation of repression and short-term thaw, when he left a lot of interesting and highly skilled work and books on Soviet and world economy, and only lack of space does not allow all of them lead. They testified to the great erudition, diligence and integrity of some of our economists.
Just as an example call of AI Rothstein on Industrial Statistics, E. Varga on the economy of the capitalist countries and the economic crises that are unique for the wealth of factual material product IA Trachtenberg and L. Mendelson for monetary and economic crises , textbook EY Bregel on the credit system of capitalism, the textbook PI Lyashchenko on the history of the Soviet economy, Charles J. Turetsky Pricing in the USSR, VS RaŽkher on the theory and history of the insurance business, a number of others. In 1939 he went out in small print runs unorthodox works of L. Kantorovich and VV Novozhilov. Akademik Sergey Strumilin, not seeing the possibility to write truthfully about contemporary Soviet economy, has created a series of outstanding works on the history of pre-revolutionary Russia’s economy.
Significant contribution to world economics were developed in the Soviet methods of planning and management. Economic departments in the late 30′s created the scientific councils of the old “bourgeois” specialists, indicating that their high estimation by the authorities.
At the same time benefit the scientific activities of these and several other prominent Soviet economist during this period was an exception. It is significant that the academician VP Maslov, describing the work only if the academic economic institute – Institute of Economics of the USSR – said in an interview with Academician VI Vernadsky: “The Institute” communist “- expensive and poor quality.Many employees who do nothing.
In 1946-1947. published several qualified and truthful works of outstanding military achievements of the U.S. economy and major changes in the economy of the capitalist world in general during the war, the history of world economic thought. For these books and in the fight against cosmopolitanism was disbanded a very strong research team of the Institute of World Economy, headed for many years E. Varga, and the authors of seditious books, including E. Varga, subjected to humiliating criticism.
The revival in economic science in the Stalin period last occurred in the early 50′s due to the economic debate on the textbook of political economy, in which for the first time since the late 20′s relatively freely expressed variety of opinions (under socialism) on the political socialist economy.
In concluding the development of economic science in the Stalin period, we can say that the unification and dogmatization in economic theory (political economy) to encourage research on the specific economics and economic history.
In general, a lot of work to create an entirely new and be viable system of command economy of Soviet science has been studied very poorly. The practice has proved much more effective than the set in the harsh conditions and repressed science. There was not even published a book on the theory and methodology of economic planning (the first came after the death of Stalin in 1954).