Brad McCormick:
>Russia wasn't flushed down any entropy toilet: It was
>flushed down the *economic* toilet (i.e., its head was placed
>under the water and held there till the body stopped
>struggling) by the "White" forces (the good guys always
>come in white!) of global capitalism.
>
>Surely Stalin was
>highly "entropic", but the West's strategy of
>*strangling* the Soviet economy to cause the Russian
>peole to revolt -- a policy which began in 1917 and
>finally "succeeded" a few years ago (that's at least 70
>years' sustained intention) cannot be called "entropy"
>but rather malice of purpose. Reagan was *so* proud of
>his "greatest achievement": that the victim finally
>suffocated on his watch!
I don't think this is right. The Soviet economy was quite able to suffocate
on its own without anyone holding its head in the toilet. There were many
problems, but among the most important were a concentration on investment in
heavy industry without making that industry more efficient and productive,
and an impossible bureaucratic central planning apparatus which took the
place of market mechanisms in the allocation of resources. It may have
worked for awhile, though never well, but when demands grew and things got
more and more complex, the system became less and less efficient. Collapse
was inevitable.
What the Russian economy suffers from now is that no real market economy has
developed and the central planning apparatus is gone. As well, the
industrial plant has worn out, and even if that were not the case, it would
be incapable of producing the goods and services that are needed now.
Because of the concentration on heavy industry during the Soviet era, no
tradition of mass producing consumers goods developed. As a consequence,
Russia imports a very large proportion of its consumer goods. Because such
goods are dollar denominated, the falling value of the ruble has been
disastrous for Russian citizens - even for those who are getting paid.
As well, the fact that a considerable proportion of GNP was devoted to the
military, that a prolonged war was fought in Afghanistan, and that the
government had to deal with rebellion in places like Chechnya, did not help.
Nor do low oil prices, a major source of government revenue.
Ed Weick
