Sorry Les et al: Can't quite see how to re-label this strand, but we are a long way from biology here.
Duen Filan writes: "Russia's state owned assets were sold off after the USSR dissolved." Response: Well 'formally' that is correct... bringing that date up to the Gorbachov era. So if I see your drift correctly, you are arguing - then your argument is that forms the dating of the destruction of socialism in the USSR? I submit this is incorrect. I believe that you have to dig a little bit deeper without relying on what the revisionist Khruschevites, and then Brezhnevites say. Or for that matter what Western economists say, and definitely without relying on what Mr.Putin says. *The trick t* hat Khrushchev (And indeed the 'boys' - I am quite open to being corrected if there was an identifiable top woman here - I honestly cannot recall one) as to radically expand the salary band of "managers" and "directors" - but without calling it an individual's profit (it was "the enterprises' profits")- & without calling the 'director' - "the boss or owner". Actually the fundamental thing was to keep the 'facade' of being a socialist state. It was very valuable to camouflage their actions. (Just as in North Korea today). The game is detailed from here: http://www.oneparty.co.uk/html/book/ussrmenu.html (i) *Step One:* "On this basis, the salaries of managerial and higher technical personnel bear the following relationship to the basic wage rate of an average shop floor worker: Average shop floor worker 1.5 units Foreman 1.6 to 2.4 units Shop superintendent (more than) 3.2 units Chief engineer (up to) 4.1 to 7.2 units Director (up to) 4.8 to 7.2 units Specially well-qualified director (up to) 7.2 to 10.8 units That is, the salary of an enterprise director is up to 7.2 times the basic wage of a shop floor worker of average skill. This wage/salary differential between shop floor workers and management personnel forms, however, only a minor part of the actual income differential between these categories; the greater part of the latter, as will be demonstrated, accrues from differentials in "bonus payments". " The formal 'selling' off was extremely late in the game, after the lemon had been (almost) totally squeezed. " See section 12. at: http://www.oneparty.co.uk/html/book/ussrchap13-15.html (ii) *Step 2.* decentralising the control of the economy and ensuring that 'enterprises retain their revenue: "In order that profit may function as the regulator of social production under conditions where production is planned by the enterprises themselves, each enterprise must retain sufficient of the profit it makes to enable adequate material incentives to be drawn from it to be of significant economic interest to the personnel of the enterprise responsible for making that profit. A feature of the propaganda campaign preceding and associated with the "economic reform" was, therefore, the demand that the proportion of an enterprise's profit accruing to the state should be significantly reduced and the proportion retained by the enterprise significantly increased: "It is necessary to considerably increase the share of the total sum of profit which remains at the disposal of the enterprises and is used by them to expand and improve production, increase their assets, replenish their circulating funds, and for bonuses and the social and cultural needs of their personnel". (L. Gatovsky: "The Role of Profit in a Socialist Economy", in :"Kommunist" (Communist), No. 18, 1962, in: M.E. Sharpe (Ed.): "Planning, Profit and Incentives in the USSR", Volume 1; New York; 1966; p. 103-4). "That part of profit which remains at the disposal of the enterprise's director for purposes of collective and individual incentive.. must be increased" (V. Shkatov: "What is Useful for the Country is Profitable for Everyone", in: "Pravda" (Truth), September 1st., 1964, in: M.E. Sharpe (Ed.): op. cit., Volume 1; p. 203)." section 15 at: http://www.oneparty.co.uk/html/book/ussrchap13-15.html (iii) *Step 3:* Allow the enterprise to distribute that profit to the staff at its discretion - in practice to the bosses - as 'bonuses': "The establishment of profit as the motive and regulator of Soviet social production required, as has been said, that the proportion of an enterprise’s profit should be significantly increased and that this retained profit should be used to provide economic incentives, dependent on the size of the profit made, to the personnel of the enterprise responsible for making it. Under the "economic reform", therefore, every enterprise was required to set up a "material incentive fund" to provide "bonuses" for such personne:l "There are now three types of material incentive funds at the Soviet enterprises: a) a material incentive fund designated for bonuses to the personnel for results achieved, an annual bonus for the overall results of an enterprise's operations and for rendering assistance in case of need". (V.M. Batyrev: "Commodity-Money Relations under Socialism", in: "The Soviet Planned Economy"; Moscow; 1974; p. 172) This material incentive fund out of which "bonuses" are paid is drawn from the profits retained by the enterprise: "A fund for the material stimulation of the personnel will be set up at each enterprise from the profits obtained by the enterprise". (A.N. Kosygin: "On Improving Industrial Management, Perfecting Planning, and Enhancing Economic Incentives in Industrial Production", in: "Izvestia" (News), September 28th., 1965, in: M.E. Sharpe (Ed.): "Planning, Profit and Incentives in the USSR", Volume 2; New York; 1966; p. 26). and its size, and the size of the "bonuses" drawn from it, depend on the rate of profit made by an enterprise: "The larger the profits, the larger the bonus fund." (E.G. Liberman: "Cost Accounting and Material Encouragement of Industrial Personnel", in: "Voprosy ekonomiki" (Problems of Economics), No. 6, 1955, in: M.E. Sharpe (Ed.): op. cit., Volume 1; p. 13). "The greater the profitability... the greater will be the bonus.... It is proposed to establish a single fund for all types of material incentive and to make it dependent upon profit (in percent of the production assets)". (E.G. Liberman: "Plan: Profits: Bonuses", in: "Pravda" (Truth), September 9th., 1962, in; M.E. Sharpe (Ed.): op. cit., Volume 1; p. 80, 86)." (iv) *Step 4:* To sell off portions of state property including the machine and tractors stations to individual enterprises. I won't cite this here. Unfortunately this book - "Restoration of Capitalism in the USSR" by W.B.Bland, has been out of print for some years. But the whole book is there at the site above. Cheers H -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29295): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29295 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104777310/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
