Talous ja politiikka sosialismissa.

Neuvostoliittolaisen itseymmärryksen opetukset

Authors

• Pekka Sutela

Abstract

A distinction between the domains of the economy and politics is often seen as a specific feature of capitalism, while its nonexistence in (really existing) socialism has been judged in widely varying different ways. This paper reconsiders the problem, using Soviet economic literature as the basic material. While the disappearance of the economy into politics during the Stalinist era was never total, various proposals for either rationalizing socialism (i.e. the economy as guided by fixed criteria) or reforming it (i.e. the economy as a field of independent activities) have had the decoupling of the economy from politics as their goal. A discussion of selected proposals is also provided.