Suchergebnisse

The article analyzes the economic history of the USSR, covering an important period of the history of Stalin's economic model – the initial period of the Great Patriotic War (1941–1942). The main feature of the Soviet economy during the war was that already in the first months the USSR lost control over the most developed industrial areas. This situation required fundamental reorganization of the structure of the economy, when its main production capabilities were used to produce military equipment at the expense of reducing the output of civilian products. The losses of the USSR economy from the occupation of part of the territory are considered and it is shown that the USSR in 1941–1942 fought Germany and its allies, having halved mobilization and economic potential. The article analyzes the process of transferring the economy to the war economy, which required an increase in the length of the working day and the abolition of vacations, the introduction of the card system, and the relocation of plants to other territories. The structure of state administration bodies, changes in the organization of management and the position of its individual participants in it are studied separately. Tables are given and analyzed, giving an idea of the volume and dynamics of production of means of production in this period, the production of non-ferrous metals, the production of consumer goods, military equipment. It is shown that due to the low quality of military production in the Red Army a huge proportion of non-combat losses, which was primarily due to unrealistic plans. The situation in agriculture is examined, where the decline in productivity was due to a number of reasons, including the predominant mobilization of the population from rural areas with a minimum of reservations, the almost complete cessation of supplies of mineral fertilizers and agricultural machinery and, consequently, a sharp decline in the mechanization of work. The situation in the construction industry, in the work of railroad transport is studied. The calculation of the dynamics of national income for 1940–1942 years is given. Thus, in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War revealed the strengths of the Stalinist economic model and created in the 30-ies military-economic potential, high qualifications of the country's leaders promoted in the last pre-war years. The greatest achievements of the Soviet economy in this period are associated with the record-breaking rapid transfer of the entire economy on military rails.

The author of this paper analyses the book by A. Markevich and M. Harrison, "Great War, Civil War, and Recovery: Russia's National Income, 1913 to 1928". He highlights the fact that the authors' (A. Markevich and M. Harrison) calculations introduced in this article significantly expand and clarify the economic situation in Russia and the USSR in 1913-1928 from an economics point of view. For the first time, M. Harrison and A. Markevich evaluate the dynamics of national income and production of individual economic sectors, including the service industry, and compare the economies of Russia and the USSR with other countries in the same period. The calculations show a more successful development of the economy of Russia than other warring countries during the First World War. In addition, the article analyzes the decline in Russia's share in the world economy in 1928 compared to 1913. Thereby, the authors make a reasonable conclusion about the decrease in the efficiency of the USSR economy in 1928 compared to the pre-revolutionary period. Estimates of the national income, the personal consumption fund, and the population allowed evaluating the entire economic development of pre-revolutionary Russia, the USSR, and post-Soviet Russia. Finally, the authors reveal the consequences of the economic crises of the 20th century in Russia. Drawing on personal and other researchers' calculations, the authors criticize the opinion about the national income growth in 1928 in comparison with 1913 as exaggerated. Its significant drop during the civil war was caused by war communism as well as by the rupture of economic ties.

The article considers the short-term, mid-term and long-term economic consequences of the special military operation by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the impact of Western economic sanctions on the economic development of the Russian Federation from March till June 2022. Despite a short time passed since the beginning of the special operation and the introduction of economic sanctions against Russia, they have already made a serious impact on the Russian economy. There has been a rapid deterioration of many general and sectoral indicators. The slow-down in the investment sector is particularly dangerous in terms of mid-term consequences. The secrecy of much statistical and accounting data, imposed for the first time in the post-Soviet period, can be considered an indirect indicator of the severity of the economic crisis. While assessing the mid-term consequences of the current economic crisis, attention is drawn to the structural weaknesses of the Russian economy that have developed over the past 30 years and to the degradation of material and human capital during this period. The development of the country is compared to the movement of a ship. It is shown that with the current defects, the ship called 'Russia' in its current state is not able to withstand the storm caused by the military operation and economic sanctions. The economic, scientific and technical development of the USSR and the Russian Federation over the last 60 years is analyzed in detail. The analysis has shown that during this period almost all most important economic, scientific and technical indicators together with the intellectual potential demonstrated a continuous degradation. Thus, the Russian society and the state are facing the consequences of the mistakes and missed opportunities of the past 60 years. A lot of effort and time are required to overcome the consequences of these mistakes.

Memories of Novosibirsk economist Boris Pavlovich Orlov consist of three episodes. The first analyzes his work "Development of Transport in the USSR". The author analyzes the fundamental nature of the work, the use of archival data and the truthfulness of the analysis. An objective coverage of the history of Soviet transport is noted, especially during the periods of the first five-year plan and the Soviet-Finnish war. The author gives a qualified analysis of the reasons for the orientation in railway transport towards the development of track facilities and the expansion and renewal of rolling stock instead of new railway construction. The second episode is connected with the defense of Ph.D. thesis of the author, in which Boris Pavlovich was the first opponent. Despite the seditiousness of many of its provisions for that time, Orlov supported it and highly appreciated it. The third episode is connected with the author's leadership of the student scientific society at the Faculty of Economics of the Novosibirsk State University, of which Orlov was then the dean. The scientific work of this society, which boldly explored the acute problems of the socialist economy, was subjected to political persecution. Boris Pavlovich did not take any part in this company, at the risk of his administrative position. In conclusion, the high level of Boris Pavlovich Orlov's qualifications, his honesty, civic courage and decency are discussed in the article.

The article shows the causes and consequences of the deplorable state of the Russian economic science and higher economic education. They are rooted, first of all, in the persecution to which economics was subjected in Soviet times, especially during the Stalinist period. As a result, it lost the most talented scientists. There was no need for good economists in the command economy, so higher economic education had low prestige. In the post-Soviet period, due to the transition to a market economy, the need for economists to work in government institutions and commercial structures increased. However, it turned out that the current system of higher economic education is unable to satisfy it. The author shows negative consequences of a low level of economic education for solving national economic problems and managing companies. The low level of economic science did not allow economists to justify an effective transition to a market economy, taking into account the peculiarities of the Soviet economy and Russian history. In the post-Soviet period, the political leadership focused only on economists loyal to the government, without taking into account their professionalism. The author proposes the ways of improving the quality of economic science and higher economic education. The emphasis is on a sharp reduction in the number of researchers and teaching staff (and a reduction in the number of students), with a simultaneous significant increase in the remuneration of researchers and teachers basing on objective criteria for evaluating their activities. This will allow democratizing the management of universities and scientific institutions, abolishing bureaucratic control over their activities.

The starting point of the paper is the three articles in the journal Ideas and Ideals by Irina Zhezhko-Brown who analyzes the formation of a new ruling class in the USA, which rests on racial and gender minorities. The values proclaimed by the elite are fundamentally different from traditional American values. The paper shows that any attempt to bring them into life can have devastating consequences for American society and, ultimately, lead to its downfall. Considering the huge role of the USA in the world system, this can be compared to the fall of the Roman Empire. The author shows that it is possible to escape such an outcome. The obstacle to this escape is the entire social and economic system that has developed in the USA. In the field of economics, the priority in recruiting personnel is given to quotas based on race and gender instead of qualification and business qualities, which will lead to a significant decrease in the financial performance of companies and the wages of employees. The author analyzes such long-term macroeconomic defects of the American economy as the budget deficit, trade and balance of payments deficit, and the growth of government debt. In the near future, these defects may lead to a deep economic crisis, a stock market crisis, and the US dollar can lose its position as the key currency. The paper considers economic and political premises and prevention methods of these destructive processes.

Due to the extremely low level of current Russian economic scientists and practitioners, we can only place our hope on the younger generation. In this regard, the article considers the textbook on Economic Theory recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation for students of 10-11th grades, currently in its 26th edition. The textbook arouses no interest, only antipathy to Economics among school students. It is unjustifiably focused on economic theory, not practice. The textbook is too complicated and boring, almost completely ignoring the economic problems of Russia and Third World countries. It is argued that the course of Economics for high school students can be not only informative and useful, but also involving. The Soviet and Russian economies are full of mysteries, which can make use of the enthusiasm school students have for solving mysteries and puzzles. The author suggests a program for a course in Economics for school students, comprising 10 new chapters, as well as a summary of the new chapters. The author also presents economic entities interested in high-quality school textbooks. The textbook recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation is compared to the previously published more informative and involving textbooks for high school students.