The End of Three Ideological Eras: What Is Next for the Russian Economy? (original) (raw)

Abstract

he ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little elle. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of sorne defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. 1 am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Not, indeed, immediately.... But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.-John Maynard Keynes The Russian economy today is the product of three powerful ideas, all of which are now defunct: the Marxist system, the concept of the self-re gulating market, and transition economics. The question for the next ten years is whether a new ideology or pure pragmatism will guide Russia's economic development. This is not to suggest some silly idea about the end of ideology or of history, but to recognize that these three ideologies are spent forces and that an alternative or new idea is absent for the present. The Marxist Idea The labor theory of value is central lo the Marxist conception of economy in only one sense: it is a truism that all social value is created by human effort, physical and mental. Given that the desirable products of human effort are scarce relative lo demand for them, the system by which goods and cervices are distributed is critical in determining who gets what and who does without or with less. Marx understood that property relations and markets under capitalism mobilized inputs and determined distribution among classes of society. Marx was an optimist with

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