Economic History of the Soviet Union

Economic theory must distinguish between publicly owned and privately owned property if it is to account for the effect of institutions on the behavior of individuals. Careful study of the theories of Marxists and the real-world experience in the Soviet economy offer important lessons and insight for economic modeling and the ongoing development of theory. In this course, Marxist/Leninist theory and Soviet reality will be studied with an open mind, and with the goal of taking lessons from the case study. To what extent was the Soviet economy an accurate expression of Marxist theory? If Marxism were tried somewhere else would the results be the same?

Outline:

1. Introduction to Soviet Economic History
2. Marx's Labor Theory of Value
3. Planning to Plan
4. Marxist Utopianism
5. From Revolution to Planning
6. War Communism: Lessons for Leaders
7. The Retreat to Markets: The New Economic Policy
8. The New Economic Policy in Crisis
9. Stalinism and Alternatives
10. The Path to Stalinism and the Party Line
11. Stalin's Rise and The Tragedy of Collectivization

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