S. G. Wheatcroft – författare

This book contains a full translation of a major but little-known Soviet work on Soviet national income accounts for a crucial stage in the social and economic transformation of the Soviet economy from 1928 to 1930. These were years of mass collectivisation and the launching of the Soviet industrialisation drive. The USSR was perhaps unique in having a well-developed statistical service able to record the detailed changes in economic relationships that were taking place at this time. The translation is accompanied by three introductory articles which explain the structure and contents of these materials, what new light these materials throw on the development of the Soviet economy in this period and describe the significance of these materials for the history of Soviet statistics and planning. Amongst other questions this evidence casts some doubt on recent attempts to show that Soviet industrialisation resulted in a change in the net flow of goods between industry and agriculture, in favour of agriculture. It also shows that considerable attempts were made by some influential statisticians and planners in the early 1930s to analyse the relationship between different branches and sectors of the economy. In a foreword Professor Sir Richard Stone sets the achievement of the construction of these materials in the context of the history of Western works on national income accounts.

This book is an ideal text for students studying a key period of Soviet economic history. It brings together and makes available in textbook form the results of the latest research on Soviet industrialisation, using a vast amount of primary evidence, and the methods of quantitative economic analysis. Leading scholars in the field analyse the Soviet economy sector by sector, from agriculture to defence and technology, and look at the key indicators of economic health over the period: employment, national income, exports, and population trends. The book concludes with two chapters comparing the Russian economy at war under tsarism and communism.