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The USSR before the Fall: How Poor and Why

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  • Abram Bergson

Abstract

This essay appraises the scholarly findings on the level of consumption and output in the USSR, compared with that in the West. Such aggregative calculations are onerous for any country, and not very surprisingly have encountered particular difficulty where such a strange society as Soviet communism has been in question. Predictably, the results have been controversial, but properly viewed they still provide illuminating perspective on the extraordinary events that have lately transpired in the USSR.

Suggested Citation

  • Abram Bergson, 1991. "The USSR before the Fall: How Poor and Why," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 29-44, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:5:y:1991:i:4:p:29-44
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.5.4.29
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.5.4.29
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bergson, Abram, 1987. "Comparative Productivity: The USSR, Eastern Europe, and the West," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 342-357, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Brainerd, Elizabeth, 2010. "Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 83-117, March.
    2. Etienne Farvaque & Alexander Mihailov & Alireza Naghavi, 2018. "The Grand Experiment of Communism: Discovering the Trade-Off between Equality and Efficiency," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 174(4), pages 707-742, December.
    3. Nauro F. Campos & Abrizio Coricelli, 2002. "Growth in Transition: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 793-836, September.
    4. Kancs, d'Artis & Persyn, Damiaan, 2019. "Welfare Gains from the Variety Growth," Working Papers 2019-01, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.
    5. Herbert Brücker & Wolfram Schrettl, 1996. "Transformation, Investitionen und Wachstum: eine theoretische Perspektive," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 65(1), pages 5-13.
    6. Lee C. Adkins & Ronald L. Moomaw & Andreas Savvides, 2002. "Institutions, Freedom, and Technical Efficiency," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(1), pages 92-108, July.
    7. repec:rdg:wpaper:em-dp2011-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Geoffrey Wyatt, 2003. "Corruption, Productivity and Socialism," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 223-244, May.
    9. Paul Cantor, 1996. "To Privatize or Not to Privatize: That is the Question; What is the Answer?," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 96-111, March.
    10. Broadberry, Stephen & Klein, Alexander, 2011. "When and why did eastern European economies begin to fail? Lessons from a Czechoslovak/UK productivity comparison, 1921-1991," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-52, January.
    11. Stephan, Paul III, 1996. "Toward a positive theory of privatization--lessons from soviet-type economies," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 173-193, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • P27 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Performance and Prospects

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