Mikhail Gorbachev's Economic Initiatives

In examining the contemporary economic developments in the Soviet Union, several factors must be considered. First, economic initiatives of Gorbachev are not unprecedented in socialist states generally, nor in the Soviet Union in particular. The New Economic Policy (NEP) implemented by Lenin in the USSR in 1921 (Mazour, 1967) has served, in many ways, as a model for Gorbachev. Yosif Stalin terminated the NEP in 1928. In the mid1950s, Nikita Khrushchev introduced significant economic reforms in the USSR, which were terminated by Leonid Brezhnev in the mid1960s. Elsewhere in eastern Europe, both Yugoslavia and Hungary implemented economic reforms in the 1960s. Those in Hungary were curtailed to the point of death, prior to being revived in the 1980s. In 1979, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) implemented far reaching economic changes. Even in the wake of the violent suppression of student protestors in the spring of 1989, the Chinese econ

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elements of the Party, and from members of the bureaucracy who feel threatened (Gorbachev, 1987). Nevertheless, the attempt is being made to implement social, political, and economic perestroika simultaneously in the USSR (Aganbegyan, 1987). Thus, resistance to an initiative in one sector of Soviet society can impede progress in another sector. Reform in A Marxist Context Karl Marx conceived of economics as an evolutionary science (Hausman, 1984). Although most contemporary Marxist economists continue to view economics as an evolutionary process, many are, also, somewhat rigid, in that they feel that the only direction that such an evolution will follow is from capitalism to a somewhat utopian socialism. Gorbachev's reforms, thus, are viewed as a retreat from Marxism by some of these economists. The recent economic reforms introduced in many socialist countries indicate that some influential Marxist economists are beginning to move away from such rigidity. Strong resistance may continue to be expected from the more traditional Marxist economists to reforms which emphasize decentralization and market orientation. Karl Marx also viewed economics as merely a part of broader societal processes (Eklund, & Hebert, 1983).
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Approximate Word count = 2901
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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