Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution (Princeton Economic History of the Western World)

Book Description

To say that history's greatest economic experiment--Soviet communism--was also its greatest economic failure is to say what many consider obvious. Here, in a startling reinterpretation, Robert Allen argues that the USSR was one of the most successful developing economies of the twentieth century. He reaches this provocative conclusion by recalculating national consumption and using economic, demographic, and computer simulation models to address the "what if" questions central to Soviet history. Moreover, by comparing Soviet performance not only with advanced but with less developed countries, he provides a meaningful context for its evaluation.

Although the Russian economy began to develop in the late nineteenth century based on wheat exports, modern economic growth proved elusive. But growth was rapid from 1928 to the 1970s--due to successful Five Year Plans. Notwithstanding the horrors of Stalinism, the building of heavy industry accelerated growth during the 1930s and raised living standards, especially for the many peasants who moved to cities. A sudden drop in fertility due to the education of women and their employment outside the home also facilitated growth.

While highlighting the previously underemphasized achievements of Soviet planning, Farm to Factory also shows, through methodical analysis set in fluid prose, that Stalin's worst excesses--such as the bloody collectivization of agriculture--did little to spur growth. Economic development stagnated after 1970, as vital resources were diverted to the military and as a Soviet leadership lacking in original thought pursued wasteful investments.

Customer Reviews:

3.5 stars, interesting, but not easy to read.......2003-12-24

The Soviet Union was the perfect failure, so said no shortage of people during and especially after its lifespan. So to argue the opposite, as Robert Allen's new book does, certainly presents a provocative hypothesis. Allen's argument is that from 1928 to 1970, the Soviet Union was one of the world's fastest growing economies, with few rivals in the world. By contrast, the high rate of growth under the last tsars was not sustainable. Collectivization seems to have encouraged industrial growth, though not enough to cancel out the horrible loss of lives from the 1932-33 famine. Unfortunately, unwise investment decisions in the seventies and eighties lead to rapidly falling growth rates and the collapse of the system.

Allen's argument does not start off well, as he seems to separate Russian development from Europe altogether. This coincides with Marshall Poe's argument that Russia shouldn't be considered European at all. This is misleading. It is true that in terms of poverty, rural population and demographic structure, Russia was behind the rest of Europe. But this does not mean that it was radically different from it. Russia is Christian, not Muslim. Russian is a Slavic language, and Slavic languages are European ones. Serfdom and feudalism are European institutions distinct from Ottoman and Moghul ones. However Allen soon gets back on track. The essential fact of comparative economic performance is that the high-income core generally stays the same, while those outside it fall further behind (relatively). Occasionally a country is able to enter the high-core club, like Japan, and occasionally another country is expelled, like Argentina. Given this stability, the Soviet Union's success from 1928 to 1970, where it outperformed all other developing countries except Japan, looks more impressive.

But wasn't economic growth high under the tsars? Surely would it not have reached the heights held by Western Europe? Clearly not, says Allen, since that would require an average 3.3 % growth rate from 1913 to 1989, a rate only held by one country, Japan. More to the point the Tsarist economic strategy faced severe problems. Russia's literacy rates were well below Japan's. Much of the growth in agriculture was the result of the wheat boom. Had Russia continued to be a wheat exporter it would have faced the disaster of the collapse of wheat prices in the Depression. Indeed, it would have made it worse. Argentina's own wheat boom did not last, and even wealthy Australia faced relative decline. Meanwhile the bulk of the railroad boom was over by 1913, while attempts to encourage a cotton industry were muddled by misguided protectionism.

Allen then discusses the crisis of the NEP. Given the limits of Soviet soil, agricultural output could not be easily raised until the fifties, when fertilizers became readily available. On the other hand agricultural productivity could be increased by mechanization and the now surplus agricultural labour could be diverted into industry. Potentially there is no conflict by increasing the investment needed for mass industrialization and increasing consumption. Both can increase at the same time. For Allen a key element to the 1928-1939 period was the use of "soft budget" constraints. Instead of basing the number of workers on simple budgetary constraints, constantly raising targets and increasing the demand for workers could increase growth enough that it would compensate for the deviations from strict accounting. Collectivization's contribution to this process was not the increasing of agricultural production; indeed, it dropped dramatically. Instead it encouraged, or more accurately forced, rural-urban migration and the growth of industry. Rather ironically the mass slaughter of horses to protest collectivization was not an unmitigated disaster, since it diverted grain from a rather "inefficient" animal. At the same time the Soviet Union benefiting from slower population growth. Much of this, of course, was the result of Stalinist terror, though nearly three times more important was the result of the Second World War. But even more important was the relatively quick fertility transition. Had it more resembled India the former Soviet Union would have had a 1989 population of 825 million. Allen then goes on to discuss standards of living from 1928 to 1939. They did seem to increase during this period. Previous studies suggested that they fell or stagnated, but Allen makes the reasonable argument that the index numbers they used miscalculated inflation and the effect of rural-urban migration.

So far, so good. But there are some problems. Allen's book is based on secondary literature and all Soviet statistics have a provisional nature. Allen then goes on to argue that Stalin's industrial strategy was more effective than a possible continuation of the NEP, but not so more effective to justify the loss of lives in the famine. This is not an unreasonable or inhumane argument. On the other hand, it would have been far more effective than a simple capitalist standard. This argument is based on complex computer simulations, which are difficult to read, and even more difficult to verify. Given that the Soviet Union would have been radically different if it had not followed Stalin's strategy in 1929, Allen's simulation models seem too simple. The last chapter deals with the decline of the Soviet economy after 1970. Allen delineates several crucial flaws: attempts to upgrade old factories when it would have been more productive to create new ones; increasing energy production with illusory success at prohibitive cost, when it would have been wiser to increase conservation; the harmfulness of soft budget constraints in a period of labour scarcity, and finally diversion of research and development into the military. These are interesting suggestions; we will have to see how they play out.

Robert C. Allen, Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution.(Book Review): An article from: Labour/Le Travail
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Robert C. Allen, Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution.(Book Review): An article from: Labour/Le Travail
Simon Clarke
Manufacturer: Canadian Committee on Labour History
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000ALPN6A
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Labour/Le Travail, published by Canadian Committee on Labour History on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 1344 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Robert C. Allen, Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution.(Book Review)
Author: Simon Clarke
Publication: Labour/Le Travail (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Canadian Committee on Labour History
Issue: 55 Page: 300(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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Book Description

Written by well-known experts, this book employs the general notion of power and control as a central and unifying thesis for understanding why people kill. Presents a classification of homicide theories, examining "the will to kill" from various perspectives. Several case studies are included in each chapter, often well-known examples drawn from recent headlines. Discusses current related controversies such as gun control, the insanity defense, and the death penalty. For anyone interested in criminology.

Customer Reviews:

Good for What It Is.......2007-09-22

The subtitle and back-cover blurb for "The Will to Kill" are misleading. This volume does not "Explain[] Senseless Murder," nor does it (contrary to what the back cover says) "answer [the] age-old question" of "Why do people kill?" by "showing that power and control are at the center of the killer's motivation."

A better subtitle would be "An Introduction to the Study of Murder." Only one chapter (Chapter 2, about 25 pages) actually deals with WHY people kill, and even that chapter does not advance a particular thesis. Rather, it provides a (somewhat superficial) review of major theories.

The other chapters discuss homicide law in the United States, U.S. demographics relating to murder, investigation of murders, punishment of convicted murderers, and eight categories of murder (serial murder, mass murder, family murder, etc.). At their best, the authors do a good job of presenting the relevant statistics and illustrating their points with specific cases mostly from the past 20 years. At their worst, they venture into facile policy recommendations.

On balance, this is a good overview of the issues involved in the study of murder in the USA.

Levin & Fox Did It Again.......2001-04-15

Of the many books writen on the topic of Homicide, THE WILL TO KILL is unique in that it covers the topic from a perspective that is interesting to the casual true crime fan and yet is an invaluable resource to the serious professional who delves into the grisly world of murder.

Levin & Fox have produced several serious works on the topic of homicide and all reflect the fact that the authors are academically qualified professionals who definitely know their business. THE WILL TO KILL covers all bases from the chapter on "The Law of Homicide" which provides the reader with specific legal definitions of the various catagories of murder, to the victimology of murder and statistical information on a local and world occurance of the phenomonon to put the entire topic into regional and global perspective. This infomation is of great value to the professional in the field of criminology as well as to the student in the criminal justice and related fields.

Whereas traditional and historical forms of homicide are explored such as serial, mass and cult motivated murders, the new and recent trends of murder are also covered such as school shootings, workplace violence and hate motivated murder. The disturbing trend of youthful killing is discussed with predictions for furture involvement of America's violent young people. Finally, the last chapter of this work, "Getting Away with Murder" looks at the insanity defense and the dilemma of handling youthful killers in the courts. Capital punishment is also a topic of the last chapter.

Throughout the book, interesting and informative case studies are cited which provide the reader with direction for further research on the topic. The overall demographic coverage of this book can save professional and student a great deal of time searching out similar information from numerous sources.

Speaking as a professional criminologist, I look forward to Levin and Fox's next book, DEAD LINES: ESSAYS IN MURDER AND MAYHEM.

The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder
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The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder
James Alan Fox
Manufacturer: Allyn & Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOY7J2

Book Description

This detailed economic history of Mexico presents a theory about how rent seeking permits economic growth and explains why political instability is not necessarily correlated with economic stagnation. It is intended for historians of Latin America, scholars interested in economic development, and political scientists interested in the political foundations of growth. Hb ISBN (2003): 0-521-82067-7

Customer Reviews:

Instability not per se equal to economic disaster.......2005-03-07

Haber et al ask whether the truism that political instability means declining economic growth because of weak property rights holds true from the porfiriato to post-revolutionary Mexico (1876-1929). The answer, surprisingly, is not necessarily(!).
Unstable governments have an incentive to create and enforce limited property rights, so as to have access to rents by which they can maintain their power. However, if the government goes too far and tries to create a form of limited government, it weakens itself such that less scrupulous usurping governments can enter the bargain and co-opt those rent-producing assets for their own purposes, usually to the detriment of the current administration.
Nevertheless, the mexican state during this period in question was able to benefit from these limited property rights, enforced by a variety of third-parties, to maintain economic growth throughout this chaotic period, with the slight exception of the years 1913-1917. However, the authors point out that the potentially major cause for the economic contraction during these years was primarily a result of the destruction of the railroad/transport system, which limited the property holder's ability to get their goods to the international and domestic markets. Political violence per se was not the primary cause of economic contraction.

This book is an outstanding analysis of real empirical evidence which turns the simple theory of instability=contraction on its head.

The deeper import herein is also that limited governments cannot provide an immediate exit from political instability. Machiavelli jumps out from behind the curtains wearing a sombrero! The current simplistic argument of many would-be politicos, that all developing nations need only create a limited government like the US to cure their economic ailments, is shown to be a straw man in this book.

This book is perfect for those that want to understand how developing countries must deal with instability in order to grow into more limited forms of government.

It also is an excellent analysis, based on hard research, of how property rights are formed even in the midst of political instability. Highly recommended.

Coal, Steel, and the Rebirth of Europe, 19451955: The Germans and French from Ruhr Conflict to Economic Community

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Coal, Steel, and the Rebirth of Europe, 19451955: The Germans and French from Ruhr Conflict to Economic Community
John Gillingham
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 052152430X

Book Description

This is the first large-scale historical investigation of the critical first stage of European integration, the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). John Gillingham discusses the thirty year Franco-German struggle for heavy industry mastery in Western Europe, describes the dreams and schemes of Jean Monnet, who designed the heavy industry pool, reveals the American vision that inspired his work, and discloses how his transatlantic partners used their great authority to assure its completion. Gillingham also lays bare the operating mechanisms of the coal-steel pool, showing that contrary to the hopes of Monnet and his supporters, the ECSC restored rather than reformed the European economy, leaving as a legacy not a detrustified industry, but one still dominated by the giant producers of the Ruhr.

Designs within Disorder: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Economists, and the Shaping of American Economic Policy, 19331945 (Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics)

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Designs within Disorder: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Economists, and the Shaping of American Economic Policy, 19331945 (Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics)
William J. Barber
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521034310

Book Description

More so than had any of his predecessors in the White House, Franklin D. Roosevelt drew heavily on the thinking of economists as he sought to combat the Great Depression, to mobilize the American economy for war, and to chart a new order for the postwar world. Designs within Disorder is an inquiry into the way divergent analytic perspectives competed for official favor and the manner in which the President opted to pick and choose among them when formulating economic policies.

Finance from Kaiser to Fuhrer: Budget Politics in Germany, 1912-1934 (Contributions to the Study of World History)

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Finance from Kaiser to Fuhrer: Budget Politics in Germany, 1912-1934 (Contributions to the Study of World History)
C. Edmund Clingan
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313311846

Book Description

Germany's ability to support its war machine financially has long puzzled scholars. The young nation had exhausted itself paying for its loss in the First World War, had suffered a hyperinflation in the early 1920s, and had ended the 1920s with a terrible economic depression. This is the first book in any language to examine the budget policies of the middle years of the Weimar Republic and to look at how these policies changed the politics of the time. It is also the first work to support the government's aggressive use of deficit spending and fiscal stimuli to promote economic growth. Some findings even indicate that the German government could have used creative financial solutions to avoid the worst of the Depression and to avert the Nazi regime. Clingan explores the changes and continuities in fiscal policy and budget-making politics, beginning in the last years of the Wilhelmine Empire and continuing into the 1930s. Although this is a story about money, it is also a story about men. Very few in Nazi Germany understood the intricacies of fiscal policy and budget making, and political parties tended to follow the lead of those who did. Clingan combines their personal stories with the tale of a country still growing into its economic power and still trying to learn both its limits and its strengths.

Glass Towns: Industry, Labor, and Political Economy in Appalachia, 1890-1930s (Working Class in American History)

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Glass Towns: Industry, Labor, and Political Economy in Appalachia, 1890-1930s (Working Class in American History)
Ken Fones-Wolf
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

One of the central questions facing scholars of Appalachia concerns how a region so rich in natural resources could end up a symbol of poverty. Typical culprits include absentee landowners, reactionary coal operators, stubborn mountaineers, and greedy politicians. In a deft combination of labor and business history, Glass Towns complicates these answers by examining the glass industry’s potential to improve West Virginia’s political economy by establishing a base of value-added manufacturing to complement the state’s abundance of coal, oil, timber, and natural gas.

Through case studies of glass production hubs in Clarksburg, Moundsville, and Fairmont (producing window, tableware, and bottle glass, respectively), Ken Fones-Wolf looks closely at the impact of industry on local populations and immigrant craftsmen. He also examines patterns of global industrial restructuring, the ways workers reshaped workplace culture and political action, and employer strategies for responding to global competition, unreliable markets, and growing labor costs at the end of the nineteenth century.

Nazism, 1919-1945: State, Economy, and Society, 1933-38 : A Documentary Reader (Exeter Studies in History, Vol 8)

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Nazism, 1919-1945: State, Economy, and Society, 1933-38 : A Documentary Reader (Exeter Studies in History, Vol 8)
Jeremy Noakes
Manufacturer: Univ of Exeter Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Lebanon's Quest : The Road to Statehood, 1926-1939

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Lebanon's Quest : The Road to Statehood, 1926-1939
Meir Zamir
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1860645534

Book Description

Lebanon's unique political system and its laissez-faire political economy took shape during the period between the two great wars. Based on hitherto unstudied material, this work examines the inter- and intra-sectarian relations in Lebanon against the backdrop of the conflicting pressures from Damascus and Paris, the stands of the Christians and Muslims towards the Lebanese state, the ideological and political trends that emerged within each community and the rise of the political and economic elites in Beirut.

The Social Origins of Democratic Collapse: The First Portuguese Republic in the Global Economy (Studies in Historical Social Change)

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Mediterranean social change revisited

The Social Origins of Democratic Collapse: The First Portuguese Republic in the Global Economy (Studies in Historical Social Change)
Kathleen C. Schwartzman
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

Mediterranean social change revisited.......2002-02-21

Widely acclaimed in academic circles when it first appeared, to read it again is an intellectual pleasure. A masterpiece of scholarship, it craftfully couples in-depth knowledge of the subject with most insightful theoretical schemae.

The Racketeer's Progress: Chicago and the Struggle for the Modern American Economy, 19001940 (Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society)

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Brilliant.

The Racketeer's Progress: Chicago and the Struggle for the Modern American Economy, 19001940 (Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society)
Andrew Wender Cohen
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 052183466X

Book Description

A provocative study of law and its social context, this work explores the contingent origins of the modern American economy. It shows how craftsmen - teamsters, barbers, musicians, and others - violently governed commerce in Chicago through pickets, assaults, and bombings. These tradesmen forcefully contested the power of national corporations in their city. Their resistance shaped American law, heavily influencing the New Deal and federal criminal statutes. This book thus shows that American industrial policy resulted not from a "search for order," but from a brutal struggle for control.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant........2005-07-01

Finally, a definitive treatise on the subject. A must read. Kudos to Professor Cohen.

Who Adjusts? Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policy during the Interwar Years

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Who Adjusts? Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policy during the Interwar Years
Beth A. Simmons
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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