Postwar Russian Economic Growth: Not a Riddle*
نویسندگان
چکیده
In a recent article Steven Rosefielde has argued that (1) according to the best available statistics the postwar growth of Russia under the command system was surprisingly good (2) economic theory requires that nonmarket systems must fail by comparison with market economies (3) the statistics are therefore at fault: they “lied and were misconstrued” by western “statistically oriented comparativists”. I suggest that proposition (1) misreads the facts while (2) misreads the theory; therefore, (3) must fall. I find no riddle in Russian economic growth. * Published in Europe-Asia Studies 55:8 (2003), pp. 1323-9. ** Mail: Department of Economics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Email: [email protected]. I thank R.W. Davies and Philip Hanson for comments on a preliminary draft. I am solely responsible for errors and omissions
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