Yale. Soviet Economic Development. Powell, 1974

 

Raymond Park Powell (b. 20 January 1922 in Spokane WA, d. 28 May 1980 in New Haven CT) was a professor of mine who played a significant role along with his Yale colleague John Michael Montias in my decision to specialize in the field of comparative economics systems. His monumental volume co-authored with Richard Moorsteen on the Soviet capital stock helped to inspire my career-long interest in the application of economic theory to the calculation of aggregate measures of input, output, and welfare. The Yale economics department awards teaching prizes in his honor to this day.

A transcribed syllabus from Powell’s graduate course on the Soviet economy follows his obituary in The Yale Daily News. 

 

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Economics’ Powell dies

Raymond Powell, Henry S. McNeil Professor of Economics at Yale and chairman of the Russian and East European Studies Department died of cancer on May 28 at Yale New Haven Hospital. He was 58 years old.

Mr. Powell joined the Yale faculty in 1952, after teaching in Princeton’s Economics Department and studying at Harvard’s Russian Research Center.

Last winter, Mr. Powell received a Devane medal for “his exceptional contribution to undergraduate life” from students belonging to the Yale Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

He wrote two books on the Soviet economy, one published in 1959 and one in 1966.

In 1967, Mr. Powell became the first professor ever to be named Henry S. McNeil Professor of Economics at Yale.

Mr. Powell continued to teach until a few weeks before his death, insisting, despite his poor health, on completing his spring term classes, according to Economics Department chairman Merton J. Peck.

Mr. Powell was the motivating force behind Economics 112, a course which constantly packed Davies auditorium in the past several years. The 1979 Course Critique described the class as “an excellent introduction to microeconomics,” and Mr. Powell’s lectures as varying tone from “humor to solemnity.”

The Course Critique also praised Mr. Powell as “very accessible and very willing to help.”

Students and faculty members laude Mr. Powell at a memorial service in Connecticut Hall June 4.

Source: Yale Daily News,  September 5, 1980.

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Economics 197b: Economic Development in the Soviet Union

Spring 1974
Mr. Powell

Assigned materials are to be found in the Cross Campus Library and, with some exceptions, in the Social Science Library.

Students unfamiliar with the general course of Soviet development may find it helpful to read through Alec Nove’s An Economic History of the U.S.S.R.

Part I: Pre-revolutionary Origins

For lack of time, neither of the first two topics will be covered in the course. The citations following are for reference purposes.

1. Doctrinal Origins
   H. Schwartz, Russia’s Soviet Economy, 2^nd ed., ch. III
   K. Marx, Capital, The Communist Manifesto, and Other Writings, edited by M. Eastman, pp. 1-7
   “Teaching of Economics in the Soviet Union”, American Economic Review, September 1944
   J. Stalin, Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.
   P.J.D. Wiles, The Political Economy of Communism, ch. 3
2. Historical Origins
   P.I. Lyashchenko, History of the National Economy of Russia to the 1917 Revolution
   J.T. Fuhrman, The Origins of Capitalism in Russia: Industry and Progress in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
   W.L. Blackwell, The Beginnings of Russian Industrialization, 1800-1860
   T.H. Von Laue, Sergei Witte and the Industrialization of Russia
   A.Gerschenkron, “The Rate of Industrial Growth in Russia Since 1885”, Journal of Economic History, Supplement VII, 1947

Part II: The Development Process

3. 1917 to 1928.
   A. Nove, An Economic History of the U.S.S.R., chs. 1, 3, and 4
   A. Erlich, “Stalin’s Views on Economic Development”, in F.D. Holzman, ed., Readings on the Soviet Economy
   O. Hoeffding, “State Planning and Forced Industrialization”, in Holzman
4. Reliability of the Data and Inference from Them (Post-1928)
   A. Bergson, “Reliability and Usability of Soviet Statistics: A Summary Appraisal”, in Holzman
   H. Hunter, “Soviet Economic Statistics: An Introduction”, in V. Treml and J. Hardt, eds., Soviet Economic Statistics
   M. Kaser, “The Publication of Soviet Statistics”, in Treml and Hardt
   R. Powell, “The Rate and Process of Soviet Growth” (processed), pp. 1-8
   R. Moorsteen and R. Powell, The Soviet Capital Stock, 1928-1962, pp. 2-7, 13-16, 274-83

3. Measures of Growth
   (Scan through the following to get a sense of the methods used.)
   Bergson, “National Income”, in Bergson and Kuznets, eds., Economic Trends in the Soviet Union
   D. Johnson, “Agricultural Production”, in Bergson and Kuznets
   N. Kaplan and R. Moorsteen, “An Index of Soviet Industrial Output”, in Holzman
   M. Bornstein, “A Comparison of Soviet and United States National Product”, in Holzman

6. Sources of Growth: Inputs
   W.W. Eason, “Labor Force”, in Bergson and Kuznets
   F.A. Leedy, “Demographic Trends in the USSR”, in U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economic Prospects for the Seventies (in Documents Room, 93-1. Y4. Ec7: So 8/10) (read pp. 460-65, on “Population Policy”; scan remainder)
   J.G. Chapman, “Consumption”, in Bergson and Kuznets (to up-date Chapman, see Bronson and Severin in J.E.C., Soviet Economic Prospects)
   Moorsteen and Powell, chs. 6, 8, and 9 (for a somewhat different view of investment policy, see Bergson, The Economics of Soviet Planning, ch. 13)

7. Sources of Growth: Productivity
   1. Aggregate statistics
      Moorsteen and Powell, ch. 10 (from p. 283)
      A. Becker, Moorsteen, Powell, “The Soviet Capital Stock: Revisions and Extensions, 1961-1967”, pp. 2-10
      M.L. Weitzman, “Soviet Postwar Economic Growth and Capital-Labor Substitution”, American Economic Review, Sept. 1970
      B.H. Mikhalevsky and Iu.P. Solov’ev, “Proizvodstvennaia funktsiia narodnogo khoziaistva SSSR v 1951-1963 gg.”, Ekonomika i matematicheskie metody, 1966, no. 6
      Bergson, “Comparative Productivity and Efficiency in the Soviet Union and the United States”, in A. Eckstein, Comparison of Economic Systems
   2. Other evidence
      D. Dalrymple, “American Technology and Soviet Agricultural Development, 1924-1933” Agricultural History, July 1966
      R. Campbell, Soviet Economic Power, 2^ndedition, pp. 59-62
      G. Maddala and P. Knight, “International Diffusion of Technical Change—A Case Study of the Oxygen Steel Making Process”, Economic Journal, Sept. 1967
      Astrachan, review of L.R. Graham, Science and Philosophy in the Soviet Union, in The New Yorker, Sept. 24, 1973, pp. 117 ff.
      [Scanlan, James P. “Review of Science and Philosophy in the Soviet Union by Loren R. Graham in Slavic Review, December 1973.
      Joravsky, David. “The Lysenko Affair” in Scientific American, November 1962]
      V. Dudinstev, Not by Bread Alone, pp. 165-68

Part III: Growth and the Choice of Institutions

8. The Institutional Structure
   Bergson, The Economics of Soviet Planning, chs. 2 and 3
9. Central Planning
   H. Köhler, Welfare and Planning, ch. 7, pp. 82-95 and 99-102
   H. Levine, “The Centralized Planning of Supply in Soviet Industry”, in Holzman
   J.M. Montias, “Planning with Material Balances”, American Economic Review, Dec. 1959
   R. Judy, “Information, Control and Soviet Economic Management”, in J. P. Hardt and others, Mathematics and Computers in Soviet Planning
   Treml, “Input-Output Analysis and Soviet Planning”, in Hardt
   G. Schroeder, “Recent Developments in Soviet Planning and Incentives” (skip pp. 30-35), in J.E.C., Soviet Economic Prospects
10. Investment Choices
    Grossman, “Scarce Capital and Soviet Doctrine”, in Holzman
    Bergson, The Economics of Soviet Planning, ch. 11
    “Standard Methodology for Determining the Effectiveness of Capital Investment”, The ASSTE Bulletin[?], Fall 1971
11. Agriculture
    L. Volin, “Agricultural Policy of the Soviet Union”, in Holzman
    A. Nove and R.D. Laird, “A Note on Labour Utilization in the Kolkhoz”, in Holzman
    A. Nove, “Soviet Agriculture Under Brezhnev”, with comments by Jackson and Karcz and reply, Slavic Studies, Sept. 1970.
12. Industry: Pre-Reform
    J. Berliner, “Managerial Incentives and Decisionmaking: A Comparison of the United States and Soviet Union”, in Holzman or in Bornstein and Fusfeld
    Berliner, “The Informal Organization of the Soviet Firm”, in Holzman
    Powell, “Plan Execution and the Workability of Soviet Planning” (processed)
13. The Economic Reform
    Y. Liberman, “The Plan, Profits and Bonuses”, in Bornstein and Fusfeld
    A. Kosygin, “On Improving Management of Industry”, in U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, New Directions in the Soviet Economy, Part IV (abbreviated version also in Bornstein and Fusfeld)
    R. Campbell, “The Dynamics of Socialism, Problems and Reforms” (processed)
    G. Schroeder, “The ‘Reform’ of the Supply System in Soviet Industry”, Soviet Studies, July 1972.
14. Households
    E.C. Brown, “The Soviet Labor Market”, in Holzman or Bornstein and Fusfeld
    Nove, “Social Welfare in the USSR”, in Holzman
    Volin, “The Peasant Household under Mir and Kolkhoz in Modern Russian History”, in Holzman
    A. Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, approx.. pp. 82-108

Part IV: Subsidiary Policy Problems

15. Price Formation
    G. Grossman, “Industrial Prices in the USSR”, in Holzman
    Bornstein, “Soviet Price Theory and Policy”, in Bornstein and Fusfeld
16. Monetary and Fiscal Policy
    Grossman, “Introduction”, in Grossman, ed., Money and Plan
    J. M. Montias, “Bank Lending and Fiscal Policy in Eastern Europe”, in Grossman,Money and Plan
    Powell, “The Financing of Soviet Capital Formation: Past Experience and Current Reform”, in A. Sametz, ed., Financial Development and Economic Growth
    Powell, “A Simplified Model of Soviet Monetary Relations” (processed)
17. Foreign Trade and Economic Policy
    Holzman, “Foreign Trade” in Bergson and Kuznets
    Holzman, “Foreign Trade Behavior of Centrally Planned Economies”, in Rosovsky, Industrialization in Two Systems
    Grossman, “U.S.-Soviet Trade and Economic Relations: Problems and Prospects”, ACES Bulletin, Spring 1973
    Tansky, “Soviet Foreign Aid: Scope, Direction, and Trends”, in J.E.C., Soviet Economic Prospects
18. Ecological Policy
    M. I. Goldman, “Externalities and the Race for Economic Growth in the USSR: Will the Environment Ever Win?” Journal of Political Economy, March/April 1972

Source: Personal copy of Irwin Collier from the course.

Image Source: From Raymond Powell’s obituary in Yale Daily News, September 5, 1980.