On People's Welfare in Aganbegyan's The Economic Challenge of Perestroika

Abstract

The major objective of Aganbegyan′s book is to enhance arguments made by Gorbachev in the latter′s Perestroika. New Thinking for Our Country and the World. Like his leader, Aganbegyan asserts that the ultimate purpose of perestroika is people′s welfare and that the policy of the acceleration of the Soviet economic development is the principal means to achieve the goal. This article challenges Aganbegyan′s claim. It argues that: (1) given the inefficient and wasteful character of the Soviet system, the projected increase in the standard of living of the Soviet population could be accomplished now, and not in the future; (2) the acceleration of the economic growth and restructuring of Soviet society contradict one another and, thus, make the attainment of the proclaimed goal impossible even in the future, and (3) the forthcoming reform of retail prices more than anything else reveals the true, anti‐consumerist nature of the policies of the Soviet leadership.

Citation

Raiklin, E. (1989), "On People's Welfare in Aganbegyan's The Economic Challenge of Perestroika", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 16 No. 7, pp. 16-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068298910133007