The Theory and Practice of Economic Laws
An Outline of Political Economy : Political Economy and Soviet Economics. By I. Lapidus and K. Ostrovityanov. (Martin Lawrence, Ltd. 12s. 6d.) An Expert in the Service of the Soviet. By M. J. Larsons. (Ernest Berm. 108. 6d.) SECOND only to the proverbial intolerance of philosophers is the intolerance of economists of rival schools. And such intolerance will naturally become, specially bitter when important social and political issues are involved in the rival theories. The first of the two books before us is a translation from the Russian of a textbook in Marxian econo- mics, with special application to the economic system of Soviet Russia to-day ; and those of a Marxist persuasion will doubtless appraise it highly, while those for whom Marx and
his fruits are anathema will probably fmd it irritating and worthless.
Yet even the most intolerant of the latter may, perhaps, stay to rejoice that " mine enemy hath written a book." For in
these 538 pages we fmd a double object served with consider- able thoroughness. Abridged expositions of Marx's economic theory have a way of being either spurious or else less compre- hensible than the original. These two Russian authors seem to have managed to provide an exposition and an elucidation of Das Kapital in clear and easy language and in comprehen- sible form. In this part of the book the authors achieve little more than this : although some modern phenomena such as monopoly and inflation are referred to, and some of Marx's doctrines illustrated in a novel way, the expositors keep very close to their original. The description of the functions of banks and bills of exchange is better than in most English textbooks. Their explanation of rent is strictly Ricardian. Their theory of money is so severely " classical " as to be old-fashioned in the post-war world. The oft-misinterpreted Maixian theory of industrial crises becomes much clearer under their treatment and less heterodox than is customarily supposed; Those who wish for a convenient summary of Marx's economic doctrines as a whole could hardly do better than consult this interesting book.
At the same time, in a series of chapters interspersed with those which are expository of Marx, the authors attempt to outline the theory which underlies Communist economic policy. This mostly takes the form of emphasizing the contrasts which the authors consider to exist between the func- tioning of economic laws in a capitalist society and in the Soviet system. True, there is here very little—surprisingly little—that is original in the theoretical handling of Russian economic problems ; and the authors' tendency is to cloak all problems under the magic phrase, " economic planning." But, if we wish to understand what the Russians' own concep- tion of their policy is, we have it here ; and on the whole the authors approach their subject without rhetoric and with discrimination and restraint. Towards the conclusion of the book an exposition is given of Lenin's theory of Imperialism, by which he endeavoured to supplement and to modernize Marx's work ; and at the end of each chapter a set of suggested examination questions is included, many of them curiously eatechetical to our ears, but others presenting some intriguing problems, often in a commendably practical form.
The book by M.' Larsons tells us considerably less than we expect it may do at first glance ; but what he tells us is illuminating and significant. M. Larsons before the War was manager of the Petersburg branch of an Anglo-Russian mining company. Being generally " Left " in his political sympathies, soon after the revolution he offered his services as an " expert " to the new government ; and in October, 1918, went to Berlin as financial adviser to the ambassador, Joffe. After two years in private employment abroad, he was again offered service by the Soviet Government, and between 1920 and 1925 occupied a succession of important positions, being an assistant of Professor Lomonossov on the Railway Mission in Western Europe in 1921, Deputy- Chief of the Currency Department of the Finance Com- missariat, and then an expert consultant to the Currency Administiation both in MOScow and in Eerlin The liOok is a biographical account of his experiences and of the diffi- culties he encounteied=difficulties of divided responsibility, distrust and political surveillance--which finally led him to resign from the service of the Soviet Governnaent in 1925. The Russian Government has in various branches of its administration numerous experts, varying in political sym- pathies from extreme Conservatives to "Left" Socialists, some sincerely serving their new masters, others intent on personal gain or even on sabotaging the work of a government to which they are profoundly hostile. The Communists, there- fore, as the author points out, have the paradoxical task of winning good service and at the same time subjecting the activities of such experts to close checks and surveillance. This problem M. Larsons considers the Communists have so far entirely 'failed to solve, and the distruSt with which experts are treated makes it impossible for them to do any satisfactory work. The virtue of the book is that M. Larsons has no very obvious axe to grind : he shows no desire to denounce or to acclaim. He relates the facts of his experience calmly and objectively ; and only in an appendix, prompted by the death of a friend, does he allow the warmth of personal judgments to obtrude. The information which the book gives of present-day Russia is strictly circumscribed ; but the story he tells is interesting and eminently readable.
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