Russia: The Horse-Sense Revolution

The real revolutionaries in Russia today are a brave band of economists who put profits and efficiency above Marxist cant. Led by Evsei Liberman (TIME cover, Feb. 12), they persuaded the Kremlin six months ago to begin sizable tests of their Western-style theories in the Soviet economy. First some 400 light-industry plants were cut loose from rigid central planning, permitted to produce whatever they thought they could profitably sell. Then heavy industry in the Lvov area was allowed to try out the new system. When factory managers and economists from 30 cities met in Moscow recently to review the results, they voted unanimously "to end detailed planning from the top."

The Kremlin seems to agree, despite protests from old-line ideologues and planners. Last week Pravda blasted kopeck-pinching regulations that forbid any restaurant in Russia, from Moscow's vast Ukraina to the smallest cafe in Siberia, to spend more than $5.50 a day on soup greens. Urged Pravda: "Priority must be given to economic methods of management." The government now plans to do just that. Retail stores and restaurants in half a dozen Russian cities will be given a free hand to cut or increase sales staffs, improve displays and boost promotion budgets. "Advertising always pays," intoned Komsomolskaya Pravda, with no trace of socialist embarrassment.

Economic horse sense has even begun to permeate the touchy issue of unemployment, which is officially nonexistent in Soviet society. Last week Novosibirsk's prestigious Economic-Mathematical Research Laboratory published a detailed study of job opportunities in the Soviet Union today—and found that there are not enough to go around, particularly for new high school graduates entering the employment market. The report blamed that old capitalist bugaboo, automation. In time, if creeping Libermanism continues to advance at its present rate, Pravda may have to list job opportunities for unemployed bureaucrats.