POL101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Economy Of The Soviet Union, Silovik, Mikhail Gorbachev
Document Summary
Pol354 lecture 15 economic transition/democratization cont"d & national. Recall it was necessary to dismantle as rapidly and completely as possible the old soviet command-administrative system. The conjunction of state power and economic power was inconsistent. Destatization and privatization along with the establishment of markets was essential for transition. When confronted with opposition and resistance, gorbachev held back. Boris yelstin then stepped in as the president of the russian republic and put forth a radical transformative proposal in late fall of 1991 and was legislatively put in place beginning in january 1992. This proposal was very neo-liberalist in its ideology. It called for some state intervention to control the currency but would involve significant dismantling of state ownership. This would create a period known as shock therapy. This was socially and economically disruptive but it was believed that the country would emerge from this in better ship and on its way to marketization and thus the democratization of the country.