This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window

Journal of Economic Perspectives: Vol. 5 No. 4 (Fall 1991)

JEP Volume. 5, Issue 4 | leftPrevious ArticleNext Articleright

Expand

Quick Tools:

Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export Citation
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter

Explore:

JEP - All Issues


Financial Control in the Transition from Classical Socialism to a Market Economy

Article Citation

McKinnon, Ronald I. 1991. "Financial Control in the Transition from Classical Socialism to a Market Economy." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(4): 107-122.

DOI: 10.1257/jep.5.4.107

Abstract

The transition from socialism to capitalism poses severe problems of financial management that have yet to be resolved in principle, let alone in practice. One unfortunate consequence is continual financial turmoil as socialist economies of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe attempt reform. Inflation, either open or repressed, first accompanies and then undermines attempts to decentralize decision-making. But why should the transition from central planning to a market economy be inflationary? Understanding the system of financial control in the preexisting regime of "classical" socialism is the key to understanding what might go wrong in the transition. I discuss how in a more deliberate transition, domestic tax and monetary arrangements might be managed to keep the average price level stable as the market prices of individual goods and services become free to fluctuate, and suggest complementary policies governing tariffs and foreign exchange convertability in the move toward free foreign trade.

Article Full-Text Access

Full-text Article (Complimentary)

Authors

McKinnon, Ronald I. (Stanford U)

JEL Classifications

P21: Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Planning, Coordination, and Reform
P34: Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: Financial Economics

Comments

View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment


Journal of Economic Perspectives



AEA Member Login:


Quick Tools:

Email Link to this Issue

Sign up for Email Alerts

Follow us on Twitter

Subscription Information
(Institutional Administrator Access)

Explore:

JEP - All Issues

AEA Journals

Virtual Field Journals

AEAweb | AEA Journals | Contact Us