The Political Economy of Stalinism: A Bergson Retrospective

This paper examines the nature of the Soviet dictatorship – Stalin and the Politburo – in the 1930s using some of the propositions put forward by Abram Bergson and by other participants in the socialist controversy – Hayek, Mises, and other contributors. Four models of dictatorship are examined using the top level records of the Soviet dictatorship from the Soviet state and party archives to examine how the dictator made decisions and with what results. Comparative Economic Studies (2005) 47, 402–417. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ces.8100096