Alternative Views on Economics: “Writings” by G. I. Khanin

Abstract

The review discusses a recently published collection of works by the famous Soviet/Russian economist G. I. Khanin, who went down in the history of scientific, economic and socio-political life of the USSR and Russia with his article (together with V. Selyunin) about the defects of official Soviet statistics. The collection contains the author’s main works on alternative assessments of the Soviet and Russian economies, studies of economic history and socio-economic problems of society that generate crisis phenomena. A brief overview of the author’s main ideas is given, including a discussion of the reasons for lagging of Soviet science, identification of defects in modern Russian capitalism, the problem of transition from market to a planned/command economy, and redistribution of income and wealth in modern Russia. A notable place in the collection is occupied by the author’s memoirs, which reflect important milestones in the history of the country and the ideas of both the author and his colleagues. This review discusses possible reasons as to why G. I. Khanin has fewer followers and supporters of his approach then the field of study deserves. In particular, the methodology for measuring capital at replacement cost and calculating the alternative amount of depreciation expenses is considered. The author’s views on the policy of the Bank of Russia are also discussed.