Word: khrushchevism
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Hydra-Foiled. In his pursuit of "Goulash Communism," Khrushchev tried to cope with it, and with all his economy's mounting problems, by replanning the planners. No fewer than six times in ten years, he scrambled the organization table, veering from decentralization back to recentralization in the vain hope of finding the magic mix for what he called "better utilization of the country's industrial potential." It eluded him each time-and his constant shufflings left the Russian economy at the mercy of the monster planning Hydra, with its multiple overlapping bureaus on the national, regional and local...
...Ceiling. The tonnage norms particularly piqued Khrushchev's peasant common sense. Machine builders used eight-inch plates when four-inch plates would easily have done the job. "We make the heaviest machines in the world," sighed Nikita. His choice complaint, however, had to do with a Moscow chandelier factory: the more tons of chandeliers the plant produced, the more workers earned in bonuses. The chandeliers grew heavier and heavier, until they started pulling ceilings down. They fulfilled the plan, admitted Khrushchev angrily, "but who needs this plan? To whom does it give light...
...Vasily Nemchinov, a mathematical eminence grise regarded as the dean of Soviet economists. He saw in Liberman a potential stalking horse for all the reformers, invited him to Moscow. When in 1962 the economy's growing malaise could no longer be ignored by the Kremlin, Nemchinov persuaded Khrushchev to give Liberman's theories a showcase in Pravda. On Sept. 9, 1962, Liberman's "The Plan, Profits and Bonuses" was published, and the great debate began...
...Sides. Though Khrushchev permitted these polemics to take place, he probably never fully understood what the argument was all about. Still, he let the reformers start their experiments in the Bolshevichka and Mayak factories...
When Stalin died and was replaced by Khrushchev, Lysenko lost his absolute power. He was fired as president of the Soviet Academy of Agricultural Sciences as an increasing number of critics dared to oppose his views. Still, Lysenko had startling survivability. Even though Khrushchev was a great admirer of hybrid corn, the most conspicuous practical triumph of orthodox genetics, he did not cut Lysenko down entirely. Himself a peasant's son, Khrushchev was apparently attracted by Lysenko's rustic methods, and as his personal power grew, he raised Lysenko step by step, put him back in the Institute...