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The New Russian Economic Policy

By Arthur Bullard
March 1923
Article Summary and Author Biography

ARTHUR BULLARD, Director of the American Government's Public Information Service in Russia during the war, Chief of the Russian Division, Department of State, 1919-1921.

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RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN RUSSIA. BY K. LEITES. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1922.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVIVAL IN SOVIET RUSSIA. BY A. A. HELLER. New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1922.

THE BALANCE SHEET OF SOVIETISM. BY BORIS LEE BRASOL. New York: Duffield & Company, 1922.

CROSS CURRENTS IN EUROPE TODAY. BY CHARLES A. BEARD. Boston: Marshall Jones Company, 1922.

RUSSLAND UND DEUTSCHLAND DURCH NOT ZUR EINIGUNG (Germany and Russia--Union Through Necessity). BY JOHANN KOLSHORN. Leipzig: 1922.

EVENTS move faster than editions. Almost every book about Russia is out of date before it is off the press. Even using the word "recent" in the title, as Mr. Leites does in his book "Recent Economic Developments in Russia," does not save the situation, for the most "recent" essay in his collection is called "Economic Life in Soviet Russia in 1920." "The Industrial Revival in Soviet Russia," by Heller, comes somewhat nearer actuality, but Mr. Heller is an apologist rather than an economic student. Some of his statements are sufficiently startling to rouse a wholesome skepticism. He has obviously looked for the best that could be said about conditions in Russia and has said them with an emphasis that obliterates perspective. An antidote--not mildly homeopathic, but strenuously allopathic--is Boris Brasol's "The Balance Sheet of Sovietism." It is so very vehement in its rage against the revolution that it is hardly worth reading, unless one wishes to understand the viewpoint of the worst of the old aristocracy and wishes to gain some appreciation of the intensity of the hatred which has overwhelmed them. Of altogether greater value for an understanding of the Russian drama are the chapters on Russia in Charles A. Beard's "Cross Currents in Europe Today." There is no up to the minute news nor personal reminiscence in these lectures of Dr. Beard's, but they are remarkable summaries of the available evidence in regard to present tendencies...

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