Karl Marx had a great deal to say about the deficiencies of the price system under private capitalism. But he had little or nothing to say about the price system that would be used in his Communist Utopia. Every society, however, must employ a price mechanism of some kind if it is to rise above barter; and Soviet Russia has accordingly been compelled to develop a system of prices. In doing so it has encountered difficulties which Marx, who was not much concerned with the practical details of his ideal society, never foresaw or discussed.
What is the Soviet price system? How does it work? How does it affect welfare?
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