Switching

In 1921 in Russia, the ducts of the young Soviet economy were all clogged up. Peasants were holding back food; managers of government stores and small factories cared little whether goods moved. Lenin reacted drastically by introducing the NEP (New Economic Policy). It restored a profit appetite to producers .and managers. "Enrich yourselves!" the peasants were told. But politically, Lenin's government remained Communist: after Russia got on its feet, the NEPmen were purged.

Last week Tito's clogged Communist economy moved NEPwards. It decreed that in the so-called free stores,* prices of goods would be determined in an open market by the producers--the peasants and small factories--rather than by the state. The prices would thus depend entirely, as the Belgrade radio pointed out, on supplies available and on how much money the customers had: the decree would give a "new incentive" to peasants and factories.

Politically, Tito's government, like Lenin's in 1921, remained Communist.

* Government-controlled, but distinguished from the ration-book stores, which sell at lower prices, in driblets.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.