Does anybody know a (good) book about the shadow economy in the Soviet Union? Special stores for fatcats, for members of the foreign service, in port cities, etc. People delivering pretty much everything (western products that is) to offices, but at the same time empty/crappy stores. Things like that. I’d be interested in the logistics and numbers (quite substantial afaik). Was that ever researched?
By: Distiller - 9th September 2007 at 11:07
The “official” luxury stuff I think came thru channels of the foreign ministry (Victory stores, for those other Rubles), and it seems they never did any analyses how much they’d actually need for their “internal” use. Seems like vast amounts were imported but sold into the shadow economy by officials, plus probably by the KPSS itself, since the overflow often found its way into regular stores. The officers corps was also always taken care of with western goodies.
Yugoslavia was a popular source for western goods, I’ve heard. And interestingly also China, I presume via Hong Kong/Canton.
By: Arthur - 8th September 2007 at 20:44
I don’t know any proper books on the subject, but i think the official luxury stuff for the nomenklatura was imported through the same channels as the luxury stuff imported for tourists. Intourist probably wouldn’t be the actual organisation taking care of it, but it was definately a similar organisation (or one close to it).
Don’t forget there were two shadow economies going on. The one you describe, providing luxuries for those more equal than the others, and a low-end bartering economy with which common citizens catered for the extras they couldn’t get within the system. The latter one was pretty extensive too – and still was in Russian times, at least the last time i was there.
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September 8, 2007 at 2:02 pm