Download or read book The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union written by Peter Rutland and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-10-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Rutland analyzes the role played by regional and local organs of the Soviet Communist Party in economic management from 1970 to 1989. Using a range of Soviet political and economic journals, newspapers and academic publications, he examines Communist Party economic interventions in construction, energy, transport, consumer goods, and agriculture. He convincingly argues that party interventions hindered rather than assisted the search for efficiency in the Soviet economy and represent a major obstacle to the current economic reform movement.