Perestroika in perspective : the design and dilemmas of Soviet reform /

In this timely book, Desai (economics, Columbia's Harriman Institute of Advance Study of the Soviet Union) presents an informative study of Gorbachev's strategy to reform the Soviet economic system and overcome the problems of technological lag and economic stagnation. The first several chapters analyze the economic disarray in the major sectors of the economy: industry, agriculture, consumer services, and foreign trade. These chapters reflect much of Desai's previous research into the Soviet's declining growth rate (The Soviet Economy, 1987). Beyond evaluating the difficulties of restructuring the economic system and the character of the many decrees in place, Desai, in the last segment of her book, relates the economic reforms to the dramatic adjustments in the Soviet political structure, institutional arrangements, and foreign affairs. She concludes that Gorbachev's "centrist" reforms, though limited because of political ideology, are feasible and offer a reasonable prospect for acceptance. However, the price of the reforms will provoke dissent and make adjustments difficult to manage. Unlike Desai's many highly sophisticated journal articles dealing with the Soviet economy, this study will be comprehensible to general readers. Two appendixes explain the inadequacy of the reforms and deal with the political structure and elections. Academic and public library collections. -R. A. Battis, Trinity College (CT)