ABSTRACT
The era of potential affluence took the Soviet planners by surprise. During the period of heavy accumulation it was considered to be a 'law of socialism' that the proportion of annual investment devoted to expanding the investment industries should be greater than the proportion devoted to building up capacity in consumer good industries. Thus the proportion of investment in national income should be growing and the rate of accumulation accelerating. It now has to be admitted that this is not a 'law' but a phase of development. When the first phase of industrialization comes to an end the economy can settle down to the rate of growth given by a constant proportion of investment, and this need not be the highest proportion that was reached in the process of acceleration.
