ABSTRACT
De-etatization of property, is now a very acute issue in the USSR. The policy of perestroika, with its record of about six years, has demonstrated vividly that the command administrative (or administration-by-fiat) system is bankrupt and that the market is the only system capable of leading the nation out of the crisis. Since 1987, attempts have been made to create some intermediate mechanisms of economic management, with the commanding heights remaining in the hands of the state and the field of application of economic methods of management expanding. As public ownership retained its primacy, an economic reform was effected in 1988–9. One of its salient features was the Law on Public Enterprises. It stipulated a greater degree of freedom in economic relations and enterprises' independence from superior bodies. However, instead of improving the nation's economic situation, this reform in fact precipitated a grave economic crisis. The old system of management was destroyed, while a new one failed to take shape. Ties between producers were severed, and a great amount of ‘untied’ money came into being. As a result, living standards fell, while the budget deficit increased dramatically.
