ABSTRACT
The distribution of subsidies squares poorly with the principles of social justice. Subsidies are only felt by those who buy their food through the state trade network. The weightiest argument in favor of the restructuring of retail prices is that preservation of the present system of subsidies contradicts the logic of the incipient economic reform and the principles of the new management mechanism. Writes R. Livshits in his letter: Under certain historical conditions, free housing corresponds to the striving for social justice, while under other conditions it is appropriate to charge for housing. The increase in the population’s well-being created the prerequisites enabling the population to use its own funds to participate more actively in the solution of the housing problem. The free distribution of housing, instead of being an effective means of solving the housing problem, has become a brake on development: under modern conditions, it is unjust and burdensome to the state.
