ABSTRACT
One of the notable aspects of Soviet reality is the paradoxical coexistence of the old and the new, of the modern side by side with the old-fashioned. A visitor to Moscow cannot but be struck by the contrast between the twenty-nine-story skyscraper of the Hotel Ukraina and the pre-revolutionary log cabin with intricately carved window frames nestling practically within its long shadow. Contemporary Russian literature and art present a striking example of revolutionary, socialist content poured into Victorian forms. One of the most notable paradoxes of this kind was—until recently—the contract between the Soviet economy and Soviet economics.
