ABSTRACT
In Western Europe, the chief instruments for achieving economic integration have been a liberalized foreign trade and the free movement of capital and labor, with the various firms then competing on the open market. In the Soviet system, which took shape under very special historical conditions, economic steering instruments were used very sparingly. Financial participation in the tapping of new raw materials deposits was made the chief objective of investment credits in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). However, this participation is effected independently of the Investment Credits and the International Investment Bank (IIB). It has long been disputed whether the CMEA should adhere to prices derived from the capitalist world market prices, or whether it would be more expedient for the CMEA to create its own price base. Preliminary studies to explore the feasibility of creating an intra-CMEA price base rooted in internal CMEA production and sales conditions were begun.
