Examples of successful Soviet Planning....

[RadioRaheem84]

There had to have been something working for so long in the former USSR that we do not give it enough credit. Even classical economists like Ha Joon Chang of Cambridge argued well against the myth that state owned enterprises are somehow less profitable and less efficient than their private counterparts.

We all know that the private/public split is idealogical bullshit in many regards. State owned firms in France could own stakes (sometimes major) in private firms in other countries. There are many Singapore state owned companies that have fat diversified portfolios in different interests ranging from oil, finance, etc.
Some of these companies subsidize public social welfare programs and other worker initiatives. So something had to be great in a country supposedly dedicated to central planning at all levels.

Granted this is not the ideal and I am not advocating for merely "state-capitalism", but at the same time, are there any books, articles, journals people can direct me to about successful Soviet Planning? Everything from public infrastructure, urban planning, process of investments, how state owned firms worked.

I have one book about the Soviet process of investments I am reading but it's mostly written from a negative p.o.v. by someone who was a former consultant to many of the former bloc nations on privatization.

Point is, I think we knock down the USSR too much and never focus on some of the things that actually did work and did prove that central planning beats market driven economies (as we see with how the former USSR blocs are now).

[Queercommie Girl]

There is a fundamental difference between the "state-capitalism" of countries like Singapore and the planned economy in countries like Maoist China. There is no "iron rice bowl" in Singapore, no worker participation in management through the Angang constitution, and over-work is somewhat of a problem in Singapore too.

The Singaporean state is still fundamentally capitalist. It exists to defend and serve the interests of big capitalists with their billions of dollars worth of private wealth.

[bailey_187]

Maurice Dobb did quite alot of work on the benefits of planning and wrote about the Soviet model quite a lot. He was a member of the British Communist Party, so needless to say he was rather pro-Soviet.

[Armchair War Criminal]

Check out R.C. Allen's "Farm to Factory: a Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution."

[B0LSHEVIK]

It did nothing right.

No, Im jk.

1) Scared the shit out of capitalists, esp. initially.
2) Created nuke device, given, they had plenty of help from German scientists.
3) Provided aid to various groups through out 20th century.

A few more. Maybe. But it was no workers state. Given, it wasnt hell either. From what I've gathered about it, some people felt it gave them security. A sense that what you need will always be there. I do agree with you too, we do bash her too much. But, she starts off so beautiful, and then gets fat and senile.

[RadioRaheem84]

There is a fundamental difference between the "state-capitalism" of countries like Singapore and the planned economy in countries like Maoist China. There is no "iron rice bowl" in Singapore, no worker participation in management through the Angang constitution, and over-work is somewhat of a problem in Singapore too.

The Singaporean state is still fundamentally capitalist. It exists to defend and serve the interests of big capitalists with their billions of dollars worth of private wealth.

Comrade, of course I know this. I tried to make it plain in my post. I apologize if I did not.

The point was that even by classical economist standards, the state capitalism of countries like Singapore are extremely profitable, yet the gains go to the higher ups involved in it's management. But again, the point is that state owned firms are just as profitable, if not more so than private owned ones. The thing is to get them into the hands of workers. To take more direct control of these enterprises.

[ryacku]

A very good example of successful Soviet planning was Sputnik. It inspired fear and awe throughout the rest of the world.

[Die Neue Zeit]

NEP, for all its faults, had a central planning directive of electrifying the country, which was complete when the First Five-Year Plan rolled in. The whole Stalin period was one successful period of double-digit growth through "socialist primitive accumulation," despite the grave conditions of the working class, the purges, the war, etc. The "revisionists" who succeeded Stalin engaged in prefab housing projects tackle the housing shortage and to modernize housing construction methods still stuck in the 19th century.