The Institute viewed the Soviet economy as a variant of state capitalism

Evidence

Pollock, it will be recalled, did not feel that Russia had succeeded in introducing a truly socialist planned economy. In fact, one of the reasons for the Institut’s relative silence on Soviet affairs was its belief that the Russian economy, despite its unique qualities, was a variant of state capitalism. As early as the first issue of the Zeitschrift in 1932, Pollock had discussed the prospects for achieving a stabilized capitalist economy despite the Depression.” The conclusions he drew were directly opposed to those of crisis theorists such as Grossmann, who predicted the demise of the system within a relatively short period of time. Pollock pointed instead to the growing use of economic planning by government direction as a means to contain capitalist contradictions indefinitely. He also discussed such additional factors as the deliberate encouragement of technological innovation and the effects of an increasing defense sector, which contributed to capitalism’s staying power. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 483

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to later debates on state capitalism (Cliff, Shachtman) and the broader ‘state capitalism’ thesis among anti-Stalinist Marxists. — connects to: Lenin treated state capitalism as a neutral stepping-stone to socialism — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 517; State-capitalism theory downgrades the economic base in favor of direct political domination — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 600; State capitalism substitutes the power motive for the profit motive — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 485 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Lenin treated state capitalism as a neutral stepping-stone to socialism #qualifies (0.80) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 517
• State capitalism substitutes the power motive for the profit motive #expands (0.80) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 485
• State-capitalism theory downgrades the economic base in favor of direct political domination #expands (0.78) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 600
• State intervention made capitalist exploitation political and thereby threatened capitalism itself #complicates (0.73) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 173
• States are capitalist by structural position, not class composition #corroborates (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1666