The Political Economy of Soviet Socialism

Boettke’s study of Soviet economic policy in its formative decade, 1918-1928, arguing that War Communism was a sincere attempt to abolish money and market exchange rather than an emergency improvisation, and that the New Economic Policy was the retreat forced by its failure. The point is methodological as much as historical: the Austrian critique of central planning is tested against the one case that actually tried it.

Why it’s on the list: It closes the Marxism sub-section with the implementation record — the curriculum reads the theory and then what happened when a state tried to act on it.

Where I saw it: Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Marxism and Collective Psychology. Shared on X on March 9, 2026 and saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 211-entry transcription, with the four parts and sixteen sub-sections, is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
• Socialism — the system the book examines in practice rather than in theory.
• Economics — the Austrian calculation argument the book puts to a historical test.
• Government — the planning apparatus whose limits the episode exposed.