THE WEEK

All socialist economies are and forever will be in trouble: hence it is no surprise that the Soviet Union, which in addition to practicing socialism diverts an immense amount of its resources to warmaking, is being tormented by the pestiferous little gremlins which feast on societies that overrule the market place and deny the freedom of property. The bureaucratic shakeup last week, and the admonitions by the Central Committee against “straining” Soviet resources, merely confirm numerous empirical observations and deductive analyses, all of them pointing to the fragility of Soviet economic health. Early last year, national review published an extended analysis of the Soviet economy by an anonymous expert (we dubbed him “Pyrrho”) who persuasively contended that we have grossly overestimated Soviet productivity. As never before, it is urgent that the West apply economic sanctions against the enemy.

Our UN delegation has committed the United States to paying one-third of the tens of millions of dollars it is going to cost to clear the Suez Canal. Presumably the President or the Department of State or somebody authorized the action. But who—since this is clearly an appropriation, and since it says in the book that only the Congress can appropriate money—authorized them to authorize it? The Supreme Court?

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All socialist economies are and forever will be in trouble: hence it is no surprise that the Soviet Union, which in addition to practicing socialism diverts an immense amount of its resources to warmaking, is being tormented by the pestiferous little gremlins which feast on societies that overrule the market place and deny the freedom of property. The bureaucratic shakeup last week, and the admonitions by the Central Committee against “straining” Soviet resources, merely confirm numerous empirical observations and deductive analyses, all of them pointing to the fragility of Soviet economic health. Early last year, national review published an extended analysis of the Soviet economy by an anonymous expert (we dubbed him “Pyrrho”) who persuasively contended that we have grossly overestimated Soviet productivity. As never before, it is urgent that the West apply economic sanctions against the enemy.

Our UN delegation has committed the United States to paying one-third of the tens of millions of dollars it is going to cost to clear the Suez Canal. Presumably the President or the Department of State or somebody authorized the action. But who—since this is clearly an appropriation, and since it says in the book that only the Congress can appropriate money—authorized them to authorize it? The Supreme Court?