Comrade, Can You Spare A Dime?

ERNEST VAN DEN HAAG

The wisdom of investing in, or lending money to, Gorbachev’s Russia, as he would like us to do, is doubtful for two reasons: one economic, the other political. First the economic reason. Suppose that Gorbachev succeeds: Soviet industry becomes efficient, consumer goods plentiful, and agriculture produces more than enough to feed the Soviet Union.