Ideas and Ideals

Memories of Novosibirsk economist Boris Pavlovich Orlov consist of three episodes. The first analyzes his work “Development of Transport in the USSR”. The author analyzes the fundamental nature of the work, the use of archival data and the truthfulness of the analysis. An objective coverage of the history of Soviet transport is noted, especially during the periods of the first five-year plan and the Soviet-Finnish war. The author gives a qualified analysis of the reasons for the orientation in railway transport towards the development of track facilities and the expansion and renewal of rolling stock instead of new railway construction. The second episode is connected with the defense of Ph.D. thesis of the author, in which Boris Pavlovich was the first opponent. Despite the seditiousness of many of its provisions for that time, Orlov supported it and highly appreciated it. The third episode is connected with the author’s leadership of the student scientific society at the Faculty of Economics of the Novosibirsk State University, of which Orlov was then the dean. The scientific work of this society, which boldly explored the acute problems of the socialist economy, was subjected to political persecution. Boris Pavlovich did not take any part in this company, at the risk of his administrative position.

    In conclusion, the high level of Boris Pavlovich Orlov’s qualifications, his honesty, civic courage and decency are discussed in the article.

The author tells about his acquaintance with an outstanding Soviet, and later American economist, sociologist V. E. Shlapentokh. The paper also describes his work in scientific institutes of Novosibirsk Academgorodok, as well as his political and economic views. The author draws attention to the estimates given by V. E. Shlapentokh to prominent Novosibirsk economists and sociologists of the 1960s, his attitude to political events in Russia and in the world. The paper analyzes the attitude of Shlapentokh to the political process of Sinyavsky-Daniel and to the case of signing the “protest letter” by scientists of Academgorodok. The author gives evaluations to his books: “Sociology for All”, “Fear and Friendship in Our Totalitarian Past”, “A Normal Totalitarian Society”, “Contemporary Russia as a Feudal Society: A New Perspective on the Post-Soviet Era.” The author describes the attitude of Shlapentokh to Jewry and Judaism. And he also recollects his meetings and conversations with V. E. Shlapentokh after his moving to Moscow, and then to the USA.

The article is devoted to the author’s teaching and research activities in 2002-2015. The author was teaching simultaneously at Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU) and the Siberian Academy for Public Administration (SAPA, now – the Siberian Institute of Management – the branch of RANEPA). The most effective teaching took place at NSTU, due to better preparation and motivation of students. Unfortunately, the most gifted students didn’t actualize themselves in science because of low prestige of science in Russia. It was less interesting for him to teach at SAPA because students and postgraduates were less interested and less prepared. At that time he started reading a new course "National Economy". Developing the course helped him understand better the basic features of economic development of Russia, at least since the 18th century: economy development went by jerks. He found the explanation of the Russian historical process and it stimulated his research activities. He focused his scientific work on "The Economic History of Russia in Modern Times." In the given article the author reveals the problems, which appeared while writing the first volume as well as the problems of the Soviet economic system since the early 60's until the collapse of the Soviet system in the early 90s. The author stresses the fact of his acquaintance and subsequent cooperation with the economist Dmitry Aleksandrovich Fomin. Many articles based on precise calculations were written with him. On the basis of these studies, he concluded that the recovery growth of the Russian economy would prolong to 2007, the process similar to the NEP. He also predicted that such a growth should result in stagnation and decline in GDP with the exhaustion of available resources and the absence of real modernization and the lack of human capital. The forecast of the author came true in many respects: the cessation of economic growth in 2008, and the world oil prices in 2015.

Scientific and pedagogical activities during the period of 1998-2001 are considered in the article. The author describes the work of the Siberian Transport University (STU) of that time as well as students and lecturers of the Economic Theory Department and the World Economy Department and he also recollects his work with postgraduate students. The author spells out the most significant conclusions he made while writing his book “The Economic History of Russia in Modern Times”, its gaps and inaccuracies. An important place is given to the content of the discussion at the Russian-American conference on the economic history of the Soviet Union in Zvenigorod in the summer of 2000 as well as the description of its participants. The author speculates upon the reasons for his resignation from the Siberian Transport University (STU).