After 1985
“Perestroika” and the transition to the market economy that followed had important implications for the discipline of economics. For mathematical economists there were several important consequences.
The object of research changed dramatically, ideological obstacles were removed and some traditional spheres of study simply became obsolete. The new priorities were to catch up with contemporary Western economics and to analyse and resolve new economic problems.To sum up, we have seen that there was a great flourishing of mathematical economics in the Soviet Union during the 1920s. During the Stalinist years, despite restrictions, there were important further theoretical innovations. In the post-Stalin period, mathematical economics gained a reputable place in Soviet economics, but the discipline was not incorporated into the Soviet planning process. At the present time, Russian mathematical economists have joined the mainstream of world economics. It will be for future historians to evaluate their achievements.
Andrei A. Belykh
See also:
Ladislaus von Bortkiewicz (I); Vladimir Karpovich Dmitriev (I); Wassily W. Leontief (I); Evgeni Evgenievich Slutsky (I).