First published in 1970, Economics of Socialism covers all aspects of socialist economics: planning, profit, production and growth, investment, consumption, labor and land. The author then goes on to discuss pricing, money and banking, fiscal policy and control, and both domestic and foreign trade and international economic cooperation. The book is introduced by a background chapter on the socialist economic system, models of the socialist economy, the reforms, and the new socialist economics. It ends with a singularly objective comparison of socialist and capitalist economies and seeks to answer the question of whether the two systems are indeed converging.
The book is based on socialist sources published in the Eastern European countries, which Professor Wilczynski has studied in the original, and which he is able to interpret against a first-hand knowledge of the countries concerned. He also provides a considerable apparatus which will be useful to students: a full glossary of socialist economic terms and extensive references for further reading in English. This is an interesting historical reference work for scholars and researchers of Soviet economics and Russian economics.