Russia's March from Communism The political and economic ties
that bound the Soviet Union for some 70 years cannot be cast off
in a year or even a decade. They left their indelible marks not
only on the political and social institutions which encompass
economic life, but also on the psyche and mores of the people. A
nation that, for centuries, has endured the dictates of
omnipotent czars and commissars cannot be expected to find its
way to the light of democracy in a few years. A nation that, for
two generations, has been deprived of private property in
production cannot possibly develop a market order in a few
months. Without an educational and ideological foundation,
without tradition and experience, it cannot be surprising that
the great dual undertaking of building democracy and capitalism
is a difficult and arduous task. A few economists had expected
the disintegration of the Soviet Union ever since Ludwig von
Mises had demonstrated the "impracticability of socialism" in
his 1922 opus, Socialism. He had