When the Growth of Citizens' Welfare Becomes a Problem for the State: Issues of Monetary Circulation in the USSR in the 1960s
( Pp. 118-127)
More about authors
Sergei A. Bakanov
Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Associate Professor, Head of the Department of History of Russia and Foreign Countries
Chelyabinsk State University
Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation
Chelyabinsk State University
Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation
Abstract:
The article aims to study the emergence and development of problems in the field of monetary circulation in the USSR in the 1960s, which were caused by the growing prosperity of the population. The research is based on both published documents from the State Bank of the USSR and unpublished materials from the Russian State Archive of Modern History and the Russian State Archive of Economics. The author concludes that the government's policy of dramatically improving the living standards of citizens after the death of Joseph Stalin led to a significant lag between the growth of trade turnover and the growth of monetary income. The result of this lag was the need for annual monetary emission, which in turn led to the appearance of excess money in circulation that was not backed by a commodity mass. This excess money was a kind of "money навес", reflecting the inflationary processes in the USSR economy. The country's leadership was aware of the problems in the monetary system, but for political reasons, they chose to ignore them.
How to Cite:
Bakanov, S.A. (2026). When the Growth of Citizens' Welfare Becomes a Problem for the State: Issues of Monetary Circulation in the USSR in the 1960s. History and Modern Perspectives, 8(1), 118-127. 10.33693/2658-4654-2026-8-1-118-127. EDN: VDVXAN
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Bakanov S.A. Money Circulation in the USSR between the Reforms of 1947 and 1961. History and Modern Perspectives. 2024. Vol. 6. No. 3. Pp. 100–109. (in Rus.).
Belykh A.A. Marx, Kantorovich, Novozhilov — What's Wrong with the Cost? Economic Policy. 2025. Vol.20, No. 5. Pp. 122–155. (in Rus.).
Bokarev Yu.P. Soviet finance and attempts to reform the socialist economy (50-60s of the XX century) // History of monetary circulation in Russia: in 2 vol. 1: Money of Russia from ancient times to the present day. Moscow, 2011. Pp. 393–418.
Latov Yu.V. Reform cannot be destroyed: the Kosygin reform in the context of reforms and revolutions of the XIX — XXI centuries. Economic Policy. 2025. Vol. 20, No. 5. Pp. 190–217. (in Rus.).
Levicheva I.N. The 1961 Monetary Reform // History of the Bank of Russia. Vol. 2. Moscow, 2010, Pp. 338-355.
Pass A.A., Ryzhy P.A. The Stateization of Fishing Cooperation in the USSR in the Second Half of the 1950s: Causes and Consequences. Society and Power. 2012. No. 5. Pp. 114–122. (in Rus.).
Pivovarov N.Yu. Alexey Kosygin's Reform and Changes in the Industrial Management System in October 1964 — October 1965. Economic Policy. 2025. Vol. 20, No. 5. Pp. 70–89. (in Rus.).
Popov A.A. Economic Experiments in the Chemical Industry of the USSR (1965–1970). Economic Policy. 2025. Vol. 20, No. 5. Pp. 90–121. (in Rus.).
Pushkarev V.S. Money Circulation // History of the Russian Ministry of Finance: In 4 volumes. Vol. 3. Moscow, 2002. Pp. 187–202.
Savin A.I. "…The Party and the government are doing a lot to ensure that… people… live better...": Transcript of Leonid Brezhnev's speech to party and Soviet leaders on November 28, 1969 //Siberia Humanitarian. 2025. No. 4. Pp. 27–52.
Safronov A. The Great Soviet Economy: 1917–1991. Moscow, 2025. 792 p.
Stepanov V.L. The 1961 Monetary Reform in Russian Historiography. Bulletin of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2021. No. 4. Pp. 7–23. (in Rus.).
Keywords:
economic policy of the USSR, citizens' welfare, monetary circulation, inflation, trade turnover, Kosygin reform, the Soviet economy in the 1960s..
