Letter to the Editorial Board of the Newspaper “Economic Life”
1/IX.
The transformation of “Economic Life” into an organ of the Council of Labour and Defence must not remain a mere, empty formality.
The newspaper must become a militant organ—not only providing regular, truthful reports on our economy, first and foremost—but also analyzing these reports, subjecting them to rigorous scholarly processing in order to draw sound conclusions for the purpose of industrial management and the like (secondly), and finally, rallying all workers on the economic front, demanding punctual reporting, commending successful performance, and bringing before the collective judgment those workers—whether at a given enterprise, institution, or sector of the economy—who are careless, backward, or inept, and so forth (thirdly).
The newspaper offers a wealth of invaluable material, especially statistical data, concerning our economy. Yet this material suffers from two fundamental shortcomings: it is sporadic, incomplete, and unsystematic; moreover, it remains unprocessed and unanalyzed.
To illustrate, let us take some examples.
The article “The Moscow Suburb Basin in July” (No. 188) ranks among the best contributions, as it provides a thorough analysis of the data, comparing them both with past figures and with the performance of individual enterprises. However, the analysis is far from exhaustive. It fails to explore the reasons why one particular enterprise—Tovarkovskie Kopy—was able to solve a problem that had eluded others. There is no practical conclusion drawn, nor is there any comparison with annual data.
In No. 190, on page 2, we find a plethora of statistical details—quite commonplace in the newspaper—but utterly “unprocessed,” random, raw, lacking even the slightest trace of analysis, devoid of comparative scrutiny (against past records or against other enterprises), and so on. To truly make the newspaper an organ of the Council of Labour and Defence—not merely in word but in deed—we must implement the following changes:
1) We must more rigorously monitor the timely and accurate submission of reports by the relevant institutions, placing negligent or incomplete submissions on a “black list,” while simultaneously striving—through the appropriate People’s Commissariat or through the Administrative Department of the Council of Labour and Defence—to secure meticulous and reliable reporting.
2) All statistical data published must be systematized far more strictly, that is, with greater care and precision, always seeking out data suitable for comparison, consistently presenting historical data—covering past years, months, and so forth—always selecting material that lends itself to analysis, to the elucidation of causes behind failures, to the identification of those enterprises that are succeeding—or at least outperforming their peers—and so on.
3) We must establish a network of local correspondents, including both communists and non‑party members, and devote more space to correspondence from the field: from factories, mines, state farms, railway depots, workshops, and the like.
4) We should publish, in special supplements, comprehensive summaries covering all the most critical issues of our economy. These summaries must be thoroughly processed, featuring comprehensive analysis and offering concrete, practical conclusions.
Since paper is scarce, we must economize on its use. This is undoubtedly feasible. For example, we could reduce the print run from 44,000 to 30,000 copies—more than sufficient when properly distributed, calculating at 2 copies per 10,000 villages, 4 copies per 1,000 counties, 10 copies per 100 provinces, plus an additional 5,000 copies—all destined for libraries, editorial offices, and a select few institutions. In doing so, we would free up ample paper for 8 supplements, each spanning 2 pages per month.
This would be more than enough to produce monthly summaries covering a wide array of crucial economic issues—fuel; industry, with 2–3 supplements; transportation; food supplies; state farms, and so on.
These supplements should present consolidated statistics on the most important aspects of the economy, meticulously processed and analyzed, accompanied by practical recommendations.

In the daily newspaper, all the vast amount of statistical material—though highly fragmented—must be aligned with these monthly summaries, stripped of unnecessary details and trivialities, and the like.
Since, in many areas, the sources of information for “Economic Life” and the Central Statistical Office are identical, these supplements should temporarily serve as substitutes for the publications of the Central Statistical Office.
5) All current statistical data must be allocated among: (a) the staff of “Economic Life”; (b) members of the State Planning Commission; and (c) members or employees of the Central Statistical Office—so that each is responsible for a specific branch of the national economy, bearing full accountability for:
(a) the timely receipt of reports and reporting data; for the effective “struggle” to obtain such data; for the proactive solicitation of missing reports and the like; (b) the compilation and analysis of data; (c) the formulation of practical conclusions.
6) With regard to enterprises placed under concession or lease, “Economic Life” must exercise oversight—not only in terms of reporting but also in terms of supervision and policy-making—just as it does with all other enterprises.
I request that a meeting be convened, comprising the editor of “Economic Life,” one representative from the Central Statistical Office, and one from the State Planning Commission, to discuss these matters and the proposed measures. I ask that the resolutions of this meeting be communicated to me.
Chairman of the Council of Labour and Defence, Lenin
P.S. I also request that this same meeting deliberate on the development of an index number—a numerical indicator—for gauging the overall state of our national economy. This “indicator” should be published monthly.
Written on September 1, 1921.
First published on November 6, 1923, in the newspaper “Economic Life,” No. 31.

Printed from manuscript