Itt-ott, 1969. november - 1970. szeptember (3. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)

1970-02-01 / 3. szám

and work in a socialist way," But interpretation of-the "socialist way" has changed. As Jano3 Sugar, a former worker who is now the factory’s dynamic manager, puts its "Today we have wings, I can do the planning myself, take the risks myself, and do better business as a result*"

Managers likeBugar can, in most cases, buy raw materials where they please—at home or abroad--and plan their own production according to the demands of the market rather than by fixed quotas. They can decide their own 'investments and technological dgvelopment, obtain bank credits and regulate the plant's labor force. (Large-scale dismissals, even for efficiency's sake, are still not politically acceptable, however.)

One important result of the new approach has been the stimulation of exports. For the first nine months of this year, the country's over-all exports were up l6- per cent over last year's $3*6 billion (at the foreign exchange rate), and exports to the West alone were up by an impressive 29 per cent. The economic director of the Orion TV factory, Gabor Kondoros, says that his plant's exports of TV sets to Western Europe have doubled since NEM came in--and now amount to a $2 million business. Such increased exports will give Hungary the first' favorable trade balance it has had in years; estimates put the surplus at some $50 million, of which about a sixth comes from favorable trade with the West,. Hungary's increased international, trade is also reflected in.the range and quality of consumer goods displayed in shop windows. Budapest's big Corvin department store carries a wide selection of imported items—expensive woolen cardigans from England, Italian shirts, French cosmetics and Spanish shoes, in addition to Russian refrigerators and Polish and Bulgarian radios. And with such goods, prices—though they remain fixed in certain ..basic categories--fluctuate according to the market, "I used to be told what to sell and for how much," says Corvin's manager, Imre Buk. "I was a functionary. Now I am a businessman."

Mainly, it is the new managerial class that can afford luxury goods, or enjoy Budapest's theaters, opera and night life. Such things are still out of reach of the average worker, whose profit-sharing bonus seldom exceeds 10 or 15 per cent of his earnings, compared with 60 to 80 per cent for managers. The consequent discontent among workers in one of the major problems that •NEM planners face.

Another problem is s> marked slowdown in industrial growth, which dropped from a high of 9 per dent in 1967 to 5' per cent last year and this year is expected to run between 3 and 4 per cent. This is due partly to continued low productivity, the deliberate running down of-stocks and structural changes in industries. Another factor is the inability of some old-line managers to adjust to the new conditions. But leading reform economists insist that they are not unduly worried. "The rate of increase in production may suffer a temporary decline," says one of the leading "reformers," Dr. József Bognár, "But that is better than producing goods that are superfluous, unsalable or that can be sold only at a great loss."

Of graver concern to the reform leaders is the ever-present danger of incurring the disapproval of Moscow. Before the reform was launched there were constant discussions with the Soviet

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