Re: Economics and law/bureaucratic order made real

[Daniel Davies <dsquared@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

chris wrote:

-----Original Message-----
>> Note that in areas where the Soviets _did_ discipline
>> labor -- the military and aeronautics, for instance --
>> their goods were surburb.

mate, this isn't true in aeronautics at least.  The Tupolevs were the Ladas
of the airways, without the reliability.  Air China still has a few of them
which crash with dispiriting regularity.  Air Vietnam got rid of all theirs
in the 90s, IIRC because several SE Asian airports had got sick of their
tendency not only to crash themselves but also to bump into safe aircraft.
The African airlines all got rid of them too as soon as they could afford
good ones.  I am told that the Tu-144 supersonic airliner was pretty
amazing, but in general Soviet civilian aeronautic products are not well
respected.

I seem to remember being told by a gun nut that Russian Kalashnikovs were
not well made either, and that the AK-47 of choice among bad lads was a
Czech copy.  But I may not be remembering this one right.

dd