This book sheds new light on the late Soviet conversion to the “market” and capitalism by revisiting the history of Soviet reform economics. Drawing on interviews with economists, archival materials, and published sources, it examines the social and institutional contexts in which economists working within state administration and research institutions could play a crucial public and political role.

It analyses the forms of their participation, the mechanisms through which economic experts were selected and rose to prominence during perestroika and the transition period, and compares the professional trajectories of reformist economists. The book ultimately assesses the scope of their influence in the post-Soviet era and reflects on the transformation of economic expertise in Russia.