possibilities for technical progress posed in the 

 Comprehensive Program but, at the same time, makes 

 the general targets and indicators realistic and re- 

 liable," claims a study produced by the Higher Party 

 School under the CPSU Central Committee. 51 Nonethe- 

 less, there are some, like A. S. Gusarov of the Acad- 

 emy's Institute of Economics, who disagrees with this 

 approach to planning, uncertainty, and risk. He em- 

 phasized at the 1975 round table, "After all, we must 

 be concerned not only with mastering the experience 

 that has been amassed in the course of S&T progress, 

 but also with mastering the ongoing revolution in 

 science and technology." Gusarov and others apparent- 

 ly fear that this conservative approach to building 

 the future entirely on the accomplishments of today, 

 no matter how high, will only lead to "planned obso- 

 lescence." As a recent major Soviet work on science 

 policy put it, such planning amounts essentially to 

 "programming backwardness, not progress."-^ it also 

 does not constitute a viable strategy for closing the 

 technology gap with the West. On the contrary, it 

 carries the possible danger that the USSR will fall 

 even further behind. As Gusarov observes, "After all, 

 it is possible to lag even while moving forward." 5 -^ 



To meet the second need, continuing emphasis has 

 been placed on broadening the application of a "pro- 

 grammed-goals approach" to planning and management. 

 A kind of "programmitis" has gripped the Kremlin as 

 many have fastened on this management-integrative 

 tool with high hopes of solving the mounting problems 

 of complexity and change. Its use is being urged for 

 major construction projects, like the territorial- 

 production complexes being built in Siberia, Central 

 Asia, and the Far East, as well as for large-scale 

 R&D programs. Calling for comprehensive programs 

 centering on key scientific, engineering, economic, 

 and social problems, Premier Kosygin at the 1976 Par- 

 ty congress singled out as priority tasks the devel- 

 opment of the nuclear power industry and the mechan- 

 ization of manual and heavy physical labor. A. P. 

 Aleksandrov, President of the Academy of Sciences, 

 suggested that the modernization of agriculture and 



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