When Gorbachev launched perestroika (Gorbachev's policy of social, economic and political restructuring), the above mentioned "shadow" sector of society actually got amnesty and hence were offered a kind of "legitimacy," Khokhriakov writes on page 13. During the first part of perestroika, the Soviets developed cooperatives, which "only strengthened the destructive model of the 'shadow' market economy, Khokhriakov explains on page 14. But the Soviets' transition was short of capital so because they needed loans, they turned to the West (in particular, the U.S., which was thrilled of course to witness the demise of communism). Instead of cash, the West provided the Soviets with goods, and right away Soviet merchants knew how to "dispose" of the goods; many new cooperatives sprang up and sold goods "at market prices" and that "shadow" sector became quite "lively" (Khokhriakov, 14).

The "new hero" came from "the underground," Khokhriakov reports; the biggest portion of the...
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