Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

On Monday, September 23, the US dollar plummeted 9 percent against the Japanese yen in a single day, and also fell against the German mark, the French franc, and the British pound.

The global financial markets were thrown into panic when we woke up. Although we haven't seen any "flying man" incidents yet, I know there will be many next year.

European oil trading companies were hit hardest. Those traders who had stockpiled large amounts of crude oil over the past few months at a price of $28 a barrel found overnight that their stocks were depreciating by tens of millions of dollars every day!

Tanker brokers in Rotterdam were cursing incessantly on the phone, screens on the London futures exchange were flashing red one after another, and refiners in Hamburg were holding an emergency meeting to discuss whether they should default on all the purchase contracts they had already signed.

But what does this have to do with the Soviet Union?

The Soviet Union had already signed a long-term gas contract, with a floor price clause protecting the settlement price from falling proportionally with oil prices. The Soviet Union was not afraid that Europeans would default on their payments.

After all, West Germany controlled more than 40 percent of its energy resources. If Berlin dared not pay in the morning, Moscow would dare to turn off the valve by noon. The West German government would never sit idly by and watch Ruhr gas go bankrupt, so it could only keep subsidizing Moscow and sending money.

As for oil, which Western Europe is not so dependent on?

In any case, the advance payment for the oil supply contract has already been received, and the $4.6 billion in cash has been converted from US dollars into marks and Swiss francs, lying quietly in bank accounts, and has already been exchanged for other industrial products.

The currency reallocation of foreign exchange reserves has also been completed. The surge in the yen after the Plaza Accord caused the yen assets held by the Soviet Union to appreciate by more than 4 percent within a week.

Of course, the Soviet Union could not remain completely unaffected. In the coming months, as oil prices continued to fall, the Soviet Union's new oil export revenue would shrink significantly—but the magnitude and speed of the losses were significantly buffered by the net that the Soviet Union had laid out over the past four months.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At the end of September, Prime Minister Ryzhkov gave a brief report at the Central Committee meeting, chaired by Second Secretary Ligachev.

"I have good news to report, comrades!"

Ryzhkov beamed with delight: "If we had done nothing in April, the Union would have lost approximately $12 billion in hard currency revenue and reserve value over the next twelve months due to the depreciation of the dollar and the drop in oil prices!"

He turned a page.

"But thanks to the leadership of the Party, thanks to the wise decision of the great and correct Secretary Gorbachev, thanks to the efforts of the comrades in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—and Comrade Ivanova!"

We've reduced our losses by approximately $5.5 to $6 billion! That's fantastic news!

The entire audience applauded, even the most anti-reform committee members applauded for the young leader at this moment, and Gromyko, as the head of state, even stood up to applaud this young comrade.

This 75-year-old woman stood incredibly straight, as if she wanted everyone in the conference to know that Director Nian was her subordinate. Previously, the moderate reformist committee members had suffered a lot of sarcastic remarks from the conservatives in order to cooperate with Director Nian in negotiating these economic agreements, but now they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Logically, given that Nyen had recovered so much money for the alliance and made a huge contribution to the economic and financial front, Gromyko nominated Nyen as a "Hero of Socialist Labor" and awarded him the Order of Lenin.

This is the highest honor a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union can receive.

Nian Dao had become the top choice among Soviet economic experts when discussing "young cadres who understand economics and have an international perspective." Externally, the propaganda machine was portraying her as a "victor against Western financial plunder."

She knew that the next battle was Slava's turn, and she had done almost all she could in Moscow.

After the meeting ended and the director stood up to walk towards the door, Ligachev said behind him:

"Comrade Ivanova, I owe you and Ivanov justice—I didn't take your predictions about economic risks in April too seriously at the time, but now it seems you were right."

Director Nian paused at the door but did not turn around.

"Yegor Kuzmich, I'd rather be wrong."

Then she left quickly; she had many things to do.

Outside the window, September in Moscow was already getting cooler. The leaves of the birch trees were turning from golden yellow to crimson, and the spires of the Kremlin looked darker and heavier under the overcast sky than in summer.

In the distance, a plane took off from Vnukovo Airport, climbed above the clouds, and disappeared—perhaps bound for London, perhaps for New York.

In the trading rooms of those cities, people were in a state of panic over what had happened a few days earlier.

The finish line of victory is still far away, but she gave this alliance, which is halfway to its grave, a chance to catch its breath.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Now let us turn our attention back to our great and glorious comrades in Ukraine.

In his later diary entries, the summer of 1985 was the busiest and most fulfilling period of his life.

During the six weeks from July to mid-August, he was simultaneously pushing forward many things, and each one was making great strides forward. Although the road was winding, the results were gratifying!

If there's a road, then go forward; he doesn't like to go back.

One day, as long as he wants to walk, the path will be right under his feet!

The expansion of agricultural production and research consortia in Ukraine is progressing well. The information networks in the three pilot regions of Poltava, Vinnytsia, and Kirovograd are already operational.

Every day, the amount of data collected from various production units to the state-level node is steadily increasing. Although the quality of the data does not yet meet the standard of complete reliability, it is at least more than an order of magnitude more reliable than the previous paper reports!

Fertilizer allocation for the upcoming winter wheat planting was completed two weeks earlier than last year with the support of the information system, greatly improving the coordination efficiency between seed stations and farms.

These numbers may seem insignificant, but for a collective agricultural system that has long struggled in a cycle of "lack of fertilizer today, lack of seeds tomorrow, and combine harvesters breaking down the day after tomorrow," every improvement means several thousand more tons of grain at the autumn harvest.

Ukraine is the Union's largest and most important grain-producing region.

Then came the industrial informatization efforts, coordinated with Ryzhkov's initiatives. Pilot reforms at Vinnytsia's textile and sugar mills progressed steadily under Krasovsky's direction, and workers' committees began operating, albeit in a far more chaotic manner than initially envisioned.

It turns out that only those who have truly gone down to the grassroots level can understand what a "troublemaker" really means.

As far as Slava knew, the worker representatives argued for more than two hours at their first meeting about the canteen's food standards, and then forgot to discuss the production plan.

Clearly, these workers who frequently skip work haven't adjusted to their new routines yet. If Andropov had been there a couple of years earlier, the resistance would have been less.

At least the daily updated financial data at the factory terminal gives workers a window into how the factory is actually operating.

The situation at the textile factory is particularly noteworthy; the factory manager's behavior changed after the system began publishing financial data:

He voluntarily reduced his quarterly bonus by 40 percent and added the saved money to the performance bonuses of frontline weavers.

It wasn't because he suddenly became a good person, but because he knew the workers' committee was watching those numbers, and if the gap was too big, he wouldn't have an easy time in the next vote.

This financial report is very detailed. Every worker can check the output of each production line on the terminal after production is completed. Even elementary school students who have learned basic arithmetic can calculate the profit by moving their fingers.

Using information transparency to force behavioral adjustments is precisely the result Slava hoped to achieve when designing this solution.

Finally, there's anti-corruption. Within the areas covered by the information system, every step of the resource allocation process—from central government funding to state-level distribution, district-level implementation, and finally, the receipt by farms and factories...

All of them have traceable real-time data records.

The classic loss chain of the past, where "the central government allocated 100 tons of fertilizer, but it became 80 tons by the time it reached the prefecture, 60 tons by the time it reached the district, and only 40 tons by the time it reached the farm," has become impossible to hide after data comparison.

The system records how many tons were "evaporated" at each stage. Although the system cannot prevent "evaporation," "fire loss," or "transportation loss," it allows everyone to see all of this.

The system aroused fear among district officials on its very first day of implementation.

Their power is based on this opaque, black box-like planned economy! What will happen to them if they lose the opportunity to use their power for personal gain?

Surely being an official doesn't mean you have to serve the people?

This is what is meant by losing one's original intention.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The good news for these officials was that by mid-August, Slava's reforms began to hit a wall.

The wall is named "Central Ministries".

The accelerated development strategy introduced by Gorbachev at the April plenary session and the subsequent series of enterprise reforms did indeed give factories more autonomy.

Factory managers can now decide on the types of products and sales directions for some of their products after fulfilling national orders, which opens up a door for enterprises to produce for the civilian market.

After obtaining this authority, the manager of the Vinnica Sugar Factory immediately used the excess capacity to produce a batch of small-packaged refined white sugar, which was then sold in the local market. The price was 20 percent higher than the large-packaged sugar sold in state-run stores, but the packaging was more attractive and convenient.

As a result, they sold out within a day.

Thanks to the terminals deployed by Slava in the factory and the efforts of the workers' production committee, every bit of profit from these extra productions is recorded in the workers' production committee's ledger and then distributed as bonuses to the frontline workers.

Everyone knows whether the data is inflated or not, and they know how much of their labor profits they can keep, how much goes to the collective, and how much is used to maintain the means of production.

That's great! The workers who were skipping work immediately came back to work and resume production when they heard about this good thing. The more you work, the more you earn; the less you work, the less you earn; and those who do not work do not eat.

Once this information is made transparent and the distribution system is improved, workers will immediately start working. The power of this policy is equivalent to ten thousand blows from Andropov's baton!

Wouldn't that boost production enthusiasm?

Soon the main contradiction in production shifted from low worker productivity to outdated means of production, low machine efficiency, and insufficient raw materials.

After all, if motivation were paramount, no one would have starved to death in ancient times. Slava doesn't believe anyone would rather starve than engage in production.

Businesses now need more raw materials.

Sugar mills need more sugar beets to produce more sugar. The supply of sugar beets is determined by the agricultural ministry's planning and allocation, which in turn depends on the annual targets set by the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture...

This indicator system was compiled by hundreds of planners using abacuses and slide rules in several buildings in Moscow and is updated annually.

The factory manager couldn't possibly go to Moscow in July and tell them, "My sugar factory needs 20 percent more sugar beets because my sugar is selling well." Those ministries would look at the manager like he was an idiot.

Because in their worldview, factories shouldn't care about what sells well; they should care about how many targets they've been given.

The same bottleneck has also emerged in textile factories. The factories want to produce a batch of lightweight fabrics suitable for spring and summer wear to meet the needs of local consumers, but the supply quota of cotton yarn is allocated according to the planned targets at the beginning of the year, not a single gram more.

The factory manager argued with the quota department of the Ministry of Light Industry many times on the phone—

"Comrade, I have production capacity, I have orders, and consumers are lining up to buy—please, just give me an extra 10% of cotton yarn!"

The other party's response is always the same: "Proceed according to plan. The increase for next year can be applied for when revising the annual plan."

There's nothing else I can do.

In this massive, bloated, and rigid command economy, "next year" is a word that countless reformers would want to overturn the table upon hearing it.

Even if you have a great idea today that could improve the lives of thousands of people, you have to wait until next year's planning cycle to start implementing it!

By next year, your good idea may have been worn down beyond recognition by layers of approval, or simply rejected by a planner on the grounds that it "does not conform to the overall balance".

In the second week of August, Slava sat in his office at the Vinnytsia Regional Committee, reviewing reports compiled from the three pilot states.

Information systems have begun to fulfill their most valuable function: letting the data speak for itself.

Production efficiency is improving in the pilot areas, consumer demand is being identified, and businesses are trying to respond to these demands. However, all responses are ultimately stuck at the same bottleneck: the supply of raw materials and energy is controlled by central ministries in Moscow, which themselves have not yet been transformed by information technology and are still using data from last year or even the year before to formulate this year's planning targets.

"...Now, the contradiction in limiting production is not that the grassroots lack enthusiasm; on the contrary, the enthusiasm of the grassroots has been unleashed. The problem is that the central government, which is not yet digitized, cannot keep up with the pace of the grassroots, which is already digitized."

This was a problem he had foreseen when designing the plan, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.

The efficiency gains created by information technology at the grassroots level will quickly expose the inefficiency and corruption of the central planning system. The speed gap between the grassroots and the central government will widen until the gap becomes so large that the entire system begins to conflict.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

But more dangerous than the bureaucratic inertia of the central ministries was the person who came to undermine his reform achievements—Sherbitsky.

As information technology expands in the three pilot regions, those departments and officials in Ukraine whose interests are affected are rapidly aligning themselves with Sherbitsky.

Although Sherbitsky only promoted people within his circle, at least Sherbitsky represented the order of the past!

Now Slava wants to flip the table!

To combat Slava, everyone who had "evaporated" in the material allocation chain, everyone who had "embellished" the production reports, and every middle-level cadre who maintained their power and position through information asymmetry united together!

The power supply in a pilot state suddenly became unstable, causing intermittent interruptions in the terminal equipment of the information nodes. Telephone lines in a certain area were disrupted for three days due to maintenance, resulting in data transmission delays. A batch of new terminal equipment shipped from Moscow was detained at the Kyiv railway yard for over a week due to procedural issues...

This is by no means a coincidence.

What angered Slava the most was the electricity problem.

The infrastructure for information technology—terminal devices, communication interfaces, data storage—all rely on electricity.

Without a stable power supply, even the best information system is just a pile of metal and plastic. A stable power supply is essential for terminal networks that can report and query data in real time. While the ultimate control of electricity production in Ukraine rests with the Moscow Ministry of Power and Electrification, the actual daily scheduling and allocation are largely subject to the execution of local authorities in Ukraine!

While Shcherbitsky could not directly order a power outage in a pilot region, he could “adjust” allocation priorities through his connections within the Ukrainian power system.

This is his most familiar operation, after all, he has relied on his power to allocate resources to secure his position as the first secretary for so many years!

In the third week of August, Slava submitted a report to the Central Committee in Moscow.

The core message can be summed up in one sentence: Local authorities in Ukraine are using administrative means to undermine reform projects approved by the central government; Moscow needs to take action.

Gorbachev reacted faster than Slava had expected. He made a note on the report, and two days later, the leader obtained the full text of the note through Ligachev's channels and then forwarded it to Slava.

The instruction was written as follows:

"The problems of rigid energy security and obstructed grassroots reforms raised by Comrade Ivanov are very serious and deserve deep reflection from the entire Party!"

These are precisely the constraints that our accelerated development strategy must break free from. The Ministry of Power and Electrification, the State Planning Committee, and the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party are requested to carefully study this and propose a fundamental reform plan.

Then comes the second paragraph:

"This matter involves the authority of both the Union and the Republic, and is also related to the security of the national unified power system. It is not appropriate for local comrades to act unilaterally."

A joint working group, composed of the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Power and Electrification, the Director of the State Planning Commission, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine, has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive investigation into this matter.

Slava stared at the paper for a long time, turning it over and over. All that talk about "attaching great importance to", "careful study", and "joint working group" was utter bullshit.

He's been kicked out!

Joint working groups are the most classic, bloodless weapon. Once an issue is assigned to an interdepartmental joint working group, it enters a bottomless black hole consisting of meeting minutes, feasibility studies, opinion solicitation, and scheme demonstration—