«…the sphere of operation of the law of value is limited by the social ownership of the means of production, and by the law of balanced development of the national economy, and is consequently also limited by our yearly and five-yearly plans, which are an approximate reflection of the requirements of this law (put in bold type by the authors: the important thing here is that saying approximately Stalin admitted inevitability of mistakes caused by different reasons. Any plan is subject to them therefore it is not the most precise realization of the plan that is the best way of using national economy production facilities among feasible ones).

Some comrades draw the conclusion from this that the law of balanced development of the national economy and economic planning annul the principle of profitableness of production. That is quite untrue. It is just the other way round. If profitableness is considered not from the stand-point of individual plants or industries, and not over a period of one year, but from the standpoint of the entire national economy and over a period of, say, ten or fifteen years, which is the only correct approach to the question (all put in bold type by the authors), then the temporary and unstable profitableness of some plants or industries is beneath all comparison with that higher form of stable and permanent profitableness which we get from the operation of the law of balanced development of the national economy and from economic planning, which save us from periodical economic crises disruptive to the national economy and causing tremendous material damage to society, and which ensure a continuous and high rate of expansion of our national economy». (“Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.”, “Remarks on Economics Questions Connected with the November 1951 Discussion”, part 3. “The Law of Value Under Socialism”).

«When speaking, in my "Remarks," of the profitableness of the socialist national economy, I was controverting certain comrades who allege that, by not giving great preference to profitable enterprises, and by tolerating the existence side by side with them of unprofitable enterprises, our planned economy is killing the very principle of profitableness of economic undertakings. The "Remarks" say that profitableness considered from the standpoint of individual plants or industries is beneath all comparison with that higher form of profitableness which we get from our socialist mode of production, which saves us from crises of overproduction and ensures us a continuous expansion of production (all put in bold type by the authors).

But it would be mistaken to conclude from this that the profitableness of individual plants and industries is of no particular value and is not deserving of serious attention. That, of course, is not true. The profitableness of individual plants and industries is of immense value for the development of our industry. It must be taken into account both when planning construction and when planning production. It is an elementary requirement of our economic activity at the present stage of development». (“Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.”, “Reply to Comrade Alexander Ilyich Notkin”, “The fifth point”).

J.V. Stalin made a reserve bluntly. He wrote:

«…there can be no doubt that under our present socialist conditions of production, the law of value cannot be a "regulator of the proportions" of labour distributed among the various branches of production». (“Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.”, “Remarks on Economics Questions Connected with the November 1951 Discussion”, part 3. “The Law of Value Under Socialism”).

The function of inter-industry proportions regulation should be performed the main economic law of Socialism. It results in defining the objects for the production system and in the law of planned (proportional) development of national economy. This law opens up possibilities of bringing production capabilities into accord with needs of society in the best way possible.

But here a question arises: how does the superior profitability of national economy correlate with profitability of every single industry? In other words with profitability of a number of enterprises in certain industries. These enterprises can work by any pattern of ownership, i.e. state, co-operative or kolkhoz and even sole proprietorship.

Normally sales return of a business should exceed expenses. Otherwise donation would be needed. If it is not needed and the business is profitable, then what does profitability of national economy as a unite system in the course of 10 or 15 years mean? Many people do not understand it.

First of all they do not understand it because a Socialist state is not one of the financial system users but the owner of it. Besides the state as the owner of the financial system and a number of enterprises gets no profit and suffers no loss if some values move from the balance of an enterprise to the balance of another one. This process is accompanied by the proper transfer of funds.

Actually it is not so difficult as it may seem. At a certain period gross output can be valued at cost or at a real price. Accordingly at the same period it can comprise capital goods expenditures including the equipment of production distribution system securing production storage and sale to ultimate consumers. After a while these means of production will produce products that a consumer will buy. The way consumers will pay for them and their prices do not matter when considering the question of national economy profitability as a whole. Another thing matters:

Introducing new means of production in all the industries results in a range of products. If national economy on the whole is profitable at a certain period of time then the cost of the range of production at a value cost of the beginning of the period must exceed the cost of means of production.

Certainly some time is needed for the products to compensate for the new means of production. It is natural that the shorter this period, the more effective and the larger the profitability of national economy as a whole. At this it is not production for consumptive use but manufacturing more effective means of production that should be of paramount importance. This is the pledge of stability of the given regime of national economy functioning in the succession of planned production cycles, i.e. intervals of all-system profitability control.

This approach estimates profitability of national economy only by the production activity including production distribution to ultimate consumers. Anything that is not directly relevant to production and distribution is excluded from the estimation of national economy profitability. The reason for it is the fact that other sectors’ activity is conditioned by the capability of the production and distribution sector to feed and to settle lives of those involved in other sectors. Scientific, technological and organizational advances are kept in stability store of estimation of national economy profitability. Speculative sector preoccupied with deriving an income from «securities» and on-selling is not taken into consideration for being parasite[421].

This is a general point of view. It is to be put into practice on the ground of a certain classified nomenclature of products and services. It forms a basis for planning, production record, production distribution and real consumption. They are to provide correlation between showings at the beginning and at the end of a control period. Otherwise uncertain nomenclature and changes in it during the period of time would prevent from correlating the showings.

The structure of industries and their relationship change in the course of time under the influence of scientific, technological and organizational advance. Therefore division of national economy into industries and classification of industries are secondary to classified nomenclature of production. In other words the system of long-term strategic planning of production, distribution, consumption and recycling can be and must be derived from stable nomenclature of a range of needs based on population study. It should not be the consequence of unstable nomenclature of industries[422].