Heinlein, Robert A – Expanded Universe

some odd cents; 3) the 1960 western-tourist ruble, a currency not traded (=

“blocked”) in the world market, not convertible, not spendable outside its own

country, and having its official rate set by decree and in direct consequence a very

different black market (= free market) rate; and 4) the 3Dec-79 western-tourist

ruble, a blocked currency not equivalent to the 1960 western-tourist ruble.

To define the relationships between a fully-convertible gold currency, a

floating currency, and two different blocked currencies is a task that causes

headaches. The arithmetic is simple, the semantic problem is not, and it is further

complicated by both conscious and subconscious personal attitudes. You may not

“believe in” a gold standard, for example (and I readily concede the

truth of the old saw that one cannot eat gold), but it does not matter what I

believe or you believe, our floating dollar is now worth in gold whatever the rest

of the world tells us it is worth, i.e., the price at which they will buy dollars or

sell gold. The only yardstick I can apply to all four currencies is the troy ounce

of fine gold (= 480 grains in both troy and avoirdupois, or 31.1035 grams in

metric).

Since the ruble is not traded in the gold market, I must equate rubles first

in dollars, then translate into gold. (This fiscal discussion is not my idea; our

editor complained-correctly-that a much shorter discussion was unclear.) In 1960 the

Kremlin-decreed rate was 4 rubles

= $1.00 USA. Today Monday 3 December 1979 the Kremlin-decreed rate to U.S.

tourists is 1 ruble = $1.52 USA.

Now to work-

In 1960 $1.00 USA equalled

1/35 tr. oz. Au. = 13.715 grains = 0.888671 + grams gold,

and one ruble equalled $0.25, or

1/140 tr. oz. Au. = 3.429 grains = 0.222167+ grams gold.

While on Dec. 3, 1979, $1.00 USA equalled

1/432 tr. oz. Au. = 1.1111… grains = 0.071998+ grams gold

and one ruble equalled $1.52 USA, or

0.003518+ tr. oz. Au. = 1.7 grains = 0.109438+ grams gold.

-which doesn’t tell us much, especially as the dollar floats and changes

every day, and the ratio between the dollar and the U.S.-tourist ruble is by decree

and subject to change without notice. In the following article I show all prices

three ways: 1) 1960 prices; 2) 3-Dec-79 equivalent by world free-market conversion;

and 3) 3-Dec-79 equivalent by Kremlin-decreed dollar/ruble ratio.

The conversion factor for the world free market is 432/

35 = 12.343; the Kremlin-decreed conversion factor is

1520/250 = 6.08. You are free to believe either one or

neither.

But the above still doesn’t tell you very much as the

The Early Worm Deserves the Birdfloating dollar changes daily and the

ruble/dollar ratio changes whenever the Kremlin changes it. . . and you will not be

reading this on December 3, 1979. But all is not lost;you can obtain and apply the

conversion factors for the day you read this in the same fashion in which I did it:

For the world free-market conversion factor first get that day’s gold fix

from newspaper or radio, then divide by 35. For the Kremlin factor telephone a

Soviet consulate or Intourist New York, get the current price of a ruble in dollars

and cents, divide by 25ç~. Then reach for your pocket calculator.

It would have been simpler to state that travel in USSR in 1960 was

Page 175

extremely, outrageously expensive-a planned swindle.

INSIDE INTO URIST

How to Break Even (or Almost) in the Soviet Union

To enjoy a thing requires that it be approached in the proper mood. A woman

who has been promised a luxury suite at Miami Beach won’t cheer at the thought of

roughing it in the north woods, especially if her husband pulls this switch after

the vacation has started.

But, with proper pre-conditioning, it is possible to enjoy anything-some

people are addicted to parachute jumping. To experience the Soviet Union without

first getting in the mood for it is too much like parachute jumping when the chute

fails to open. The proper mood for the Soviet Union is that of the man who hit

himself on the head with a hammer because it felt so good when he stopped.