There is a huge literature on the Soviet economy. Maurice Dobb, Soviet Economic Development Since 1917 (1948) is old, but unexcelled in its treatment of the policy debates of the 1920s that preceded adoption of the strategy of planning for rapid economic growth. Much of the debate itself has been translated and published in Nicolas Spulber, Foundations of Soviet Strategy for Economic Growth (1964). Three older surveys of the Soviet economy are Robert W. Campbell, Soviet-Type Economies (third edition, 1974); Alec Nove, The Soviet Economy (revised, 1969); and Nicolas Spulber, The Soviet Economy (revised, 1969). Robert W. Campbell has also provided us with a good summary of the changes taking place in the former Soviet bloc in The Socialist Economies in Transition: A Primer on Semi-Reformed Systems (1991). David Kotz and Fred Wier, Revolution from Above: The Demise of the Soviet System (1997) describes the breakdown of the Soviet economy and the breakup of the Soviet Union. For the latest view on current happenings in Russia, The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms: Market Bolshevism against Democracy by Peter Reddaway and Dmitri Glinski (2001) is recommended.
The debate over the theory of planning is best represented by Oskar Lange and Fred M. Taylor, On the Economic Theory of Socialism (1938); Friedrich A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (1944); and John M. Clark, Alternative to Serfdom (1948). There are several interesting books on the practical applications of the theory of market socialism, including Branko Florvat, Towards a Theory of Planned Economy (1964), and Ota Sik, Plan and Market Under Socialism (1967) and The Third Way (1976). The Chinese economy changes so rapidly that almost anything written about it is out of date before it can be published. Nevertheless, John G. Gurley, China's Economy and the Maoist Strategy (1977) is an excellent analysis of developments under Mao Zedong. There are two excellent books on the Chinese economy since Mao: Barry Naughton, Growing Out of the Plan (1995) and Susumi Yabuki, China's New Political Economy (1995).