Most of the economic crimes in communist countries do not have counterparts in capitalist countries due to critical differences in the organization of their economies as well as in the nature and scope of their criminal laws. Types of economic crimes included in the criminal codes of all Soviet Republics involve engaging in forbidden trades; falsifying figures or otherwise distorting reports on plan fulfillment; private entrepreneurial activity; intermediary commercial operations; issuance of poor quality, nonstandard, or incomplete products; and the illegal manufacture, sale, and storage of alcoholic beverages. Since the central plan, according to which the communist economy is regulated, has the status of law, all economic deviations from the plan are criminalized. This implies a massive legal intervention in the economy as well as a reliance on the criminal law as one of the fundamental means of stimulating efficiency and excellence in economic production. The centrally planned distribution of goods in communist countries is not very effective, and since the supply of goods is almost always insufficient and of poor quality, informal access to the legal as well as illegal system of distribution becomes of crucial importance. Private middlemen and speculators play an important role in an elaborate network of illegal or semilegal redistribution of scarce commodities. This type of individual initiative designed to meet economic demands and obtain personal profit, although encouraged in the United States, is severely punished in communist countries. Thirty-two references are provided.