Ok, my general opinions...
[]Keep to Romanov's Line: Romanov has a point even if the point is a sign of the party escaping from the guidance of the older generations in favor of something new. Staying with him and broadly upholding his campaign promises will avoid splitting the current conservative block between personalities and allow a degree of unity in the face of resurgent liberal pressure. Staying in tight association without securing an independent party base can cause a massive problem but that is unlikely to be an issue through the course of this plan.
[]Compromise: Semyonov has a point in that the youths want social changes to social organization and several further reforms. Instead of working with the conservatives, tentative outreach can be made to the right to form a new alliance by being far more useful than Romanov to them. Assuming Semyonov can hold onto power a rapid consolidation of the conservatives can follow in the aftermath of the 74 election, securing a political career and directly undermining Romanov.
I don't have a strong preference here. Compromise might be a bit risky and going too fast, I suppose.
What exactly is the difference between the two?
For the various policies, they all seem positive on the whole, but of course we can't afford them all so we'd have to prioritize.
What are Romanov and Seymonov likely to ask from us later on?
[]Expansionary Financial Policies: Pushing Gosbank to further accelerate economic growth through increasing monetary supplies has already been proposed as essential. The necessity of currency in the economy is only growing with several limitations brought in from effectively holding to the gold standard for external commerce. Revaluations of the currency along with the tentative steps to float the external ruble can be started now instead of waiting for a more synchronous application of the Euro. (Costs a Favor from Romanov)
On the whole this isn't a BAD idea, but i think it might be simply unnecessary compared to other options.
[]Reforms of the Social Sphere: Social reforms may be necessary for the Youths but there is no reason to be as radical as Romanov. Applying several breaks to the system and encouraging more measured and studied reforms can allow the party to determine what is appropriate. Enhanced bills on criminality are unlikely to backfire in a significant way but the acceptance of Western degeneracy can undermine the socialist experiment. Sending both to several committees for analysis and policy guidance can allow them to be fairly judged before being implemented. (Costs a Favor from Seymonov)
This one might actually be the only policy that seems negative to me. It SOUNDS reasonable, but that's probably just giving excuses for stopping some good policies.
[]Education Expansions: Radically increasing the education system is going to be necessary at a time when there is an ever-increasing drive towards skilled labor. Something is going to have to be done about the middling students and those who fail in the technical track as both cannot sustain the demands placed upon them. The general track is mostly adequate for university admissions but starting programs towards improving it to the standards of the gymnasium track can start now. Further work at increasing the rigor of the Gymnasium students will have to be studied but with more comprehensive instruction they can become a far more capable generation of scientists. (Costs a Favor from Seymonov)
Well, I'm always in favour of more education, but we're already doing a major expansion anyway, so it's not
necessary.
[]Updates to Wage Policy: Part-maximum is not working in any way that it was envisaged as while the maximum ratio of wages is still upheld the lack of competitive wages for technical experts has caused delays in advancement and continued loss of intellectuals. Removing the distinctions between technical and administrative work will be essential to maintain domestic technical experts and continue their rapid import. Some will agitate that this undermines socialism, but higher pay is needed to keep technical experts and encourage them to pursue a rigorous education. (Costs a Favor from Romanov)
This one is probably necessary. Experts HAVE to be payed more to get more of them, it will help getting more skilled immigration, and so on.
We're going with a high tech/modernization plan, so this just makes sense to boost our spending with good policy.
[]Accelerate Euro Adoption: Current tepid questions on the Euro are due to the resignation of Kosygin and some agitation for local currency. The enterprises that have massively pushed for further trade integration have to an extent been discredited but the cause itself is still justified. Ensuring that the previously made plan for a universal currency across European CMEA is adopted in full and not politically fought can provide significant long-term dividends. Forcing the vote before 1975 and in what is likely to be an economic upturn will only further improve the odds of universal passage. (Costs a Favor from Romanov)
Well, I wouldn't say no to this, but I don't think it's quite needed. It will happen eventually anyway, I imagine, so I'm not sure if accelerating it is worth paying the favor.
I imagine the common currency would help a lot our export/import, but again, not quite necessary i think.
[]Immigration Reforms: Allowing anyone who can prove they can maintain a job for five years and with a willingness to work in the Union for jobs that local workers are unwilling to take will be critical for securing talent. Any position that cannot be staffed for the equivalent price of domestic labor will be effectively opened to foreign laborers with fully allowed citizenship for their family as long as one member continues working for every three adults who arrive. This will mostly go towards reinforcing the agricultural sector but other industrial sectors need a steady supply of cheap labor that CMEA is more than willing to supply. (Costs a Favor from Romanov)
Mh... Well, it would help us, and in particular it would.help keeping agriculture profitable AND to keep general labour costs low for a bit longer... But with the massive budget we're doing, we could probably afford not doing it.
We're getting some immigration even without this anyway. Shouldn't demand for rural jobs go down rather than up, with higher consolidation and mechanisation?
[]Increase IP Acquisitions: More technology is critical to the success of the Union and expanding the work of acquisitions for it is politically fraught. External-facing positions have always been questionable and problematic but standards need to be put in place for easy licensing practices along with minimal modifications for domestic replication. This is not to say that local enterprises will be restricted from direct copying, but a minimal amount of work will be expected to avoid diplomatic incidents. (Costs a Favor from Seymonov)
I see this as super important. We're about to upgrade a lot of stuff, we might as well do it to the best tech available.
Commitment Towards Balakirev:
[]His Own Merits: If Balakirev can prove himself through good administrative work and a five-year scramble for power that would make the eight plan look easy he can make a good minister. The next five years will be hard on the man but he has already taken to the ministry well and can certainly make it through without too much assistance. He's going to learn some hard lessons and require some holding to take the seat, but if a more capable candidate comes along he can easily be replaced. (-0 Bureaucracy Dice)
[]Mild Assistance: Balakirev at least deserves some guidance on how to operate the ministry and to sit in on critical operational meetings. It will be his duty to make a name for himself and consolidate enough political support externally but he will be able to at least be well known on the inside of the ministry. Involving a student in a lot of the decision-making will require a rudimentary confirmation of his work for the first few years but formally teaching a successor is as good a way to go as any. (-1 Bureaucracy Dice)
[]Support Him: Retirement from the ministry is around the corner. Ensuring that someone with a clue of what they are doing and a modest capacity for politics takes control afterward will be crucial. Balakirev for all of his problems is a known actor and one that is both young and capable with few bad ideas that cannot be worked through. Directly taking him on as a protege is outside the picture but ensuring that he has important administrative work directly under his control and allowing the deputy a wild extent of operational freedom can produce massive results. (-3 Bureaucracy Dice) (1 Bureaucracy Dice Controlled by Balakirev)
I'm leaning towards support or mild assistance. Not sure.
