Base Price

Base Price 

in Soviet economics, the price used as the basis for planning and statistical accounting in computing the indexes that characterize the dynamics of production, prime cost, and other indicators of national economic development. To the extent that the price level for one and the same product can differ from year to year, the determination and comparison of value indexes in the national economy (gross social product, national income, output of various branches of material production) for various years in current prices does not give a correct picture of real changes. Thus it is necessary to use base prices.

In capitalist countries, the base price is the price serving as a starting point for setting the price of a commodity of a specific quality, size, and chemical composition. The actual price diverges from the base price. There is a scale for increments and reductions in base prices. When market conditions change, base prices preserve a certain stability, but increments and reductions are subject to essential changes, resulting in a corresponding rise or fall in prices. The degree to which the actual price diverges from the base price is determined by the conditions under which the sale takes place and by the economic situation as a whole.

A. G. GOGOBERIDZE