Project 23 illustrates an authoritarian information problem. Officials could not safely tell Stalin that his goals were impossible, but their compliance did not make the yards capable of delivering them. The same pressure rewarded flattering statistics and concealed the real pace and quality of construction. Stalin could appear to command the system while lacking the accurate information needed to control it.
Notable Point · 31:17-32:22
The dictatorship information trap behind Project 23
Subordinates who could not safely reject Stalin's ambitions also had strong incentives to hide the programme's real condition from him.