Why Was The Command Economy Of The Soviet Union
The economy of the Soviet Union was based on a system of state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, industrial manufacturing and centralized administrative planning. Starting in 1924, with Stalin rising to power, the period of the centralized economy made the central government of Russia formulate all economic decisions. The command economy was one of the key features of the Soviet society, however, it came with benefits and setbacks. For example, an advantage would be low levels of employment and a disadvantage would be lack of competition. A major strength was an enormous supply of oil and gas.The Communist Party legitimized its control claiming it had the knowledge to rival any Western market economy, however, the Soviet
Union’s reforms to decentralize weakened its economy. At first, there was an intense focus on industrialization and urbanization at the expense of personal consumption that produced a period of rapid modernization. Then people came to the conclusion that the Soviet Union failed to foster the type of environment that leads to further technological innovation. The command economy began to stagnate or become inactive during the 1970’s and in the early 1980’s the productivity growth fell below zero. Different reforms were implemented to attempt to save their economy, but it lost some of its main import and export partners such as Cuba, the United States, and Eastern Bloc. The continuation of poor economic performance led to more radical reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev and Nikita Khrushchev was forced to re-reform back to a centralized government. After a rigorous economic contraction between the 1980’s and 1990’s, Russian leaders no longer had power to get involved among the growing economic chaos.
Union’s reforms to decentralize weakened its economy. At first, there was an intense focus on industrialization and urbanization at the expense of personal consumption that produced a period of rapid modernization. Then people came to the conclusion that the Soviet Union failed to foster the type of environment that leads to further technological innovation. The command economy began to stagnate or become inactive during the 1970’s and in the early 1980’s the productivity growth fell below zero. Different reforms were implemented to attempt to save their economy, but it lost some of its main import and export partners such as Cuba, the United States, and Eastern Bloc. The continuation of poor economic performance led to more radical reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev and Nikita Khrushchev was forced to re-reform back to a centralized government. After a rigorous economic contraction between the 1980’s and 1990’s, Russian leaders no longer had power to get involved among the growing economic chaos.