History Group
Question:
calibri
Student
High School - 9th Grade
How has a centrally planned economy affected the people of the Soviet Union? How has it affected their quality of life?
Answers:
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enotechris Teacher
VocationalPosted by enotechris on Saturday May 10, 2008 at 8:08 PMThe Soviet government, controlling the means of production and distribution, resorted to a quota system for the country’s manufacturing and agricultural output. Agriculturally, this required the collectivization of farms in the 1920’s which were required to grow a given crop, which was turned over to the government, which unfortunately used food as a weapon to starve residents in the Ukraine in the 1930’s who were slow in adapting Soviet philosophy. Industrially, a given plant was required to produce a a certain number, or weight of items as determined by the central planners. Thus, the Soviet automotive industry was required to produce a certain tonnage of trucks; this caused few trucks to be produced, but a Soviet truck was the heaviest in the world, and the total weight of the few produced met the terms of the imposed weight quota. These policies did not bring the most or best goods and services to the most people; in fact, shortages and poor quality of all consumer goods characteristically defined the Soviet era. In contrast, the centrally planned economy proved vital for production of war materiel during WWII, and much of the Soviet economy remained geared towards the military during the ensuing Cold War through the 1990’s. The net result of the governmentally run economy resulted in shortages of poor quality goods and services, and a declining standard of living.