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Vanity - What were the economic reasons for the Soviet Collapse?

Posted on 10/14/2010 8:59:16 PM PDT by tired1

Aside from the obviuous shortcommings of central planning, I'm interested in the circumdtances which caused the USSR to implode. Was it inability to meet foreign obligations?

Would appreciate opioions and any sources.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; History; Politics
KEYWORDS: ciakgb; collapse; communism; history; reagan; soviet; soviets; sovietunion; ussr
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To: chuckee

Wasn’t gold also one of the factors? I seem to recall reading that encouraging South Africa to naintain high gold production dropped the price that the Russians could earn for their gold.


41 posted on 10/14/2010 9:41:01 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: One Name

Can’t recall the project’s name but it something like this: Canadian intel let CIA know what KGB tech spies were after. Reagan and Casey came up with a SUPER secret plan to let them steal. Bobby Inmann was also involved. They took everything they could get their hands on only to find that some stuff had been “modified”. One of the itmes was software that controlled the pumps on their gas pipeline compressors.

Well, one day there was an explosion that was picked up by satellite. Gorby knew he was screwed! There was no way to tell what was safe because they’d been stealing for such a long time.

Checkmate.


42 posted on 10/14/2010 9:41:41 PM PDT by tired1 (Federalize the Fed)
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To: tired1

The Soviet Union was papa bear of the Communist bloc. Their currency, the ruble, was the coin of the realm in their bloc. The wealthy West was not about to offer to bail their enemy out. They really had no one they could borrow from when the ruble became worthless. So I am not sure whether I would characterize it as debt or a worthless currency that could not be exchanged for goods for import. Basically, they had no money, no goods and no one in the West was going to loan them money until the regime crashed.


43 posted on 10/14/2010 9:43:22 PM PDT by chuckee
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To: casuist
Also, the USSR had no concept of bankruptcy. So non-performing firms could persist forever, destroying value, with no market incentives to innovate their operations.

The USSR's downfall was that it was too big to fail.

44 posted on 10/14/2010 9:44:01 PM PDT by Ezekiel (The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)
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To: tired1
The Lion of Panjshir (Afghani Ahmad Shah Massoud) played a major part in grinding down the soviet military in Afghanistan, at great cost to the soviets.

We (America/Reagan) provided support to him, just how much support is unclear.

45 posted on 10/14/2010 9:45:53 PM PDT by Washi
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To: Ezekiel

Stinger Missles!


46 posted on 10/14/2010 9:50:20 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: tired1

Are you shitting me?? Why do you think it is our job to educate you about a subject like that? What makes you think that anyone here could possibly explain almost 100 years of brutal repression and economic failure to you?

Hit Wiki and do a couple of years of reading Zippy, and quit wasting someone else’s expensive bandwidth.

There. Someone needed to say it.

Carry on.


47 posted on 10/14/2010 9:50:48 PM PDT by Bean Counter (Now what kind of a geroo are you anyway?)
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To: tired1

Thanks- what a convoluted world. Tireless patriots manning the walls- thank God for these unsung heroes.


48 posted on 10/14/2010 9:52:43 PM PDT by One Name
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To: tired1

Whatever the cause, the core moment as I remember watching live tv then was the inability to print paychecks for government workers. No pay, no prospect of pay, everyone just went home.


49 posted on 10/14/2010 9:54:53 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (+)
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To: Bean Counter
I don't know what to say. I guess neither does your mother. Oh well, maybe she had more than one. My condolences to her.
50 posted on 10/14/2010 9:55:50 PM PDT by tired1 (Federalize the Fed)
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To: tired1
I was always fascinated with the USSR as a kid.. my grandfather (a supermarket CEO in the 50's-60') went there a few times to offer advice (and told me stories of being followed, wiretapped, even his taxi being bugged).

In the 80's I did a bicycle trip all around Russia, Estonia and Latvia (was supposed to hit Lithunia too, but wasn't allowed because of protests). I always had my government "escort" with me to make sure I saw the "right" things and got the correct messages.

I talked to foreign construction workers building Moscow's first McDonalds... and learned that no russian would do the labor. Why work when you make the same money doing nothing?

The story was the same everywhere... why should we work? We can't ever get more by working, so we don't.

The only folks with nice dachas on the rivers were government workers... everyone else lived in the ugly concrete public housing situations, or out in the country in little shacks... farmers... who had to give their products to the government and get back just enough to live on.

They had seperate stores for foreigners and government workers. Those stores had nice things, imported booze, cigarrettes, etc. The "regular" people had to shop in markets which had bare shelves most of the time, and low quality items.

There was no productivity... the economy failed.

This seems to be what Obama wants for us.

51 posted on 10/14/2010 9:59:45 PM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: chuckee

Don’t forget the Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko Debacle that led to Gorby...

After B died, the power struggle between the KGB and the State Party Apparatchiks came out full steam.

That, combined with Reagan’s pressure, energy prices, the failure of the 4th 5-Year Plan in 8 Years, massive corruption, and a transport infrastructure that was crumbling led to food shortages, and even riots.

By 1986, reports said less than 15% of the food leaving the farms was arriving in the cities. I was a Soviet Specialist in those days, and there were periods where the west had NO IDEA who was in charge, or even still alive, in the Kremlin.


52 posted on 10/14/2010 10:01:10 PM PDT by tcrlaf (Obama White House=Tammany Hall on the National Mall)
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To: Ezekiel

As the saying goes, Socialism only works until you run out of other people’s money to spend....


53 posted on 10/14/2010 10:03:51 PM PDT by tcrlaf (Obama White House=Tammany Hall on the National Mall)
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To: tired1
Letting them steam toxic software to control the pipelines was pretty slick!

Don't steam software!

It stops working when wet.

54 posted on 10/14/2010 10:05:04 PM PDT by Lazamataz
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To: tired1
The USSR sunk a lot of cash into the Viet Nam conflict. Cuba was an expensive liability. Their economic program was not based on supply and demand. They spent butt loads of cash on dead ends in their defense programs. Their adventure in Afghanistan as the final straw.

According to Pravda it was a series weather related crop failures.

55 posted on 10/14/2010 10:05:25 PM PDT by oyez (The difference in genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.)
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To: Bean Counter

You might want to go walk your dog.

Other people are having a conversation you don’t wish to be involved in.

Thanks.


56 posted on 10/14/2010 10:08:59 PM PDT by One Name
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To: oyez

“According to Pravda it was a series weather related crop failures.”

Which is true, to some extent.
The Drought of the late 70’s/80’s forced the Russians to buy huge quantities of food and corn on the World Markets. And every Soviet hand that touched it siphoned some off before it got to the cities.


57 posted on 10/14/2010 10:09:09 PM PDT by tcrlaf (Obama White House=Tammany Hall on the National Mall)
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To: tcrlaf
By 1986, reports said less than 15% of the food leaving the farms was arriving in the cities.

According to news reports after the collapse, one reason was theft at nearly every stage of transport from the field to the government market - everyone was skimming along the way either for their own belly or for sale on the black market.
58 posted on 10/14/2010 10:11:13 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: oyez

Yes, Viet Nam was costly for the Soviets. At one point, they had upward of 50,000-60,000 troops/advisors in Viet Nam. Also, there was the materiel and economic aid to to the DRVN. They spent a bundle on Ho and the Boys.


59 posted on 10/14/2010 10:14:37 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: Psalm 144

It’s early. What do you think? Does she have an annointing?


60 posted on 10/14/2010 10:16:29 PM PDT by One Name
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