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It's not very clear how the GDP was calculated. Don't forget, the rouble was not freely convertible in USD. But if anyone ever calculated the per capita GDP of

It's not very clear how the GDP was calculated. Don't forget, the rouble was not freely convertible in USD. But if anyone ever calculated the per capita GDP of the Soviet Union in the late 80's to be half of the US, then how come there were huge lines to buy the basic necessities, most people were driving Ladas [1] (the people who were driving anything, that is), you couldn't travel outside the communist bloc, there was a huge black market in western products (audio and video equipment, western music and movies, blue jeans, cigarettes)? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada_Riva https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada_Riva

devoply 10y ago
Money was diverted to their war machine fighting the Americans. Their economy was 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the US but they were spending 2/3 of America's military budget so up to 20% of their GDP was going to the war machine. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/31/world/soviet-military-budget-128-billion-bombshell.html http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/31/world/soviet-military-budg... https://www.quora.com/What-was-it-like-to-live-in-the-Soviet-Union-or-Eastern-Europe-during-the-Cold-War https://www.quora.com/What-was-it-like-to-live-in-the-Soviet... > The cold war. Given the failing economy, what limited resources were available went to the military and the related science fields. The Soviet Union had lots and lots of tanks, a huge army and countless nuclear missiles. Somehow I have a feeling that the Soviet education was also quite good, it's just that the money was going elsewhere. Most other areas were quite neglected. Apparently in the 80s they had problems producing consumer goods in general due to a declining economy and bad quality control and manufacturing processes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_goods_in_the_Soviet_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_goods_in_the_Soviet_U...

devoply 10y ago

Money was diverted to their war machine fighting the Americans. Their economy was 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the US but they were spending 2/3 of America's military budget so up to 20% of their GDP was going to the war machine. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/31/world/soviet-military-budget-128-billion-bombshell.html http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/31/world/soviet-military-budg... https://www.quora.com/What-was-it-like-to-live-in-the-Soviet-Union-or-Eastern-Europe-during-the-Cold-War https://www.quora.com/What-was-it-like-to-live-in-the-Soviet... > The cold war. Given the failing economy, what limited resources were available went to the military and the related science fields. The Soviet Union had lots and lots of tanks, a huge army and countless nuclear missiles. Somehow I have a feeling that the Soviet education was also quite good, it's just that the money was going elsewhere. Most other areas were quite neglected. Apparently in the 80s they had problems producing consumer goods in general due to a declining economy and bad quality control and manufacturing processes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_goods_in_the_Soviet_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_goods_in_the_Soviet_U...