In a way, though, the cold war forced the Soviet Union and its satellites to be more economically self-dependent and develop. By the end of the 1980s, they wer

In a way, though, the cold war forced the Soviet Union and its satellites to be more economically self-dependent and develop. By the end of the 1980s, they were producing home computers, stereo equipment, and televisions. Much of it may have been low-quality and/or knock off of Western gear (see: the myriad ZX Spectrum clones) but they actually did develop the manufacturing base. A lot of Western countries of similarly low or developing economic position would just import American, European or Japanese goods. Interestingly, you did see something similar in places like Brazil where the import restrictions led to a fair amount of license-built and local manufacturing.