4 ms·

Didn't the blockade work both ways? I'm not blaming everything on socialism though. Russia was not very developed before the revolution, and it suffered terrib

• lucian1900 5y ago
  Several socialist countries tried to export the west, but it was always with the condition that they privatise, reduce worker wages and take on extortionate IMF loans. I’m less familiar with the USSR’s policies on this, but I can tell you România tried to export to the west and took on an IMF loan to do so. Then we were blocked from actually selling our exports and the loan was required to be paid early and in full regardless. Since we were only allowed to export food for the most part, rationing had to be used for several years. This economic crisis, in addition to constant propaganda via radio and funding of fascists, is part of how the US and its allies made the 89 coup successful.
  • PedroBatista 5y ago
    Was România free to buy everything the West was selling?
    • lucian1900 5y ago
      If nothing else, we were restricted from buying several foreign currencies at anything other than extortionate rates. A lot of trade deals also insisted on liberalising to some degree or other, which would have (and did, after 89) damaged the local economy. Without trade deals a lot of commodities are so expensive they might as well be banned. Later on China and Vietnam did manage to negotiate an in-between position with some markets and some free trade (and in the case of Vietnam even IMF loans), but with workers as a class maintaining control of the state and significant parts of the economy continuing to be mostly planned by state-owned enterprises.