> It is actually a surprising that Russia is not the manufacturing capital of the world. Why the USSR did not become a major industrial exporter has been the s

> It is actually a surprising that Russia is not the manufacturing capital of the world. Why the USSR did not become a major industrial exporter has been the subject of some good historical studies. It's been a while, so I don't have any good references at hand, but I recall that the main problem was Soviet management policies. Companies had a very hard time implementing quality control, and the government was also reluctant to close obsolete plants, because their primary goal was to maintain full employment.