1. How "planned" was the economy? What are some examples that demonstrate its "plannedness" compared to current states like China?

  2. Why did it fail?

  3. How good was the standard of living?

  • Tachanka [comrade/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    1. How planned was the economy? Depends on the time period. It was never 100% planned. But it was certainly more planned in the 30s-50s than it was in the 60s-80s.

    2. Why did it fail? Hakim has a good video on this. TL;DR: Many reasons.

    3. Also depends on the era. Are we talking about in the immediate aftermath of the civil war and world war 1? are we talking about during the rapid industrialization period between ww1 and ww2? are we talking about during ww2? are we talking about after ww2? the standard of living was very different depending on what period of soviet history you're talking about.

  • iByteABit [comrade/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I'm sure you'll get some interesting answers from the others, but I think this is too many topics that are all quite deep so I'd recommend reading some books about them. Blackshirts and Reds is great for starters.

  • starkillerfish (she)@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    1 year ago

    I agree with the MicrophoneFiend that these are all deep and diverse topics. For question 2 I would recommend Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union by Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny.

    Also keep in mind for questions 1 and 3 that the soviet union existed from 1922 to 1991, conditions and the economy varied immensely. you would have to be more precise which period you are interested in.