What actually caused the economic inefficiencies (shortages, stagnation, lines, etc.) of the late USSR and Warsaw Pact? (lemmygrad.ml)

submitted 1 month ago by fire86743@lemmygrad.ml to c/genzhou@lemmygrad.ml

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I understand that there was still much good about the Soviet/Eastern Bloc system and shortages and all didn't always happen and revisionism would eventually cause all sorts of issues. However, I'm looking for a detailed answer (feel free to send links too) to what actually caused the infamous economic struggles that many people faced (which apparently isn't just completely bourgeois propaganda) in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations (particularly in their later years).

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[-] MasterDeeLuke@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Economic isolation and being forced to maintain a colossal army are probably the main reasons. Franco's reactionary Spain tried a policy of economic autarky and it didn't work any better for him. It also got hindered by entrenched bureaucratic elements that prevented the USSR from capitalizing on the potential strengths of having of planned economy, such as project OGAS getting shut down by government workers just because they didn't want to get displaced.

this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2025

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