Soviet Union Study_7.pdf

Soviet Union: A Country Study
Serious imbalances characterized the economy, however, and
the Soviet Union lagged behind most Western industrialized nations
in the production of consumer goods and services. A stated
goal of Soviet policy had always been to raise the material living
standards of the people. Considerable progress had been made;
according to Western estimates (less flattering than Soviet), from
1950 and 1980 real per capita consumption increased 300 percent.
The country's leaders had devoted the bulk ofthe available resources
to heavy industry, however, particularly to "production of the
means ofproduction. " Levels ofconsumption remained below those
of major capitalist countries and most of the socialist countries of
Eastern Europe. By the late 1970s, policy makers had recognized
the need to improve productivity by emphasizing quality factors,
efficiency, and advanced technology and tapping''hidden production
reserves" in the economy.
Concern about productivity characterized the Eleventh Five-Year
Plan (1981-85). The targets were rather modest, and planners
reduced even those after the first year ofthe period. Achievements
remained below target. The plan period as a whole produced a
modest growth rate of 3 to 4 percent per year, according to official
statistics. National income increased only 17 percent. Total industrial
output grew by 20 percent, with the production of consumer
goods increasing at a marginally higher rate than producer goods.
Agricultural output registered a meager 11.6 percent gain.
The Twelfth Five-Year Plan, 1986-90
When Gorbachev attained power in 1985, most Western analysts
were convinced that Soviet economic performance would not improve
significantly during the remainder of the 1980s. "Intensification"
alone seemed unlikely to yield important immediate results.
Gorbachev tackled the country's economic problems energetically,
however, declaring that the economy had entered a "pre-crisis"
stage. The leadership and the press acknowledged shortcomings
in the economy with a new frankness.
Restating the aims ofearlier intensification efforts, the Basic Directionsfor
the Economic and Social Development ofthe USSRfor 1986-1990
andfor the Period to the Year 2000 declared the principal tasks of the
five-year plan period to be "to enhance the pace and efficiency of
economic development by accelerating scientific and technical
progress, retooling and adapting production, intensively using existing
production potential, and improving the managerial system and
accounting mechanism, and, on this basis, to further raise the standard
of living of the Soviet people." A major part of the planned
increase in output for the 1986-90 period was to result from the
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