The economy of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was characterized by a system of state owned production. The government applied a system of collective farming and used centralized administrative planning for manufacturing. The government planned and controlled the economy and investment, while industrial assets were publicly owned. Under the centralized policy, individual citizens lacked initiative for production; as a result socioeconomics was hindered by lack of progress for a number of decades.
From 1928 to 1991 the entire USSR economy was based on a series of Five-Year Plans. For a period of around 40 years during this period, the USSR was one of the world's three top manufacturers of many capital goods. The country could manufacture heavy industrial products, especially military weaponry, extremely efficiently. However, the country fell behind in light industrial production and consumer products. This was because the economic planning committee only focused on the development of heavy goods and ignored the market needs of light products.
- 1474 reads