The collapse of the Soviet Union was the most dramatic event of the 1990s. Overnight, a superpower that was almost once comparable to the United States fell apart, which had to be lamented.
There were many reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the erosion of the Soviet economy accounted for a large proportion. When economic and social development continues to deteriorate, no amount of physical reform can contain the collapse of the state. Only by making radical changes can we retain a glimmer of life, but it is clear that the Soviet authorities are not willing.
In fact, as early as the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union established a stable national economic structure and welfare security system, which was concentrated in the spurt development of Soviet stores.
By 1970, the Soviet Union had established 1,335,000 commercial points on the basis of the optional model, accounting for 28.2% of the total number of stores in the country. In terms of the footprint of the commercial site alone, its total operating area has reached a staggering 1.3 million square meters.
The emergence of self-selected department stores in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s was a microcosm of the continued upsurge of the Soviet national economy. It is an attempt to supply conditions under a planned economic system, aiming to create a national security system comparable to that of Western supermarkets.
It should be said that during this period the Soviet Union did not lack the main food, such as basic bread, milk and everything. However, for trade and tariff reasons, the variety of Soviet goods was not rich, and the styles tended to be aging. Perhaps for this reason, the privileged classes of the Soviet Union did not despise going to their own supermarkets, and they had better places to shop – specialty stores.
However, maintaining this welfare system is not an easy task, and it must rely on a strong national economic system to function properly.
According to the experience of scholar Jin Yan during his study visit in Eastern Europe, we can understand the economic changes in the Soviet Union under the drastic changes of the great era.
Jin Yan's book "Notes on Eastern Europe II" once recorded such an incident: In a shopping mall, I heard an old lady shouting: "After the establishment of the Soviet Union for so many years, the people have dipped a little cheap light, why do they have to raise prices now?" ”
At first glance, those who do not know think that the prices in the Soviet Union are ridiculously high, but in fact this is not the case, and the prices in the Soviet Union at that time were almost absurdly cheap. For example, a full meal on a Soviet dining cart costs only one ruble, beef is about five rubles per kilogram, and for 200 rubles you can buy a high-quality woolen coat.
If you look at the real exchange rate, even Chinese will feel surprisingly cheap, because at that time, one yuan can be equivalent to 3.5 rubles, and ordinary people can eat in Moscow. In the eyes of Westerners, perhaps these low-cost food products are equivalent to free gifts, after all, the price of goods in the Soviet Union is really surprisingly low.
However, this low price comes at the cost of the country's heavy financial burden, serious inefficiency of enterprises and tight supply.
Low prices usually meant abundant supply, but not in the Soviet Union. The Soviets themselves often say: Soviet things are not valuable, but the least valuable thing is time.
The ticket from Moscow to Warsaw is only 30 rubles, which is about the price of half a box of royal jelly in China. But to buy a ticket, it takes almost a whole day, and sometimes even can't even buy a ticket, which also promotes the rapid development of the scalper industry.
Taking the low price of food as an example, we can see the economic reality behind the low prices in the Soviet Union. Eggs in state-run stores are almost as cheap as free, but it takes at least four or five hours to buy enough eggs. This time cost is completely out of proportion to buying a few eggs.
If we convert the time wasted in line into value, can prices in the Soviet Union still be called cheap?
Because of this, the Soviet Union also developed a "queuing culture" in the late seventies and eighties. That kind of high degree of patience, good order and morality, can also be called orderly today. Of course, if you try to "add", what awaits you may be the fist of the fighting nation.
This national welfare system in the Soviet Union is bound to collapse if it is not strongly supported by finances. The subsequent course of Soviet history illustrates this problem.
On October 31, 1989, in order to solve the dilemma of the serious shortage of national goods, the Supreme Council of Soviets of the USSR adopted the 1990 State Plan and Budget, stipulating that in the 1990s the national income for consumption and non-productive funds would be increased to 86.7%, and the industrial output value of consumer goods would increase by 6.7%. These measures were unprecedented in the history of the Soviet Union.
But even so, the plight of material scarcity faced by Soviet society has not been alleviated. After the 1990s, the supply of meat and milk became increasingly strained not only in the Soviet Union, but also in Moscow' food supply. Since May 1990, foreign embassies in Moscow have even had to obtain food with tickets.
In the last years of the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was always a long line in front of the store. In order to buy some random goods that are randomly listed, some Soviet situations even wait in line all night. Correspondingly, the shelves of the store are empty, because the social productive forces cannot keep up, and the lack of materials is also impossible.
It can be said that the deformed economic structure of the Soviet Union was one of the main reasons for the chaos in the Soviet Union. Without the above situation, perhaps the Soviet Union could have found a new way, but unfortunately, the arrival of "new thinking" completely buried everything.