Soviet Consumer Policy: Trends and Prospects

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Abstract
The Soviet consumer entered the 1970s with raised expectations. Consumption goals for the Eighth Five-Year Plan had been met for the first time in Soviet planning history, boosted by improved performance in agriculture and unprecedented imports of Western soft goods. The Soviet leadership seemed to commit itself more seriously to consumer-oriented programs, symbolized by the pledge to raise the output of quality foods. The leadership has continued the long-term Soviet policy of maintaining stable prices on basic consumer goods. Many Soviet economists see the gap between supply and demand reflected in the large lump of highly liquid demand embodied in savings deposits. The Soviet press abounds with reports of the consequences of the perverse incentives. Soviet economic growth has been slowing for some time, largely because of a drying up of rural sources of urban labor-force growth, a slowdown in the growth of capital productivity, and a limited capacity for the purchase of foreign technology and materials.

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