Economic Reforms Flashcards
What was economic acceleration?
It meant a huge increase in economic investment to help modernise the soviet economy. Through this the economy would become more efficient.
What were the issues with acceleration?
It did not address the weakenesses of the economy.
Was unable to be fully enforced due to the already weak economy.
It was funded from foreign countries causing an increase in government debt.
What was the anti-alcohol campaign?
Gorbachev attacked the issue of alcoholism. Alcohol accounted for 15% of household spending.
What were the issues with the anti-alcohol campaign?
People began to put their money towards creatinghteir own moonshine which can be dangerous.
What were the issues with Gorbachev’s five year plan?
Poor investment in agriculture. Production quality. Equiptment. Construction project bias. Opposition.
How did poor investment in agriculture hinder the enconomy?
The agricultural sector was taking in huge amounts of investment which were not improving the production.
How did product quality hinder the economy?
The governments economic aims did not take into account the quality of the goods and meant the quality was poor and rushed.
How did the Soviet equiptment hinder the economy?
Equiptment was out of date and prone to breaking. Factories became unproductive due to failure in equiptment. As the government sought to trade in new technology it put a drain on foreign exchange. This meant less foreign trade was used to import food and in turn caused food issues.
How did construction project bias hinder the economy?
Investment was heavily in favour of construction projects. These often caused overspending and drained the government money leaving little for other things.
How did opposition hinder the economy?
Gorbachev had to have the permission from both the party and state for economic change which often led to rejection of economic improvement or change.
Why did peristroika fail?
Oppostion. Increased gap between rich and poor. Helped organised crime and corruption. It had little benefit for the people. Low food production. Old system remained. Reforms were expensive.
What was the impact of opposition on perestroika?
Reforms were underminded by officials and in some cities were completely ignored.
How did perestroika increase the gap between rich and poor? Why was it an issue?
Peristroika caused an increase in the standard of living between the rich and poor.
Co-operatives were able to shop around for a buyer who would offer good prices. Richer city authorities benefitted while poorer cities were devoid of adequate food.
How did peristoika cause an increase in organise crime and corruption? Why was it an issue?
Corrupt government officials demanded bribes in order for them to operate. Criminal gangs used it an an opportunity for extortion. This undermined the government and left people vunerable.
How did peristroika fail to benefit the people?
Shops were emptied as hoarding surged.
