The Soviet Union: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Lovell Stephen

Author:Lovell, Stephen [Lovell, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2009-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

After Khrushchev, however, the rhetoric was rather more subdued. For the last 20 years of its existence, the Soviet Union achieved modest but tangible advances on the consumer front. Above all, it maintained its social contract by keeping prices low for the basics. CIA figures (perhaps the best available) estimated a steady growth in food consumption between 1964 and 1973. Between 1946 and 1990, Soviet annual output increased consistently, apart from 1963 and 1979 (which were years of bad harvests). Living standards were extremely modest by Western European standards, but until the late 1980s there was no significant downturn, and the Soviet population could enjoy a long period of unprecedented stability. Per capita consumption grew at an average annual rate of 3.5% between 1951 and 1980. The increase in discretionary income was also reflected in levels of savings, which rose from an average of 157 rubles per account in 1960 to 1,189 rubles in 1980.

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