Russia: A Stop-Go Economy Goes

By channeling vast funds into industry and armaments and by forcing austerity on the consumer, Russia through much of the postwar period maintained a very high rate of economic growth. Then, in 1965, the regime was embarrassed to have to admit —after many official denials — that the growth rate had been falling since 1959 because of the sheer weight of bureaucratic controls and constraints. Getting the rate back up again has been one of the chief tasks of the government of Aleksei Kosygin and Party Chairman Leonid Brezhnev — and the latest Russian economic figures show that they...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!