# Why (was?) the Soviet economy during the Cold War era such a failure?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-soviet-economy-during-the-cold-war-era-such-a-failure/1031851>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 22, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-soviet-economy-during-the-cold-war-era-such-a-failure/1031851 "2026-07-22T15:38:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 17

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**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-soviet-economy-during-the-cold-war-era-such-a-failure/1031851/17 "2026-07-23T01:08:07Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> > [@FlikTheBlue](#):
> >
> > A spin off of the thread on what the Soviet Union did better than the west.
> 
> Link please.

> [@Soviet technology that was on par with, or better than it's Western counterpart](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-technology-that-was-on-par-with-or-better-than-its-western-counterpart/1031816):
>
> It is pretty much a given that the West did most things better than the USSR, but were there areas, or technologies where the Soviet Union was ahead?

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