On Sep 5, 11:05 pm, Immortalist yahoo.com> wrote:

Please. All of the basic technology was invented in the West,
primarily in Germany and the USA. The Soviets usurped it, poured
billions into it for its propaganda value while their people were
standing on line for bread.

And in a matter of a few years we completely surpassed them.

Are you also forgetting that when the Soviets finally realized they
could not even remotely "catch us" let alone as Khrushchev boasted,
"bury us", that their economy completly imploded, i.e. when its false
facade was finally revealed for the fakery it was. We now know of
course - despite their apologists attempts to cover it up - that they
were years, even decades, behind us in almost all areas. Almost all
Soviet era factories have had to either be closed down or completely
re-tooled to update them to Western standards.

The concept of scarcity in economics of course does apply - to managed
economies such as the Soviet where it was rampant in virtually every
category except perhaps concentration camps.

Fred Weiss