Emerging Economies (RUSSIA) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Emerging Economies (RUSSIA) - Research Paper Example According to the research findings the Soviet Union was considered as one of the most powerful and stable country in the world in 1980’s. The Soviet Union was getting stronger and stronger with the passage of time. The country was also stable economically. However, the policies devised and adopted by the country weakened the economic and political situation which eventually resulted in disintegration of Soviet Union. However, the analysts are of the view that the basic reason of political and economic collapse of the Soviet Union was the culture of War which caused severe impacts on the economic and political situations of the country. This increased war culture also affected the budget of the country and a greater portion of the budget was reserved only for the military. This increase in the military budget was made at the expense of the investment in the economy. By the mid of decade of 1980, half of the total output of the country was consumed by the Soviet military only. T his caused the shortages of the industrial commodities for the country and general public as a whole. Moreover, the commodities available in the market of Soviet Union were also not considered fit for use as all the commodities and goods which were in good condition were taken up by the military. Consequently, the consumers of the Soviet Union started importing the industrial goods to satisfy their desires. The economic factors that resulted in collapse of Soviet Union were also closely linked to the psychological factors affecting the people of the country. As the market was glooming day by day due to availability of few products and commodities in the market, the people were getting more and more depressed. Those who could import the goods from other countries satisfied their needs, but the other portion of the public suffered a lot. This had severe impacts on the psychological situations of the people and also on their working patterns and habits. The level of distrust in the gov ernment was so high that the workers often said that the government pretended that they were paying them for their work and they pretended that they were working for the government. The analysts are of the view that the incentives for the production were very low. In some cases, the workers were not given any incentives for the efforts they put in. This deterred the workers from working. Grigory Yavlinsky, a Russian economist, was of the view that the system of the system was not functioning properly because the workers were not working (Thayer, W. Silicon, V) At the time when the Soviet Union was facing great depression and economical instability, the Reagan administration in US decided to increase the military budget. They also proposed to implement an antiballistic missile system. This caused the Soviet Union to increase its military budget to maintain parity with United States. But at this stage, it was impossible for the Soviet Union to increase the share of its budget share fo r the military. The authorities of the Soviet Union decided to end the cold war and also the arms race which resulted in the allocation of a greater portion of budget to fulfill the military purposes only. However, this also removed the possibility of an invasion by external forces. Thus, the people of the Soviet Union also refused to accept the totalitarian system of government. As a result, the whole political system of the country was disintegrated and the Soviet Union collapsed. The post-Soviet period was a tough time for Russia. Especially, the transition period brought great challenges for the Russian government and public. The ways and methods that were adopted by the Russian administration to deal with these challenges are of significant importance. Moreover, the revolutionary changes that were brought by the Russian government in the field of education, industry and resource sectors are worth-mentioning. The economic policies adopted by the government in immediate post-Sovi et period are also of great importance. POST-SOVIET PERIOD: The Russian economy became one of the