shown that the main reason behind the collapse of the USSR was indeed the lack of a stable and proficient economy. As well as this, economic factors in both the domestic and international arenas led to other problems that made the probability of a long-term existence for the European superpower very unlikely. But these will be discussed later on.
             The collapse of the Soviet Union was due in a large part to the poor performance of the country's economy. Unlike the western democratic nations with free markets, the Soviet Union under the rule of Josef Stalin (who dominated Soviet political rings by 1929 until his death in 1953) pursued an economy that was completely controlled by a central governing body.
             This particular model put an end to the market mechanism of prices fluctuating according to demand .
             The Soviet leaders could control this rather fundamental economic component by way of The State Planning Committee (GOSPLAN). This committee controlled prices in an attempt to stamp out independent economic response. Since demand for a certain good could no longer effect the price of that good the success of this planned economy depended upon the successful state control over the factors of production. Miller argues:
             Manufactures and farmers had to be made to produce exactly what the state ordered, not what seemed profitable or met demand .
             It is already evident that there were fundamental problems associated with this economic model. Under this system the regulating of prices tended to lessen or remove the true value of money as a gauge of quality, costs or efficiency. Moreover the monopolistic nature of this economy would prove to remove decision-makers from the true economic market place. Subsequently, decisions made pertaining to the direction of the country's economy were made under circumstances that distorted realistic economic views and would prove harmful to the longevity of the USSR.
             Initially the Soviet ...