1 / 7

Why did Communism collapse?

Why did Communism collapse?. Why Did Communism Collapse?. Facts: The USSR from 1945 to 1991 was regarded as a superpower The USSR was a potent force The largest nation on the planet; possessed a strong military force; major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many other strategic minerals

peigi
Télécharger la présentation

Why did Communism collapse?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Why did Communism collapse?

  2. Why Did Communism Collapse? • Facts: • The USSR from 1945 to 1991 was regarded as a superpower • The USSR was a potent force • The largest nation on the planet; possessed a strong military force; major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many other strategic minerals • Many Western leaders feared the USSR would become the dominant world power • The “Cold War” and the Vietnam and Korean Wars were fought to stop the spread of communist ideas • Yet, in 1991, the USSR abruptly disappeared when Russian President Boris Yeltsin declared it ceased to exist after his election • So, why did the Soviet Union collapse?

  3. True/False Clues—Clickers • For much of the 20th century, nearly one-third of the world’s population lived under communism • True • The USSR worked from the premise that only gov’t planners could provide for the overall economic well-being of Soviet society • True • In a market economy, prices send important information to producers and consumers regarding the relative value of g/s • True • In command economies, prices are controlled by the gov’t • True

  4. Solution to the Collapse of Communism Mystery • Turn to a partner and try to determine a solution as to why the USSR collapsed • The Solution: • Under communism, gov’t was thought to have superior information, enabling it to make better economic decisions than individuals might make acting on their own behalf • The rules of the economic system abolished the incentives that ordinarily encourage producers to respond to consumers: • Private ownership • Profit motive • Prices and quantities set by the gov’t distorted the information sent to individuals and businesses

  5. Characteristics of a Command Economy • Public Ownership • Which abolished incentives • Centralized Decision Making • No way to react to millions of prices (which alleviate shortages and surpluses) • Economic Planning • While a gov’t may be “smarter” than any one individual, it isn’t smarter than the entire population combined (a.k.a., the Wisdom of Crowds) • Allocation by Command • Open to corruption and favoritism; lead to much waste

  6. Characteristics of a Market Economy • Private Property • Freedom of Choice • Self-Interest • Profit Motive • Markets and Prices • Competition • Limited Gov’t

  7. Review • Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a market economy? A. Private ownership C. Competition B. Freedom of choice D. Selfishness • Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a command economy? A. Public ownership C. Allocation by command B. Competition D. Economic planning

More Related