soviet economy had worked relatively well → when it consisted of small number of very large industries → particularly coal, steel, electricity
- govt could make decisions about these industries → could then be implemented
As soviet economy grew + expanded by 1970s → Soviet economy → overwhelmed by increasing demands
- Soviet govt struggled → coping up with many companies making diff goods.
- acted too slowly and made poor decisions.
- e.g. USSR very slow to bring new tech into industries