What was the reason for rationing, was it inflation, unemployment, drought or what? I though Poland economy was free to do what it wanted, or was it subject to the same problems as the Soviet Union?
You’re thinking too much in market terms. It should be more “Our allocation of production has resulted in shortages of these goods; we must figure out a way of distributing these goods without resorting to ‘highest-bidder’ style market economics.”
Typically, in market-oriented economies, this happens during wartime when the government doesn’t trust market economies (rightly) to deliver the needs of the war while there are still civilians willing to outbid the government. In command economies, this happens whenever the priorities of the government and the civilian population are at odds (such as Poland exporting most of its sugar to the SovUnion despite massive domestic demand for sugar and higher sugar production per capita than ever before).
I have a game wishlisted on Steam called Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic that I’m hoping might prove educational to better understand how that system worked because sometimes it seems so foreign to me.
Market economies are very psychological - “How do you encourage people to consume/produce X?” But command economies are simpler in a sense, because it’s all very material - “What do we make, and who do we give it to?”
What was the reason for rationing, was it inflation, unemployment, drought or what? I though Poland economy was free to do what it wanted, or was it subject to the same problems as the Soviet Union?
Same essential problems as the SovUnion, but in the early-mid 1980s, the Polish economy was struggling.
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You’re thinking too much in market terms. It should be more “Our allocation of production has resulted in shortages of these goods; we must figure out a way of distributing these goods without resorting to ‘highest-bidder’ style market economics.”
Typically, in market-oriented economies, this happens during wartime when the government doesn’t trust market economies (rightly) to deliver the needs of the war while there are still civilians willing to outbid the government. In command economies, this happens whenever the priorities of the government and the civilian population are at odds (such as Poland exporting most of its sugar to the SovUnion despite massive domestic demand for sugar and higher sugar production per capita than ever before).
I have a game wishlisted on Steam called Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic that I’m hoping might prove educational to better understand how that system worked because sometimes it seems so foreign to me.
Market economies are very psychological - “How do you encourage people to consume/produce X?” But command economies are simpler in a sense, because it’s all very material - “What do we make, and who do we give it to?”
Excellent game, btw
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