Consider widespread blackmarket trading of foreign currency. If you assume that black market rate at the time was 10-15 rubles / dollar, $150 / month is not complete horseshit.
Economy of course worked better in unofficial sense than this and state support of health care and education at least provided care if not always easy to us and high quality, picture is more mixed.
DoreneC
In a message dated 4/11/2003 1:49:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time, chrisd at russiajournal.com writes:
> Subj:RE: [lbo-talk] Gulag query
> Date:4/11/2003 1:49:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time
> From:<A HREF="mailto:chrisd at russiajournal.com">chrisd at russiajournal.com</A>
> Reply-to:<A HREF="mailto:lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org">lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org</A>
> To:<A HREF="mailto:lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org">lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org</A>
> Sent from the Internet
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In the Soviet Union in the
> 1980’s, after six decades of the command economy, 57 percent of the
> population had to live on less than $10 a month.
> ---
> This is complete and utter horseshit. Average Soviet wage in the 80s was
> about 150 dollars a month (one ruble to the dollar), with strict price
> controls. A loaf of bread cost 5 kopeks. Does the writer think Soviets were
> buying Ladas on an income of 10 dollars a month?
>
> Poverty did not exist in the Soviet Union.
>
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