> (As an aside, it is untrue, though commonly asserted, that
> the USSR nationalized all private property. Half of all
> agriculture was privately grown from Brezhnev on, and small
> [very small] business did exist. What was illegal was having
> employees.)
Yep. And there was a significant variation in that respect across Soviet bloc countries. In most EE countries substantial chunks of agriculture, retail, and small mfg were either privately or cooperatively owned. Same for housing. Only the so-called "key industries" - heavy mfg, energy, mining, and transport - were state owned.
Wojtek