Abstract
Even without the CIA discoveries, everyone knows that the Soviet people live a lot worse than Americans. And the question that the CIA study tries to answer — precisely how much worse? — may appear to be not significant. If the USSR were just a little behind, placing the Soviet standard of living somewhat in the range of France, then the question might look different. But the lag is so great that being more precise about its extent does not seem necessary.
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© 1989 Igor Birman
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Birman, I. (1989). What For?. In: Personal Consumption in the USSR and the USA. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10349-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10349-2_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-10351-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-10349-2
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