Growth rates under Stalin

One of the things I've always liked to tell people is that under Stalin, the Soviet economy grew at a pace that was then, and is still unparalleled. Now I've noticed I can't even remember how fast it grew and where I got that info from. Does anybody have some reliable data? (Looking at you, s78)

At its peak the growth rates were at 14% during the 30's. And yes, no economy in world history ever matched that economic growth pace. China could have paralleled since the first five year plan similar to the soviet one was equally successful but then Mao started to invent and blew almost the entire chinese economy.

Mao concentrated both on industrial and agricultural growth. Stalin concentrated only on industrial. Not to exaggerate, average growth of the Soviet economy then was 5-7 percent while Western capitalist countries grew at 2-3 percent. Given the fact that the 5 Year plans were designed to overtake the West in all sectors of the economy including military weaponry, I find the published statistics very very credible. The only criticism I have is that it was really really fast paced. Well, nothing is not so fast paced as city life in Japan and Singapore and USA.

AlmaAta wrote:

Not to exaggerate, average growth of the Soviet economy then was 5-7 percent while Western capitalist countries grew at 2-3 percent. Given the fact that the 5 Year plans were designed to overtake the West in all sectors of the economy including military weaponry, I find the published statistics very very credible. The only criticism I have is that it was really really fast paced. Well, nothing is not so fast paced as city life in Japan and Singapore and USA.

If someone can explain me how USSR went from the bottom of the world's industrialization ranking to the top in just 10 years with an economic growth of 5-7 percent maybe i'll believe then in those figures. Until then i will continue to believe in 13-14%. Those numbers were created by western officials just to minimize the extraordinary accomplish of the USSR in the 30's.

AlmaAta wrote:

Mao concentrated both on industrial and agricultural growth. Stalin concentrated only on industrial.

That's why i said Mao invented, if he had only concentrated on industrial growth (which was the essential) he would have obtained the same development of the USSR in the 30's.

JAM wrote:

At its peak the growth rates were at 14% during the 30's. And yes, no economy in world history ever matched that economic growth pace. China could have paralleled since the first five year plan similar to the soviet one was equally successful but then Mao started to invent and blew almost the entire chinese economy.

That's a very conservative estimate. The growth rates during the Stalin era were actually on the order of 20+ percent.

Still no sources. :/

There are statistics on the Soviet Union available on Marxists.org:
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/go ... /index.htm

This is from the Soviet statistical yearbook Народное хозяйство СССР за 70 лет ("People's economy of the USSR in 70 years"), published in 1987,page 52
It can be downloaded from the Internet.

My translation is not very good, group "A" ( according to an old Marx's scheme) refers to heavy industry and such while group "B" ( consumer goods production in the image ) refers to light industry.