Unfortunately, the focus on building up the military resulted in the stagnation of civilian industry. Instead of planning for the future of their particular establishments, managers concentrated on fulfilling their short-term quotas in order to keep their jobs. This narrow focus minimized innovative thinking and locked civilian industry into the status quo. Meanwhile, the West was beginning to computerize nearly every aspect of its society. Before long, the western economy was benefiting from markedly increased productivity, and it began to leave the Soviet economy far behind.

Under Brezhnev, agriculture returned to its former position as stepchild of the Soviet economy. Modest increases in agricultural harvests were negated by poor storage methods and an unsatisfactory transportation system. The result was that millions of tons of food either rotted before it could be harvested or spoiled en route to consumers. Most Soviet experts now agree that the 1970s...