PLANNED ECONOMY: THE HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE USSR AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

This article explores the phenomenon of the planned economy as a centralized management system in which the state exercises strict control over production, pricing, and resource allocation. The study demonstrates that the planned economy model was not a domestic policy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), but rather a widespread phenomenon that was also implemented in countries across Western and Eastern Europe. The key goal is to eliminate economic backwardness and overcome the «anarchy of production» inherent in capitalism. The authors have analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of implementing a planned economy. They have proven the effectiveness of accelerated industrialization in priority sectors of the economy and the solution of national economic problems in the short term. However, in the long term, the implementation of a planned economy has revealed its systemic drawbacks (chronic shortages of consumer goods, suppression of initiatives, and a complete lack of flexibility).