The Soviet economy was the second in the world after the war, that is, GDP. The United States is the undisputed economic leader, and Japan only jumped to the second place in the world after the 1980s, but by that time the Soviet Union had begun to weaken.

The success of the Soviet Union lies in the highly centralized planned economic system. The advantage of this system is that it can quickly complete industrialization, establish an independent, complete and solid industrial base, and become an industrial power with heavy chemical industry as the mainstay. During the pre-war Russian Empire, Russia's industrial output value only accounted for 1% of the world, mainly in the textile industry. Around 1930s, the industrial output of the Soviet Union ranked second in the world and first in Europe. It accounts for 10% of the world, has a large number of complete and independent basic industries, mainly heavy chemical industry, and has established a complete national defense industry and scientific research system.

The failure of the Soviet Union was when the national industrial system and national industrialization had been completed. Those in power hold a planned economy and still do not pay attention to stepping up the development of downstream light industry or consumer goods manufacturing. At this stage of industrialization, the disadvantages of the planned economic system are increasingly exposed.

The core of Soviet planned economy system is "high accumulation and low consumption", which most economists scoff at. Because this system has many sequelae and future drawbacks. Moreover, what the planned economy has always wanted is not economic prosperity, but economic foundation and strong national strength. So economists are usually very picky.

The use of the best things in the world must be measured. Planned economy has its scope of application.