In terms of consumer goods there was no a significant improvement. The Five Year Plan tried to eradicate free trade which meant that people could not afford what they wanted. Furthermore, there were shortages of consumer goods because of the state control of private industries. As a result it encouraged an illegal trade in products such as vodka, cigarettes, footwear and food. Furthermore, the black market was so widely spread that it was difficult t police effectively. This illustrates that the economy worsened in terms of consumer goods. Additionally, even though in the early 1934 bread rationing ended, in comparison to the 1920’s food was available on the open market. However, living standards did improve for Stakhanovite workers, they were rewarded with ‘top secret’ shops but very few workers were given these luxuries. Noticeably, the consumer economy only benefited a few workers, whilst the majority had suffered resulting in the black market.
The five year plan had little success in improving labour productivity. During the first five year plan the majority of Stalin’s industrial labour forces were unskilled peasants who had only recently left the countryside. Similarly, much of what was achieved during the plan was achieved by the slave labour of workers in the gulag. Consequently, workers did not produce high quality goods and they had unrealistic targets to meet. However, during the second five year plan incentives were introduced in order to increase labour productivity. Furthermore, in the third Year plan, passports were introduced so that factories had an efficient flow of labour. The Stakhanovite movement inspired many workers to achieve and/or exceed their targets for rewards even though Stakhanovite had better machinery he still inspired. On the other hand, therefore the workers, working with primitive technology, they could not match the efforts of the Stakhanovites. Ultimately, the pressure of official targets uninspired the majority of workers and therefore Stalin’s economy constantly was unsuccessful to raise labour productivity.
Preparation for war was partially successful in improving Russia’s economy. The third year plan continued the rearmament which had begun in the final phase of the second year plan. For example a third of government investment went to the armed forces, doubling the proportion since 1937. However, this indicates that Stalin diverted resources away from consumer goods in order to release funds for defence spending. The third year plan initiated a number of important innovations in Soviet military technology. For example in 1939 Gosplan ordered the construction of nine new aircraft factories. Additionally, the central committee had decreed that all of the countries resources should be mobilized in preparation of war. However, much of which was produced was of such low quality that it was practically useless. Notably, the war economy did improve partially due to increase in defence spending, but it did come at the expense of consumer goods.
In conclusion, Stalin’s plans did succeed in improving the economy to some extent. Heavy industry grew largely and aided the economy to grow by 14% per year. On the other hand, consumer goods were failing to improve. In order to increase spending on defence, Stalin further cut spending on consumer goods which led to the uncontrollable black market. Even though the Soviet industry was able to produce large amounts of military equipment, it was of such low quality due to the lack of motivation in labour productivity.