Question

Why did the inability of the Soviet economy to provide for the needs of its citizens lead to the collapse of the system during the Reagan administration?
A.The vast size of the Soviet Union made it difficult to transport raw materials to isolated manufacturing centers.
B.Citizens who controlled local productivity found it difficult to compete in a global market, which led to many unused goods.
C.Economic control was concentrated at the top, which discouraged new technologies and innovations that could improve productivity.
D.Manufacturing centers were often stifled by the lack of resources and the shortage of labor in the Communist system

Answer 1

B.Citizens who controlled local productivity found it difficult to compete in a global market, which led to many unused goods. 

this is the closest of the 4

not A because: they still found a way to transport everything, (using rails and the like) and they wouldn't really be making nuclear weapons at that quick of a rate if their transportation was down.
not C because: Sure, economic control was concentrated at the top, however, they did encourage technology (but only in the military and the like) So productivity was focused on military. Even if they produced things the general population can use, the military took a chunk out of it (that lead to shortages)
not D because: the lands that the USSR was located in was pretty rich in mineral wealth and the like. They could mine out the minerals and use them (which beats down the "lack of resources" part.) Also, their population was the largest in the world (considering it had a bunch of countries together as one) and so there really wasn't a shortage of labor ( i mean, their army was also the largest in the world too...) This meant that they had more than enough people to be employed in the workforce, they just didn't use them wisely

hope this helps

Answer 2

The Answer is: Economic control was concentrated at the top, which discouraged new technologies and innovation that could improve productivity.

Aka; C

Just took the test and it was right. Good luck!