Why Did Communism Fail? #3 – Incentives

The most common and simple explanation for why communism failed is that people are greedy. This is a gross simplification but does contain some truth. Communism failed to provide incentives for workers and citizens to work hard and be productive. While there are many benefits from equality, if pushed to an extreme it robs people of an incentive to make an effort. There was little if any reward for hard work or innovation and a lack of punishment for poor or inefficient work. The lack of incentives was a major reason for the poor performance of Eastern Europe economies. Why bother working hard if the reward was the same as doing the bare minimal? The lack of incentives was system … Continue reading “Why Did Communism Fail? #3 – Incentives”

April 20, 2013PoliticsCommunism, Economic Theory, Economics, Incentives, Innovation, Modernity, Stagnation, Why Did Communism Fail? Leave a comment