Lack of certain goods and services. Deficit is. Excess goods. Ways to sell surplus

According to statistics, product shortages are one of the most pressing problems for both sellers and buyers and are often estimated at approximately 8% of total turnover. According to another, no less sad statistics, in large stores the surplus of goods (often called “unliquid stock”) amounts to up to 20% of the total assortment!

In other words, it is extremely difficult to get rid of these two scourges. Both are often the result of improper planning and insufficient control over consumer demands. The treatment process can drag on for months and as a result, while getting rid of global shortage syndrome, the store often ends up with excess inventory.

What is more dangerous for the company? Deficit or surplus? Of course, the most dangerous situation is to have a shortage of one product and a surplus of another. Conversely, it is best to have neither one nor the other. However, let's not turn a blind eye to the obvious - shortages and surpluses were, are, and perhaps will still occur. It is necessary to know the enemy by sight, so let’s take a closer look at these two common phenomena.

Deficit. Its causes and consequences

Deficit is an excess of demand over supply. A shortage indicates a mismatch between supply and demand and the absence of a balancing price.

The deficiency may be temporary or permanent. But in any case, its consequences are quite obvious - the company receives less profit. However, not all so simple. If the deficit is of a constant, protracted nature, then the consequences may be sadder than it seems at first glance:

Loss of profit due to too low price;

Direct losses due to lack of sales;

Deterioration of the store’s image in the eyes of customers: “The products you need are never available here”;

Loss of potential and actual clients;

Empty store shelves, unfilled counters;

Increase in sales from competitors who have such a product;

Costs due to actions aimed at eliminating shortages - moving goods on shelves, urgently searching for a substitute product;

Stress among employees and, as a result, their demotivation.

The consequences of shortages relate more to the external environment of the store and are especially dangerous for a company that is in a stage of growth and development, when winning customers and their loyalty is a strategic goal.

Let's consider the possible factors why we have dissatisfied buyers, nervous sellers and lack of goods in stock:

1. Unbalanced price (demand outstrips supply). Typically, a shortage indicates low supply caused by a low price. “They are selling like hotcakes,” we say, meaning that the goods are going out quickly. Too fast. So fast that we can't keep up with the increased demand. A striking example is a product during sales. A discount of up to 50% was announced and, as a result, people flocked to the store, buying everything that had yellow price tags on it. Who doesn't want to buy candy for half the price? However, price is not always the only reason for shortages.

What to do? Raise the price.

2. Errors in purchasing planning and sales analysis. As a rule, this reason lies in people who, for some reason, do their job poorly. Perhaps they are not trained, perhaps they do not see the connection between the purchased and sold goods. One way or another, without serious sales analysis and without accurate planning, the company quickly ends up with an unbalanced inventory. Says the manager of a production company: “When we first started producing these dumplings, no one knew how they would sell. We made a test batch and, surprisingly, it went very well. Then we launched another batch into production. Our sales department was enthusiastic began to "promote" the product. A week later, the wholesalers almost destroyed the plant - the demand for this product was so great. And everyone wanted it immediately, but our production could only satisfy half of the total demand... And a month later, customers began to refuse purchases, citing too long a waiting period... People in stores tried the dumplings, but the lack of goods on the shelf meant that all promotion efforts were in vain.” The lack of accurate forecasts and procurement planning leads to a direct loss of customers. They tend to forget about a new product if they don't see it on sale for a long time.

What to do? Teach buyers how to plan and figure out why analysis doesn’t show the whole picture. Maybe it’s a matter of incorrect accounting of items - when “it’s in the computer”, but not in the warehouse?

3. Changes in the current market situation (the emergence of a new fashion, trend, law). A familiar picture, isn't it? Just yesterday, a hole in your jeans seemed like a disaster. And today, young shoppers walk around stores in search of the most torn and worn goods. The new healthy lifestyle trend has shoppers asking and retailers rushing to stock warehouses with products labeled "0 calories," "low fat," or "soy free." If you were accepted yesterday new law that all children under 12 years of age must be transported only in a child car seat, which means that there is a possibility that such car seats will suddenly begin to be in increased demand.

What to do? Respond to customer requests and new laws in a timely manner, keep your finger on the pulse, and make market research your direct responsibility. Or wait for the law to expire...

4. Active advertising or PR campaign. An incident from life: “We have an ordinary store that sells many products from different manufacturers. Suddenly, customers begin to actively ask for “that yogurt that is in the advertisement.” We have never sold it so actively! We begin to figure it out, and we see that the manufacturer has launched an active advertising on television and in family magazines. He wanted to give us a surprise. If we had known about this promotion in advance, of course, we would have prepared and increased inventory for this yogurt...” In our country, people trust advertising and actively buy the advertised product. Therefore, such a “sudden” attack on the consumer leads to nothing but problems and shortages.

What to do? Educate suppliers by explaining to them what the consequences of such activities are. Before any promotion, increase orders according to the planned increase in demand.

5. Logistics problems. The item may be correctly ordered. It can be priced correctly. It is advertised correctly. But if for some reason it is not delivered to the warehouse or is late to the store, there is a high probability of being in a state of shortage. This is especially true for perishable goods (meat, fish, dairy products, bread), where one day of delay can reject the entire batch. If the cargo takes four days to reach the store instead of the planned two days, then all the ideal planning comes to naught - the store gets two days of work with empty shelves. Sometimes this is enough to lose many regular customers and earn the image of a store “where there is never anything.”

What to do? Work with those suppliers and transport companies that take responsibility for cargo delays. Or don’t work with those who constantly let you down. After all, it's your money.

6. The product is ordered without taking into account complexity. There are goods whose sales affect the sales of others - for example, champagne and sweets, flour and yeast, green peas and mayonnaise. In this case, the qualifications of the manager who draws up the purchase order for goods can be critical. “In our company, orders for beer are taken by one manager, and another is responsible for snacks, chips, crackers and nuts. The trouble is that they act separately from each other. As a result, we receive chips, but the beer has not yet arrived...” A shortage of one product makes it difficult to sell another.

What to do? Understand the qualifications and motivation of your staff. Or figure out product categories - who is responsible for what. Are buyers sufficiently motivated to achieve a result such as selling goods?

7. Social and environmental factors. Weather, ecology, epidemics can provoke unexpectedly high demand for a product. If the summer turns out to be very hot, then the demand for ice cream and soft drinks may exceed supply several times. An unexpected water outage in the area is sparking demand for bottled water. During the SARS epidemic, the demand for respirators in China jumped tenfold! Such a deficit has the nature of an outbreak and ends as abruptly as it begins.

Deficit is a phenomenon in which there is a lack of finances or material assets. If you trace the factors that cause such a result, you can competently deal with them.

Trade shortage

A shortage of goods can be considered a sign of a situation when the demand for a particular product of a certain production exceeds its supply. And the supplier is simply not able to fully satisfy the needs of customers. This phenomenon can occur even in cases where the economy operates according to a carefully planned scenario.

However, scarcity is a phenomenon that appears much more often in conditions of uncertainty inherent in the market. If the value constantly changes, a state of disequilibrium arises, which, however, can be corrected. To do this, they begin to raise prices. A shortage is a situation in which the popularity of a product among buyers does not play into the hands of manufacturers.

A small plus for the seller

There is scope for more earnings. Thus, there will be a large monetary “layer” between the cost and the selling price. Even when it exists, people will still not lose interest in the product. Due to the incoming funds, it is possible to increase the volume of production, due to which the problem itself will simply cease to exist, because the deficiency will be covered.

Natural regulation processes

However, if we are talking about a planned economy, which is less flexible than a market economy, this maneuver will not be possible. The task of suppressing the causes of shortages becomes more difficult. Government price regulation is not as effective as filling such gaps naturally. Just like an organism strengthening its immunity in the fight against a disease, the economy should be able to recover not through artificial intervention, but thanks to its own characteristics. This method will be the most reliable. If adjustments are not made in this way, it may happen that the adverse effects are prolonged.

In such cases, the state, represented by the regulatory body, sets higher prices for goods or inflates production quotas. If you act carelessly, warehouses become overstocked and become full of unsold goods. The phenomenon, for example, was observed in the Soviet Union, when goods in short supply were sold only in pairs with those that had lost liquidity.

Lack of funds

A deficit is a phenomenon that can also affect the budget of a particular organization or the entire financial system of a country. The balance between receipts and disbursement of funds is very important here. Funding shortfalls are a problem that a country can face when its treasury is empty and the people still need payments.

This situation can be caused by economics, politics and even nature, as well as a number of other reasons. Taxes and other revenues may not be enough to cover expenses. For normal functioning countries, it is important to establish harmony between these two manipulations. This can be achieved with the competent organization of all processes that take place in the economy. Why do you need to calculate in advance how much money needs to be issued in order to collect the appropriate money supply and add it to the budget? IN extreme cases use borrowing.

The need for a plan

If we provide for the condition total amount state values, which will happen after some time, you can protect yourself and your citizens from unpleasant surprises. Otherwise, a situation will be created where all life processes and mechanisms in the country will simply freeze. Money is the equivalent of those goods that are daily reproduced and consumed by the inhabitants of the country.

When drawing up a budget plan, economists must correctly calculate the income gap. If one may arise, some professionals advise creating a surplus, which means creating a safety stock that prevents expenses from exceeding income. However, this also may not always result in positive consequences. The economy will be overloaded, and the efficiency of using money will become lower. The ideal situation is when there are no distortions in either direction. This is the only way to avoid any negative phenomena.

How to get out of this situation?

There are a number of measures that are used in standard practice to improve the situation. Those who plan a budget usually resort to the following steps:

They reduce budget expenses, set certain costs for individual institutions, beyond which funds are simply not spent.
Income is distributed between funds of various levels in accordance with their spending powers.
To maximize money supply additional reserves are found in the state account by monitoring the work of institutions that directly receive this money.
Regulation in this area may be outdated, so it needs to be modernized periodically.
Expenses must be subject to clear planning, thanks to which there can potentially be an increase in revenue due to actions that stimulate economic processes. IN in this case social problems are effectively overcome.
Deductions from accounts are made sparingly; expenses that are not absolutely necessary are not incurred.
Borrowing should ensure an influx of currency and valuables, as well as reliability associated with confidence and freedom to conduct various settlement transactions.

This situation can happen in any market. The main thing is to approach the process of solving it correctly.

Deficit. Its causes and consequences

Shortage- excess of demand over supply. A shortage indicates a mismatch between supply and demand and the absence of a balancing price.

Loss of profit due to too low price;
Direct losses due to lack of sales;
Deterioration of the store’s image in the eyes of customers: “The products you need are never available here”;
Loss of potential and actual clients;
Empty store shelves, unfilled counters;
Increase in sales from competitors who have such a product;
Costs due to actions aimed at eliminating shortages - moving goods on shelves, urgently searching for a substitute product;
Wasted money on an advertising campaign or tasting;
Stress among employees and, as a result, their demotivation.

Let's consider the possible factors why we have dissatisfied buyers, nervous sellers and lack of goods in stock:

1. Unbalanced price (demand outstrips supply). Typically, a shortage indicates low supply caused by a low price. “They are selling like hotcakes,” we say, meaning that the goods are going out quickly. Too fast. So fast that we can't keep up with the increased demand. A striking example is a product during sales. A discount of up to 50% was announced and, as a result, people flocked to the store, buying everything that had yellow price tags on it. Who doesn't want to buy candy for half the price? However, price is not always the only reason for shortages.

What to do? Raise the price.

2. Errors in purchasing planning and sales analysis. As a rule, this reason lies in people who, for some reason, do their job poorly. Perhaps they are not trained, perhaps they do not see the connection between the purchased and sold goods. One way or another, without serious sales analysis and without accurate planning, the company quickly ends up with an unbalanced inventory. Says the manager of a production company: “When we first started producing these dumplings, no one knew how they would sell. We made a test batch and, surprisingly, it went very well. Then we launched another batch into production. Our sales department was enthusiastic began to "promote" the product. A week later, the wholesalers almost destroyed the plant - the demand for this product was so great. And everyone wanted it immediately, but our production could only satisfy half of the total demand... And a month later, customers began to refuse purchases, citing too long a waiting period... People in stores tried the dumplings, but the lack of goods on the shelf meant that all promotion efforts were in vain.” The lack of accurate forecasts and procurement planning leads to a direct loss of customers. They tend to forget about a new product if they don't see it on sale for a long time.

3. Changes in the current market situation (the emergence of a new fashion, trend, law). A familiar picture, isn't it? Just yesterday, a hole in your jeans seemed like a disaster. And today, young shoppers walk around stores in search of the most torn and worn goods. The new healthy lifestyle trend has shoppers asking and retailers rushing to stock warehouses with products labeled "0 calories," "low fat," or "soy free." If yesterday a new law was passed stating that all children under 12 years of age must be transported only in a child car seat, then there is a possibility that such car seats will suddenly begin to be in increased demand.

What to do? Respond to customer requests and new laws in a timely manner, keep your finger on the pulse, and make market research your direct responsibility. Or wait for the law to expire...

4. Active advertising or PR campaign. An incident from life: “We have an ordinary store that sells many products from different manufacturers. Suddenly, customers begin to actively ask for “that yogurt that is in the advertisement.” We have never sold it so actively! We begin to figure it out, and we see that the manufacturer has launched an active advertising on television and in family magazines. He wanted to give us a surprise. If we had known about this promotion in advance, of course, we would have prepared and increased the inventory of this yogurt..." In our country, people trust advertising and actively buy the advertised product. Therefore, such a “sudden” attack on the consumer leads to nothing but problems and shortages.

What to do? Educate suppliers by explaining to them what the consequences of such activities are. Before any promotion, increase orders according to the planned increase in demand.

5. Logistics problems. The item may be correctly ordered. It can be priced correctly. It is advertised correctly. But if for some reason it is not delivered to the warehouse or is late to the store, there is a high probability of being in a state of shortage. This is especially true for perishable goods (meat, fish, dairy products, bread), where one day of delay can reject the entire batch. If the cargo takes four days to reach the store instead of the planned two days, then all the ideal planning comes to naught - the store gets two days of work with empty shelves. Sometimes this is enough to lose many regular customers and earn the image of a store “where there is never anything.”

What to do? Work with those suppliers and transport companies that take responsibility for cargo delays. Or don’t work with those who constantly let you down. After all, it's your money.

6. The product is ordered without taking into account complexity. There are goods whose sales affect the sales of others - for example, champagne and sweets, flour and yeast, green peas and mayonnaise. In this case, the qualifications of the manager who draws up the purchase order for goods can be critical. “In our company, orders for beer are taken by one manager, and another is responsible for snacks, chips, crackers and nuts. The trouble is that they act separately from each other. As a result, we receive chips, but the beer has not yet arrived...” A shortage of one product makes it difficult to sell another.

7. Social and environmental factors. Weather, ecology, epidemics can provoke unexpectedly high demand for a product. If the summer turns out to be very hot, then the demand for ice cream and soft drinks may exceed supply several times. An unexpected water outage in the area is sparking demand for bottled water. During the SARS epidemic, the demand for respirators in China jumped tenfold! Such a deficit has the nature of an outbreak and ends as abruptly as it begins.

What to do? You can wait it out - such phenomena pass quickly. You can have time to respond to demand, quickly purchase the required goods and make decent money on the increased demand.

Excess goods. Ways to sell surplus

Excess stock may be:

wrapable, but too big. Then it makes sense to first reduce the volume of purchases of this product.
have a slow turnover. In this case, it is more correct to first reduce the price and stimulate sales.
"dead", that is, not for sale at all. If the product has not been consumed in three months 1, then it falls into the “dead” category. In this case, you can try other actions.

But before the necessary steps are taken, it is necessary to understand the reasons for the occurrence of excess:

1. Unbalanced price(the price is too high for this market or for this type of product). No one will overpay for a product or service if the price on the market has already been established or exceeds reasonable limits.

2. The expiration or sale date has expired. The store sells food products, including perishable goods (for example, fish), or has in its assortment goods with a limited shelf life (household chemicals, cosmetics). Failure to sell it within the required time period leads to the formation of substandard goods. It is practically not subject to further processing and sale.

3. Errors in sales forecasts. The buyer of one of the large trading companies: “When we first started purchasing this vegetable juice, no one knew how it would be sold. We brought a batch for testing and, surprisingly, it went very well. Then we ordered three more containers of this juice... And we sat down with a six-month supply - suddenly clients who were actively buying juice at first stopped taking it altogether, tried it and didn’t like it...” Purchasing goods at random is what leads to such sad results.

4. Overpurchase. For example, we sell 30-32 bottles of wine per month. But the purchased batch is 24 bottles - this is the minimum packaging from the supplier’s warehouse. We cannot buy less, and are forced to purchase more - 2 lots of 24 bottles each - to meet demand. If we do not stimulate demand for this wine, we will very soon find ourselves in a situation of excess stock of production.

5. Commodity cannibalism(the appearance of one product displaces sales of another). In order to expand the range, the company introduced cheaper, good quality milk into its range. As a result, the demand for milk of another brand fell, and after a short time there was a surplus of this product in the warehouse.

6. Changes in consumer fashion or taste. The appearance of DVD technology on the market brought death to video cassette recorders. In food products, fashion does not change as quickly as in the markets for manufactured goods, but a classic example is the fashion for bouillon cubes that appeared and then quickly disappeared. At first they were in great demand, then the consumer “ate enough” of the ready-made food and turned his gaze towards healthy image life. At one time, soy products were very popular, but now there is a lot of information that genetically modified components are often found in soy. As a result, demand for soybeans and products containing it has fallen sharply.

7. Legislative acts (prohibition on the sale of products). The ban on the sale of poultry meat in some countries due to the threat of a bird flu epidemic led to the fact that millions of tons of chicken meat were converted into surplus and then into substandard goods. The introduction of censorship on beer advertising led to a decline in sales

8. Incompleteness of goods, erroneous proportions when ordering complete goods. As a result, there is a shortage of some goods, and a surplus of others. The director of one vegetable pavilion says: “We sell vegetables. If we make a mistake with the order of potatoes and bring less, then there will certainly be a surplus of beets in the warehouse - this product, as a rule, is bought together. Beets are sold separately from potatoes less often, but potatoes can be sold and without beets."

9. Reservations in anticipation of increased demand or prices(in wholesale companies). Managers can issue additional invoices to protect themselves in case of shortages. If the purchasing department is not aware of such “reservation” facts, then the supply of goods to the warehouse continues. After a short time, it turns out that the goods were in reserve not at the request of customers, but at the will of the sellers, and the goods were not provided with real demand.

Of course, you can find a thousand reasons for storing inventory in a warehouse. But it is necessary to understand that if a product is not sold, then it does not contribute to the profit for which the business exists. Purchased goods are related funds. You invested them. And it doesn’t matter how much these reserves cost now - the money is gone.

And although this is not the best option - selling the goods for pennies, it is perhaps better than believing that one fine day the client will come to his senses and buy all the dusty piles of cans in the warehouse. Don't get used to your supplies! The purpose of inventory reduction is to get rid of unnecessary goods at the most favorable price or at minimal cost.

This can be done in different ways:

1. Discount sale or global price reduction.

2. Stimulating sales personnel. You can assign monetary or in-kind rewards to sellers for selling “illiquid assets.” This works especially well if the buyer has several types of products to choose from.

3. Selling to competitors at preferential prices. Perhaps you simply have an excess of a good-selling product, and your competitor around the corner is in dire need of it. Why not try it?

4. Promotions to stimulate demand for this product(artificial creation of demand). Requires additional investment in advertising, but often brings good results (for example, holding a wine tasting or setting up a gourmet corner where cheese and grapes will be laid out along with wine)

5. Creation of artificial deficit. Sometimes it is enough just to announce that there will be no deliveries of goods over the next two weeks (for example, due to vacation or holidays). This helps optimize inventory if a product has good turnover but is purchased in excess.

6. Return to supplier or manufacturer. The best time for this type of negotiation is in anticipation of an agreement to purchase a new product line or place a large purchase order. Case study: “We had just opened a store and took the advice of a supplier to purchase a batch of expensive wines. It did not work, and within three months we had almost $4,000 worth of inventory of these wines in our warehouses. During this time, our relationship with the supplier developed and switched to a credit basis. One fine day we turned to him with a request to take back this product, which was so incorrectly imposed on us. The supplier refused. Then we negotiated that we would be able to repay our loans only by restructuring the debt at the expense of this wine "As a result, the supplier bought this batch from us in parts to pay off our debt." Naturally, this method is only good for those products that can be stored for a sufficient time under suitable conditions.

7. Creating "kits"(in socialist times this was called “in load”). The stale product is given as a bonus or as a gift. It is also possible to sell excess on a two-for-one basis (“when you buy two cans of peas, you get a third can (or can of corn) for free!”).

8. Sale of goods to own personnel or use for the needs of the company. In some stores there is a culinary department, where goods with an approaching sell-by date are transferred. The main thing here is the strictest quality control of such products, so as not to violate the actual deadlines for implementation - the consequences can be very dire. One of the most famous Western companies practiced the method of selling to employees goods with an expiring (in no case expired!) shelf life at symbolic prices. However, soon the abuses (reselling on markets) on this basis became so obvious and large-scale that this practice was stopped. This method of getting rid of excess is as effective as it is dangerous. Before you resort to it, make sure that you are able to control the entire chain of movement of goods.

9. Carrying out charitable events or donations. Give the product to those who may need it. You will not only get rid of excess, but also do a good deed. The main thing is to inform as many people as possible about this good deed...

10. As a last resort, throw away unnecessary products. In the end, this is more correct than admiring it for weeks and wasting precious space in the warehouse. But follow the conditions of disposal, so that the “sausage cycle in nature” does not work out...

As you can see, there are enough ways to get rid of surplus goods. And this must be done - if only because excess inventory requires significant company resources - storage in a warehouse, frozen funds, inventory, accounting and analysis, and so on.

The greatest danger from an excess of goods is for a company if it is at the stage of market introduction or at the survival stage - that is, when resources and funds are most needed. If for the company external environment is less important than solving problems inside, then excesses can become deadly for it.

An excellent article by blogger Andrei Michurin, shattering many liberal myths about the Soviet deficit. It is especially recommended for the younger generation, which was not exposed to the Soviet Union.

“The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a country to which the whole world looked with hope. A country in which the people defeated their capitalist exploiters and breathed deeply, stepping from socialism to communism and carrying the red banner of democracy to other, still capitalist-slave countries.

What do we hear everywhere?

There was nothing in the Soviet Union: no food in the store, no clothes, no furniture with electronics; everyone lived from hand to mouth, wore cast-offs for 20 years, and at the same time they smiled and had fun, and all because the people were naive and gullible, and believed in the imminent arrival of a bright future.

This is what many liberals now say on TV and other media, and this is the main idea being imposed on the younger generation on the Internet. And also “bloody Stalin” and “damned GeBnya” (KGB). Everything about them is bad, everything about them is terrible...

But is it? Could a huge country, with gigantic deposits of resources and vast territory (after all, 1/6 of the land), consisting of unusually different peoples, but bound by one history, live hungry and cold, almost worse than all the countries in the world?

Then how did the deficit, which worries everyone so much today, arise? We will try to find an answer to this question. I want to say right away that in this article I will analyze the shortage of food only, otherwise its size will exceed all possible expectations.

USSR 6 in 1.

When today, our respected liberal historians, consider the issue of deficit from the times of the USSR, they mix up all 70 years Soviet power in one inseparable pile. Such a small manipulation of consciousness. All this is done in order to demonize communism, the planned mobilization economy and everything that it brought with it, while capitalism is partially justified - supposedly it is bad in many ways, but communism is even worse. This approach is fundamentally wrong, and in my opinion, immoral, since people, in this case, are taken for idiots.

For us, in order to reveal the essence of the economic problems of the USSR, we need to understand what the great and mighty Soviet Union was like. The whole point is, and this is precisely what is being hushed up today, that in different years there were fundamentally different Soviet Unions. For clarity, it is enough to compare Stalin’s USSR and Gorbachev’s USSR; you don’t even need to add anything here. But if the Soviet Unions are different, then the economy (with all its problems) is also different, which means their deficits are different. Therefore, we will move from smaller to larger, starting from the post-war era of Stalin’s reign.

Post-war years.

A terrible war for all of Russia is coming to an end. The war, which, according to analysts’ calculations, claimed 26.6 million Soviet citizens alone in killed; a huge part of the country lies in ruins; people endured something that no other people at any time had the opportunity to experience.

Meanwhile...

The USA and England, not having time to end the war, by July 1, 1945, were planning to attack Russia themselves (see Operation “Unthinkable”), reorganizing the captured Germans under their command and forcing the USSR, following the Yalta Conference, to transfer its troops from west to east, to attack Japan, which does not want to surrender.

I will also give a list of other military plans for attack by the so-called “allies” on the USSR. Attention for years.

US nuclear attack plans on the USSR:

Molotov V.M. 1977 “Virgin lands began to be developed prematurely. Of course, this was absurdity. In this size -adventure. From the very beginning, I was a supporter of the development of virgin lands on a limited scale, and not on such a huge scale, which forced us to invest huge amounts of money and incur colossal expenses instead of raising what was already ready in populated areas. But there is no other way. You have a million rubles, you don’t have any more, so should you give them to virgin lands or to already populated areas where there are opportunities? I suggested investing this money in our Non-Black Earth Region, and raise virgin soil gradually. They scattered funds - a little for this and a little for that, but there is nowhere to store the bread, it rots, there are no roads, it is impossible to take it out. But Khrushchev found an idea and rushes like a Savras without a bridle! This idea does not definitely solve anything; it can help, but to a limited extent. Be able to calculate, estimate, consult what people will say. No - come on, come on! I began to swing, almost forty or forty-five million hectares of virgin land were gnawed off, but this was unbearable, absurd and unnecessary, and if there were fifteen or seventeen, it would probably have turned out more benefit. More sense."

And starting from 1954, the “corn grower” (as Khrushchev jokingly called himself) began to introduce Agriculture corn. The corn mania got into his head because of the success of growing this crop in the USA, where they accumulated knowledge on its cultivation for years.

In newspapers, posters and other media mass media they start talking about corn. In 1956, the magazine “Corn” began to be published, entirely dedicated to this plant. Khrushchev tried with all his might to impose on the people the opinion that corn was what our country lacked.

As a result, having sowed large parts of non-chernozem lands (where grain had previously been grown) with corn, it began to produce poor harvests, and bread and flour began to become more expensive (and disappear from sale). And it had to happen that the corn epic intersected with the virgin lands idea. By 1963, the development of virgin lands had failed (the developed soils were depleted, dust storms arose), the country did not receive enough grain, and bread was disappearing from sale.

For the first time in its history, the USSR is forced to purchase grain abroad. Beginning in 1963, the Soviet Union will constantly increase grain imports.

This is only what concerns grain. In 1957, Khrushchev put forward the slogan: “in three to four years, catch up with the United States in per capita production of meat, milk and butter”. Justifying this by the fact that: “If we catch up with the United States, we will fire the strongest torpedo under capitalist foundations.” (for example, I don’t understand how - ed.).

With this slogan, he distorted the whole meaning of a planned economy. The production of products not determined by the growing needs of the population is the greatest madness and blasphemy in relation to a planned-mobilization economy, and in fact is the beginning of a market economy, where the production of goods is not tied to needs.

“Every system has a leading indicator to which the system strives. IN market economy- this is profit maximization, in a planned economy - the fulfillment of the planned target. And so fulfilling the planned task turned into a fetish - at any cost.”

A.I. Belchuk - doc. economical Sci.

It was a kind of catch-up game in which we are always catching up. We had to pursue, it seems, basic food products, for which we lagged behind the United States (see picture).

Excerpt from Margaret Thatcher's speech. Houston, 11. 1991:

“The Soviet Union is a country that posed a serious threat to the Western world. I'm not talking about a military threat. In essence, she was not there. Our countries are quite well armed, including with nuclear weapons. I mean the economic threat. Thanks to planned policies and a unique combination of moral and material incentives, the Soviet Union managed to achieve high economic indicators. Gross growth percentage national product it was approximately twice as high as in our countries. If we take into account the enormous Natural resources USSR, then with rational management of the economy Soviet Union there were very real opportunities to push us out of world markets. Therefore, we have always taken actions aimed at weakening the economy of the Soviet Union and creating internal difficulties for it.”

Here short review dedicated to the topic of food shortages in the USSR, limited by the scope of the article. As you can see, in different years the country faced different economic problems and tried to solve them to the best of my ability. Sometimes the decisions were successful, sometimes not. Therefore, each reader will have to decide for himself whether to believe the stories of liberals that the planned economy is to blame for all the troubles (which, by the way, the “Westerners” are still afraid of) or not.

“At first I sat and thought: Why was it necessary to demonize the planned economy? And then I understand that, after all, it’s probably because now we’ve been forced to return to the basics of planning for several years now. We are planning the state budget not for a year, but for three years. We are talking about the need for a mobilization-modernization economy, because without a qualitative breakthrough we will not get out of the quagmire into which the country is sinking. And then it’s clear to me that shooting at a planned economy is an attempt to destroy the chance for the country’s revival.”/S.N. Baburin is the rector of RGTEU."

Scarcity is a market situation when the quantity of a good produced is less than the quantity that people are willing to buy. Deficiency or excess can be natural phenomena only for a short period of time.

Shortages of goods can arise due to inflation, when the prices of raw materials and other goods necessary for production increase greatly. In this case, the quantity of goods produced is reduced by the manufacturer.

This situation can also arise due to improper planning. The number of units produced is determined by the market that is willing to buy. Bursts of activity can be caused by the time of year, fashion and other factors.

A shortage may arise due to a decrease in imports of goods into the country. Reduced purchasing budgets, violation of trade agreements, unforeseen circumstances, etc. The economy cannot be considered as a separate modern country, because it is directly related to the world situation. And if trouble happens in any important country, it affects everyone.

Where does the excess come from and what are its consequences?

Over the past 10 years, Russia has not had a shortage on any significant scale. Excess of goods has no less significant consequences. But, it would seem, what could be bad when there are a lot of goods?

There can be two reasons for the excess of goods in the market and warehouses. The first and most terrible thing was when it grew rapidly, and then there was a decline. As a result, manufacturers do not have time to adjust to the new volume of work, and more goods are produced. Depending on the size of the downturn, there could be job losses, layoffs, and even the closure of entire businesses.

The second option for the emergence of a surplus is the disappearance of the possibility of exporting products in the same volume as before. The reasons may be the same as with deficiency.

The task of economists is to anticipate the occurrence of such situations in the market and influence it. Advantage mixed economy over the market one is precisely that the state can intervene in certain areas. John Keynes also created a theory, the essence of which is that the market cannot regulate itself.

Today, the gradual introduction of the role of the state in Russia helps to avoid such problems in Russia. economic processes and the export of raw materials, which smooths out rough edges.