Comment by zigzag312

Sorry, I probably should have quoted to which part I was referring. It's:

> with no technology to speak of for the 1000 years after Roman Empire

While it's true that some technology declined in the West, it wasn't as dramatic as you've suggested. Popular media also often exaggerates it.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology/...

Adding USSR into the discussion greatly increases complexity of the discussion. From analysis I've read, central planning is supposedly fine when country doesn't have much industry, because to start things up, it can provide essential investments and starts organizing production. But when country is somewhat developed, efficiency starts to matter and top-down approach to decision making of central planning vs bottom-up decision making mechanisms of markets produce different results. Politics and other things are important factors too, but I think that would be too much for this discussion.