Economy of the Soviet Union - wikipedia Economy of the Soviet Union Jump to : navigation , search Economy of the Soviet Union DniproHES hydro - electric power plant , one of the symbols of Soviet economic power , was completed in 1932 . Currency Soviet ruble ( SUR ) Fiscal year 1 January -- 31 December ( calendar year ) Trade organisations Comecon , ESCAP and others Statistics GDP $820 billion in 1977 ( Nominal ; 2nd ) $1.212 trillion in 1980 ( Nominal ; 2nd ) $1.57 trillion in 1982 ( Nominal ; 2nd ) $2.2 trillion in 1985 ( Nominal ; 2nd ) $2.6595 trillion ( 1989 est . ) ( GNP ; 2nd ) GDP rank 3rd ( Nominal ) / 2nd ( ( ( GNP ) ) ) ( 1989 est . ) GDP per capita $5,800 ( 1982 est . ) ( Nominal ; 32nd ) $9,211 ( 1991 est . ) ( GNP ; 28th ) GDP by sector agriculture : ( 1 -- 2 % , 1991 ) , industry : ( -- 2.4 % , 1991 ) ( 1991 est . ) Inflation ( CPI ) 14 % ( 43rd ) ( 1991 ) Gini coefficient 0.290 ( 1980 est . ) , 0.275 ( 1989 est . ) Labour force 152.3 million ( 3rd ) ( 1989 est . ) Labour force by occupation 80 % in industry and other non-agricultural sectors ; 20 % in agriculture ; shortage of skilled labor ( 1989 est . ) Unemployment 1 -- 2 % Main industries petroleum , steel , motor vehicles , aerospace , telecommunications , chemicals , heavy industries , electronics , food processing , lumber , mining , and the defense ( 1989 est . ) External Exports $110.7 billion ( 9th ) ( 1989 est . ) Export goods petroleum and petroleum products , natural gas , metals , wood , agricultural products , and a wide variety of manufactured goods ( 1989 est . ) Main export partners Eastern Bloc 49 % , European Community 14 % , Cuba 5 % , US , Afghanistan ( 1988 ) Imports $114.7 billion ( 10th ) ( 1989 est . ) Import goods grain and other agricultural products , machinery and equipment , steel products ( including large - diameter pipe ) , consumer manufactures Main import partners Eastern Bloc 54 % , European Community 11 % , Cuba , China , US ( 1988 est . ) Gross external debt $55 billion ( 11th ) ( 1989 est . ) $27.3 billion ( 1988 est . ) Public finances Revenues $422 billion ( 5th ) ( 1990 est . ) Expenses $510 billion ( 1989 est . ) 53 million ( 2nd , capital expenditures ) ( 1991 est . ) Economic aid $147.6 billion ( 1954 -- 88 ) All values , unless otherwise stated , are in US dollars . The economy of the Soviet Union ( Russian : экономика Советского Союза ) was based on a system of state ownership of the means of production , collective farming , industrial manufacturing and centralized administrative planning . The economy was characterised by state control of investment , public ownership of industrial assets , macroeconomic stability , negligible unemployment and high job security . Beginning in 1928 , the entire course of the economy was guided by a series of Five - Year Plans . By the 1950s , the Soviet Union had , during the preceding few decades , evolved from a mainly agrarian society into a major industrial power . Its transformative capacity -- what the US National Security Council described as a `` proven ability to carry backward countries speedily through the crisis of modernization and industrialization '' -- meant communism consistently appealed to the intellectuals of developing countries in Asia . Impressive growth rates during the first three Five - Year Plans ( 1928 -- 40 ) are particularly notable given that this period is nearly congruent with the Great Depression . During this period the Soviet Union encountered a rapid industrial growth while other regions were suffering from crisis . Nevertheless , the impoverished base upon which the Five - Year Plans sought to build meant that , at the commencement of Operation Barbarossa , the country was still poor . The major strength of the Soviet economy was its enormous supply of oil and gas , which became much more valuable as exports after the world price of oil skyrocketed in the 1970s . As Daniel Yergin notes , the Soviet economy in its final decades was `` heavily dependent on vast natural resources -- oil and gas in particular . '' However , Yergin goes on , world oil prices collapsed in 1986 , putting very heavy pressure on the economy . After Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 , he began a process of economic liberalisation by dismantling the command economy and moving towards a mixed economy . At its dissolution at the end of 1991 , the Soviet Union begat a Russian Federation with a growing pile of $66 billion in external debt , and with barely a few billion dollars in net gold and foreign exchange reserves . The complex demands of the modern economy and inflexible administration overwhelmed and constrained the central planners . Corruption and data fiddling became common practice among the bureaucracy by reporting fulfilled targets and quotas , thus entrenching the crisis . From the Stalin - era to the early Brezhnev - era , the Soviet economy grew much slower than Japan and slightly faster than the United States . GDP levels in 1950 ( in billion 1990 dollars ) were 510 ( 100 % ) in the USSR , 161 ( 100 % ) in Japan and 1456 ( 100 % ) in the US . By 1965 the corresponding values were 1011 ( 198 % ) , 587 ( 365 % ) , and 2607 ( 179 % ) . The Soviet Union maintained itself as the second largest economy in both nominal and purchasing power parity values for much of the Cold War until 1988 , when Japan 's economy exceeded $3 trillion in nominal value . The USSR 's relatively small consumer sector accounted for just under 60 % of the country 's GDP in 1990 , while the industrial and agricultural sectors contributed 22 % and 20 % respectively in 1991 . Agriculture was the predominant occupation in the USSR before the massive industrialization under Joseph Stalin . The service sector was of low importance in the USSR , with the majority of the labor force employed in the industrial sector . The labor force totaled 152.3 million people . Major industrial products included petroleum , steel , motor vehicles , aerospace , telecommunications , chemicals , electronics , food processing , lumber , mining , and defense industry . Though the GDP of the USSR crossed $1 trillion in the 1970s and $2 trillion in the 1980s , the effects of central planning were progressively distorted due to the rapid growth of the second economy in the Soviet Union . Contents ( hide ) 1 Planning 1.1 Drafting the five - year plans 1.1. 1 Time frame 1.1. 2 Guidelines for the plan 1.1. 3 Gosplan 1.1. 4 Planning ministries 1.1. 5 Enterprises 1.1. 6 Redrafting the plan 1.1. 7 Approval of the plan 1.1. 8 State budget 2 Agriculture 3 Foreign trade and currency 4 Forms of property 4.1 Individual property 4.2 Collective property 5 History 5.1 Early development 5.2 New Economic Policy ( 1921 -- 1929 ) 5.3 Stalinism 5.4 1930 -- 1970 5.5 1970 -- 1990 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Works cited 8 Further reading 8.1 In Russian 9 External links Planning ( edit ) This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . ( June 2015 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) See also : Analysis of Soviet - type economic planning Based on a system of state ownership , the Soviet economy was managed through Gosplan ( the State Planning Commission ) , Gosbank ( the State Bank ) and the Gossnab ( State Commission for Materials and Equipment Supply ) . Beginning in 1928 , the economy was directed by a series of five - year plans , with a brief attempt at seven - year planning . For every enterprise , planning ministries ( also known as the `` fund holders '' or fondoderzhateli ) defined the mix of economic inputs ( e.g. , labor and raw materials ) , a schedule for completion , all wholesale prices and almost all retail prices . The planning process was based around material balances -- balancing economic inputs with planned output targets for the planning period . From 1930 until the late 1950s , the range of mathematics used to assist economic decision - making was , for ideological reasons , extremely restricted . Industry was long concentrated after 1928 on the production of capital goods through metallurgy , machine manufacture , and chemical industry . In Soviet terminology , goods were known as capital . This emphasis was based on the perceived necessity for a very fast industrialization and modernization of the Soviet Union . After the death of Stalin in 1953 , consumer goods ( group B goods ) received somewhat more emphasis due to efforts of Malenkov . However , when Khrushchev consolidated his power by sacking Malenkov , one of the accusations against Malenkov was that he permitted `` theoretically incorrect and politically harmful opposition to the rate of development of heavy industry in favor of the rate of development of light and food industry '' . Therefore , since 1955 the priorities again were given to capital goods , which was expressed in the decisions of the 20th Congress of the CPSU ( 1956 ) . For further details see consumer goods in the Soviet Union . Most information in the Soviet economy flowed from the top down . There were several mechanisms in place for producers and consumers to provide input and information that would help in the drafting of economic plans ( as detailed below ) , but the political climate was such that few people ever provided negative input or criticism of the plan . Thus , Soviet planners had very little reliable feedback that they could use to determine the success of their plans . This meant that economic planning was often done based on faulty or outdated information , particularly in sectors with large numbers of consumers . As a result , some goods tended to be underproduced , leading to shortages , while other goods were overproduced and accumulated in storage . Low - level managers often did not report such problems to their superiors , relying instead on each other for support . Some factories developed a system of barter and either exchanged or shared raw materials and parts without the knowledge of the authorities and outside the parameters of the economic plan . Heavy industry was always the focus of the Soviet economy , even in its later years . The fact that it received special attention from the planners , combined with the fact that industrial production was relatively easy to plan even without minute feedback , led to significant growth in that sector . The Soviet Union became one of the leading industrial nations of the world . Industrial production was disproportionately high in the Soviet Union compared to Western economies . However , the production of consumer goods was disproportionately low . Economic planners made little effort to determine the wishes of household consumers , resulting in severe shortages of many consumer goods . Whenever these consumer goods would become available on the market , consumers routinely had to stand in long lines ( queues ) to buy them . A black market developed for goods , such as cigarettes , that were particularly sought after but constantly underproduced . Drafting the five - year plans ( edit ) Under Stalin 's tutelage , a complex system of planning arrangements had developed since the introduction of the first five - year plan in 1928 . Until the late - 1980s and early - 1990s , when economic reforms backed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced significant changes in the traditional system ( see Perestroika ) , the allocation of resources was directed by a planning apparatus rather than through the interplay of market forces . Time frame ( edit ) From the Joseph Stalin era through the late 1980s , the five - year plan integrated short - range planning into a longer time frame . It delineated the chief thrust of the country 's economic development and specified the way the economy could meet the desired goals of the Communist Party . Although the five - year plan was enacted into law , it contained a series of guidelines rather than a set of direct orders . Periods covered by the five - year plans coincided with those covered by the gatherings of the CPSU Party Congress . At each CPSU Congress , the party leadership presented the targets for the next five - year plan . Thus , each plan had the approval of the most authoritative body of the country 's leading political institution . Guidelines for the plan ( edit ) The Central Committee of the CPSU and , more specifically , its Politburo , set basic guidelines for planning . The Politburo determined the general direction of the economy via control figures ( preliminary plan targets ) , major investment projects ( capacity creation ) , and general economic policies . These guidelines were submitted as a report of the Central Committee to the Congress of the CPSU to be approved there . After the approval at the congress , the list of priorities for the five - year plan was processed by the Council of Ministers , which constituted the government of the USSR . The Council of Ministers was composed of industrial ministers , chairmen of various state committees , and chairmen of agencies with ministerial status . This committee stood at the apex of the vast economic administration , including the state planning apparatus , the industrial ministries , the trusts ( the intermediate level between the ministries and the enterprises ) , and finally , the state enterprises . The Council of Ministers elaborated on Politburo plan targets and sent them to Gosplan , which gathered data on plan fulfillment . Gosplan ( edit ) Main article : Gosplan Combining the broad goals laid out by the Council of Ministers with data supplied by lower administrative levels regarding the current state of the economy , Gosplan worked out , through trial and error , a set of preliminary plan targets . Among more than twenty state committees , Gosplan headed the government 's planning apparatus and was by far the most important agency in the economic administration . The task of planners was to balance resources and requirements to ensure that the necessary inputs were provided for the planned output . The planning apparatus alone was a vast organizational arrangement consisting of councils , commissions , governmental officials , specialists , etc. charged with executing and monitoring economic policy . The state planning agency was subdivided into its own industrial departments , such as coal , iron , and machine building . It also had summary departments such as finance , dealing with issues that crossed functional boundaries . With the exception of a brief experiment with regional planning during the Khrushchev era in the 1950s , Soviet planning was done on a sectoral basis rather than on a regional basis . The departments of the state planning agency aided the agency 's development of a full set of plan targets along with input requirements , a process involving bargaining between the ministries and their superiors . Planning ministries ( edit ) Economic ministries performed key roles in the Soviet organizational structure . When the planning goals had been established by Gosplan , economic ministries drafted plans within their jurisdictions and disseminated planning data to the subordinate enterprises . The planning data were sent downward through the planning hierarchy for progressively more detailed elaboration . The ministry received its control targets , which were then disaggregated by branches within the ministry , then by lower units , eventually until each enterprise received its own control figures ( production targets ) . Enterprises ( edit ) Enterprises were called upon to develop in the final period of state planning in the late - 1980s and early - 1990s ( even though such participation was mostly limited to a rubber - stamping of prepared statements during huge pre-staged meetings ) . The enterprises ' draft plans were then sent back up through the planning ministries for review . This process entailed intensive bargaining , with all parties seeking the target levels and input figures that best suited their interests . Redrafting the plan ( edit ) After this bargaining process , Gosplan received the revised estimates and re-aggregated them as it saw fit . Then , the redrafted plan was sent to the Council of Ministers and the Party 's Politburo and Central Committee Secretariat for approval . The Council of Ministers submitted the Plan to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and the Central Committee submitted the plan to the Party Congress , both for rubber stamp approval . By this time , the process had been completed and the plan became law . Approval of the plan ( edit ) The review , revision , and approval of the five - year plan were followed by another downward flow of information , this time with the amended and final plans containing the specific targets for each sector of the economy . Implementation began at this point , and was largely the responsibility of enterprise managers . State Budget ( edit ) The national state budget was prepared by the Ministry of Finance of the USSR by negotiating with its all - Union local organizations . If the state budget was accepted by the Soviet Union , it was then adopted . Agriculture ( edit ) Main article : Agriculture in the Soviet Union Agriculture was organized into a system of collective farms ( kolkhozes ) and state farms ( sovkhozes ) . Organized on a large scale and highly mechanized , the Soviet Union was one of the world 's leading producers of cereals , although bad harvests ( as in 1972 and 1975 ) necessitated imports and slowed the economy . The 1976 - 1980 five - year plan shifted resources to agriculture , and 1978 saw a record harvest followed by another drop in overall production in 1979 and 1980 back to levels attained in 1975 . Cotton , sugar beets , potatoes , and flax were also major crops . However , despite immense land resources , extensive machinery and chemical industries , and a large rural work force , Soviet agriculture was relatively unproductive , hampered in many areas by the climate ( only 10 percent of the Soviet Union 's land was arable ) , and poor worker productivity since the collectivization in the 1930s . Lack of transport infrastructure also caused much waste . A view of poor performance of Soviet collective farms is provided by two historians , M. Heller and A. Nekrich ( `` Utopia in Power , History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to Present , '' Simon & Schuster , Inc. , 1986 ) . The authors report that in 1979 , 28 % of the Soviet agricultural production was from small plots of private citizens , which represented less than 1 % of the cultivated land . So according to them , collective farms operated very inefficiently . Foreign trade and currency ( edit ) Main article : Foreign trade of the Soviet Union Largely self - sufficient , the Soviet Union traded little in comparison to its economic strength . However , trade with noncommunist countries increased in the 1970s as the government sought to compensate gaps in domestic production with imports . In general , fuels , metals , and timber were exported . Machinery , consumer goods , and sometimes grain were imported . In the 1980s trade with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ( COMECON ) member states accounted for about half the country 's volume of trade . The Soviet currency ( ruble ) was non-convertible after 1932 ( when trade in gold - convertible `` chervonets '' , introduced by Lenin in NEP years , was suspended ) until the late eighties . It was impossible ( both for citizens and state - owned businesses ) to freely buy or sell foreign currency even though the `` exchange rate '' was set and published regularly . Buying or selling foreign currency on a black market was a serious crime until the late eighties . Individuals who were paid from abroad ( for example writers whose books were published abroad ) normally had to spend their currency in a foreign - currency - only chain of state - owned `` Beryozka '' ( `` Birch - tree '' ) stores . Once a free conversion of currency was allowed , the exchange rate plummeted from its official values by almost a factor of 10 . Overall , the banking system was highly centralized and fully controlled by a single state - owned Gosbank , responsive to the fulfillment of the government 's economic plans . Soviet banks furnished short - term credit to state - owned enterprises . Forms of property ( edit ) There were two basic forms of property in the Soviet Union : individual property and collective property . These differed greatly in their content and legal status . According to communist theory , capital ( means of production ) should not be individually owned , with certain negligible exceptions . In particular , after the end of a short period of the New Economic Policy and with collectivization completed , all industrial property and virtually all land were collective . Land in rural areas was allotted for housing and some sustenance farming , and persons had certain rights to it , but it was not their property in full . In particular , in kolkhozes and sovkhozes there was a practice to rotate individual farming lots with collective lots . This resulted in situations where people would ameliorate , till and cultivate their lots carefully , adapting them to small - scale farming , and in 5 -- 7 years those lots would be swapped for kolkhoz ones , typically with exhausted soil due to intensive , large - scale agriculture . There was an extremely small number of remaining individual farmsteads ( khutors хутор ) , located in isolated rural areas in the Baltic states , Ukraine , Siberia and cossack lands . Individual property ( edit ) To distinguish `` capitalist '' and `` socialist '' types of property ownership further , two different forms of individual property were recognized : private property ( частная собственность , chastnaya sobstvennost ) and personal property ( личная собственность , lichnaya sobstvennost ) . The former encompassed capital ( means of production ) , while the latter described everything else in a person 's possession . This distinction has been a source of confusion when interpreting phrases such as `` socialism ( communism ) abolished private property '' ; one might conclude that all individual property was abolished , when this was in fact not the case . Collective property ( edit ) There were several forms of collective ownership , the most significant being state property , kolkhoz property , and cooperative property . The most common forms of cooperative property were housing cooperatives ( жилищные кооперативы ) in urban areas , consumer cooperatives ( потребительская кооперация , потребкооперация ) , and rural consumer societies ( сельские потребительские общества , сельпо ) . History ( edit ) Early development ( edit ) Both the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later , the Soviet Union , were countries in the process of industrialization . For both , this development occurred slowly and from a low initial starting - point . Because of World War I ( 1914 - 1918 ) , the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Russian Civil War ( 1917 - 1922 ) , industrial production had only managed to barely recover its 1913 level by 1926 . By this time about 18 % of the population lived in non-rural areas , although only about 7.5 % were employed in the non-agricultural sector . The remainder remained stuck in low - productivity agriculture . David A. Dyker sees the Soviet Union of ca . 1930 as in some ways a typical developing country , characterized by low capital - investment and with most of its population resident in the countryside . Part of the reason for low investment - rates lay in the inability to acquire capital from abroad . This in turn , resulted from the repudiation of the debts of the Russian Empire by the Bolsheviks in 1918 , as well as from the worldwide financial troubles . Consequently , any kind of economic growth had to be financed by domestic savings . The economic problems in agriculture were further exacerbated by natural conditions , such as long cold winters across the country , droughts in the south and acidic soils in the north . However , according to Dyker , the Soviet economy did have `` extremely good '' potential in the area of raw materials and mineral extraction , for example in the oil fields in Transcaucasia , and this , along with a small but growing manufacturing base , helped the USSR avoid any kind of balance of payments problems . New economic policy ( 1921 -- 1929 ) ( edit ) Main article : New Economic Policy One of the several photographs ( ( 3 ) , ( 4 ) ) intended to show the two major economic policy makers of the USSR together , Lenin ( left ) who created the NEP and Stalin ( right ) who created the planned economy . By early 1921 it became apparent to the Bolsheviks that forced requisitioning of grain had resulted in low agricultural production and widespread opposition . As a result , the decision was made by Lenin and the Politburo to try an alternative approach . The so - called New Economic Policy ( NEP ) was approved at the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party ( Bolsheviks ) Everything except `` the commanding heights '' , as Lenin put it , of the economy would be privatized . `` The commanding heights '' included foreign trade , heavy industry , communication and transport among others . In practice this limited the private sector to artisan and agricultural production / trade . The NEP encountered strong resistance within the Bolshevik party . Lenin had to persuade communist skeptics that `` state capitalism '' was a necessary step in achieving communism , while he himself harbored suspicions that the policy could be abused by private businessmen ( `` NEPmen '' ) . As novelist Andrei Platonov , among others , noted , the improvements were immediate . Rationing cards and queues , which had become hallmarks of war communism , had disappeared . However , due to prolonged war , low harvests , and several natural disasters the Soviet economy was still in trouble , particularly its agricultural sector . In 1921 widespread famine broke out in the Volga - Ural region . The Soviet government changed its previous course and allowed international relief to come in from abroad , and established a special committee chaired by prominent communists and non-communists alike . Despite this , an estimated five million people died in the famine . Stalinism ( edit ) Starting in 1928 , the five - year plans began building a heavy industrial base at once in an underdeveloped economy without waiting years for capital to accumulate through the expansion of light industry , and without reliance on external financing . The country now became industrialized at a hitherto unprecedented pace , surpassing Germany 's pace of industrialization in the 19th century and Japan 's earlier in the 20th century . After the reconstruction of the economy ( in the wake of the destruction caused by the Russian Civil War ) was completed , and after the initial plans of further industrialisation were fulfilled , the explosive growth slowed down until the period of Brezhnev stagnation in the 1970s and 1980s . Led by the creation of NAMI , and by the GAZ copy of the Ford Model A in 1929 , industrialization came with the extension of medical services , which improved labor productivity . Campaigns were carried out against typhus , cholera , and malaria ; the number of physicians increased as rapidly as facilities and training would permit ; and death and infant mortality rates steadily decreased . Evolution of GNP in comparison with European powers ( in millions of dollars of 1960 ) Country 1890 1900 1913 1925 1938 Russia / USSR 21 180 32 000 52 420 32 600 75 964 Germany 26 454 35 800 49 760 45 002 77 178 Great Britain 29 441 36 273 44 074 43 700 56 103 France 19 758 23 500 27 401 36 262 39 284 1930 -- 1970 ( edit ) USSR GDP per capita The State Quality Mark of the USSR , introduced in 1967 , was used to certify that goods met quality standards , and to improve the efficiency of production As weighed growth rates , economic planning performed very well during the early and mid-1930s , World War II - era mobilization , and for the first two decades of the postwar era . The Soviet Union became the world 's leading producer of oil , coal , iron ore , and cement ; manganese , gold , natural gas and other minerals were also of major importance . However , information about the Soviet famine of 1932 -- 1933 was suppressed by the Soviet authorities until perestroika . In 1933 workers ' real earnings sank to about one - tenth of the 1926 level . Common and political prisoners in labor camps were forced to do unpaid labor , and communists and Komsomol members were frequently `` mobilized '' for various construction projects . The German invasion of World War II inflicted punishing blows to the economy of the Soviet Union , with Soviet GDP falling 34 % between 1940 and 1942 . Industrial output did not recover to its 1940 level for almost a decade . In 1961 , a new redenominated Soviet ruble was issued . It maintained exchange parity with the Pound Sterling until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 . After a new leadership , headed by Leonid Brezhnev , had come to power , attempts were made to revitalize the economy through economic reform . Starting in 1965 , enterprises and organizations were made to rely on economic methods of profitable production , rather than follow orders from the state administration . By 1970 , the Soviet economy had reached its zenith and was estimated at about 60 percent of the size of the USA in terms of the estimated commodities ( like steel and coal ) . In 1989 , the official GDP of the Soviet Union was $2,500 Billion while the GDP of the United States was $4,862 Billion with per capita income figures as $8,700 and $19,800 respectively . 1970 -- 1990 ( edit ) Further information : Era of Stagnation , History of the Soviet Union ( 1964 -- 1982 ) , and History of the Soviet Union ( 1982 -- 1991 ) GDP per capita of the USSR compared to similar countries The value of all consumer goods manufactured in 1972 in retail prices was about 118 billion rubles ( $530 billion ) . The Era of Stagnation in the mid-1970s was triggered by the Nixon Shock and aggravated by the war in Afghanistan in 1979 and led to a period of economic standstill between 1979 and 1985 . Soviet military buildup at the expense of domestic development kept the USSR 's GDP at the same level during the first half of the 1980s . The Soviet planned economy was not structured to respond adequately to the demands of the complex modern economy it had helped to forge . The massive quantities of goods produced often did not meet the needs or tastes of consumers . The volume of decisions facing planners in Moscow became overwhelming . The cumbersome procedures for bureaucratic administration foreclosed the free communication and flexible response required at the enterprise level for dealing with worker alienation , innovation , customers , and suppliers . During 1975 -- 85 , corruption and data fiddling became common practice among bureaucracy to report satisfied targets and quotas thus entrenching the crisis . At the same time , the effects of the central planning were progressively distorted due to the rapid growth of the second economy in the Soviet Union . Soviet National Income 1928 - 1987 growth in % . Estimates of the official statistical agency of the SU ( TsSU ) , the CIA and revised estimates by G.I. Khanin . While all modernized economies were rapidly moving to computerization after 1965 , the USSR fell further and further behind . Moscow 's decision to copy the IBM 360 of 1965 proved a decisive mistake for it locked scientists into an antiquated system they were unable to improve . They had enormous difficulties in manufacturing the necessary chips reliably and in quantity , in programming workable and efficient programs , in coordinating entirely separate operations , and in providing support to computer users . One of the greatest strengths of Soviet economy was its vast supplies of oil and gas ; world oil prices quadrupled in the 1973 - 74 , and rose again in 1979 - 1981 , making the energy sector the chief driver of the Soviet economy , and was used to cover multiple weaknesses . During this period , USSR had the lowest per - capita incomes among the other socialist countries . At one point , Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin told the head of oil and gas production , `` things are bad with bread . Give me 3 million tons ( of oil ) over the plan . '' Former prime minister Yegor Gaidar , an economist looking back three decades , in 2007 wrote : The hard currency from oil exports stopped the growing food supply crisis , increased the import of equipment and consumer goods , ensured a financial base for the arms race and the achievement of nuclear parity with the United States , and permitted the realization of such risky foreign - policy actions as the war in Afghanistan . Comparison between USSR and US economies ( 1989 ) according to 1990 CIA The World Factbook USSR US GDP ( GNP ) ( 1989 - millions $ ) 2,659,500 5,233,300 Population ( July 1990 ) 290,938,469 250,410,000 GDP Per Capita ( GNP ) ( $ ) 9,211 21,082 Labor force ( 1989 ) 152,300,000 125,557,000 Awareness of the growing crisis arose initially within the KGB which with its extensive network of informants in every region and institution had its finger on the pulse of the nation . Yuri Andropov , director of the KGB , created a secret department during the 1970s within the KGB devoted to economic analysis , and when he succeeded Brezhnev in 1982 sounded the alarm forcefully to the Soviet leadership . Andropov 's remedy of increased discipline , however , proved ineffective . It was only when Andropov 's protege Gorbachev assumed power that a determined , but ultimately unsuccessful , assault on the economic crisis was undertaken . The value of all consumer goods manufactured in 1990 in retail prices was about 459 billion rubles ( $2.1 trillion ) . But , according to CIA estimates by 1989 the size of the Soviet economy was roughly half that in the United States of America . According to the European Comparison Program , administered by the U.N , the size of the Soviet Economy was 36 % of that in the United States in 1990 . Sector ( Distribution of Soviet workforce ) 1940 1965 1970 1979 1984 Primary ( agriculture and forestry ) 54 % 31 % 25 % 21 % 20 % Secondary ( including construction , transport and communication ) 28 % 44 % 46 % 48 % 47 % Tertiary ( including trade , finance , health , education , science and administration 18 % 25 % 29 % 31 % 33 % Total 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % See also ( edit ) General History of the Soviet Union Enterprises in the Soviet Union Eastern Bloc economies Material balance planning Soviet - type economic planning 1965 Soviet economic reform 1973 Soviet economic reform 1979 Soviet economic reform Organisations Five - Year Plans State Planning Committee Ministry of Finance Post-Soviet era Economy of post-Soviet Russia History of post-Soviet Russia Classifications of Soviet economy Administrative command economy Bureaucratic collectivism State capitalism State socialism References ( edit ) ^ Jump up to : Soviet Union Economy 1991 . CIA Factbook. 1992 . 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Jump up ^ Budget Revenues Million Million 1991 . CIA Factbook. 1992 . Retrieved June 12 , 2010 . Jump up ^ Budget Expenditures Million 1991 . CIA Factbook. 1992 . Retrieved June 12 , 2010 . Jump up ^ Hanson , Philip ( 2003 ) . The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Economy ( Routledge ) . pp. 1 -- 8 . Jump up ^ Davies 1998 , p. 1 , 3 . Jump up ^ Peck 2006 , p. 47 . One notable person in this regard was Nehru , `` who visited the Soviet Union in the late 1920s and was deeply impressed by Soviet industrial progress . '' See Bradley 2010 , pp. 475 -- 6 . Jump up ^ Allen 2003 , p. 153 . Jump up ^ Baten , Jörg ( 2016 ) . A History of the Global Economy . From 1500 to the Present . Cambridge University Press . pp. 62 -- 63 . ISBN 9781107507180 . Jump up ^ Harrison 1996 , p. 123 . ^ Jump up to : Davies 1998 , p. 2 . Jump up ^ Daniel Yergin , The Quest : Energy , Security , and the Remaking of the Modern World ( 2011 ) ; quotes on pp 23 , 24 . Jump up ^ Boughton 2012 , p. 288 . Jump up ^ Angus Maddison , The World Economy : A Millennial Perspective ( 2001 ) pp 274 , 275 , 298 Jump up ^ Japan 's IMF nominal GDP Data 1987 to 1989 ( October 2014 ) ^ Jump up to : Vladimir G. Treml and Michael V. Alexeev , `` THE SECOND ECONOMY AND THE DESTABILIZING EFFECT OF ITS GROWTH ON THE STATE ECONOMY IN THE SOVIET UNION : 1965 - 1989 '' , BERKELEY - DUKE OCCASIONAL PAPERS ON THE SECOND ECONOMY IN THE USSR , Paper No. 36 , December 1993 Jump up ^ Smolinski 1973 , pp. 1189 -- 90 : `` The mathematical sophistication of the tools actually employed was limited to those that had been used in Das Kapital : the four arithmetical operations , percentages , and arithmetic ( but not geometric ) mean . '' Jump up ^ `` Георгий Маленков. 50 лет со дня отставки '' , Radio Liberty Jump up ^ Пыжиков А . В . Хрущевская `` Оттепель '' : 1953 -- 1964 , Olma - Press , 2002 ISBN 978 - 5224033560 Jump up ^ the IMF ( 1991 ) . A Study of the Soviet economy . 1 . International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) . p. 287 . ISBN 92 - 64 - 13468 - 9 . Jump up ^ Dyker 1992 , p. 2 . ^ Jump up to : Dyker , David A. ( 1992 ) . Restructuring the Soviet Economy . Routledge ( published 2002 ) . p. 3 . ISBN 9781134917464 . Retrieved 2015 - 10 - 18 . Repudiation of the international debts of the tsarist regime , coupled with the difficult economic conditions of the post-Wall Street crash period , ensured that any increase in the rate of accumulation would have to be internally financed . ( ... ) In some ways , then , the Soviet Union c. 1930 was a typical developing country , with a relatively low level of accumulation and substantial surplus agricultural population . But she could not count on large - scale capital transfer from abroad - for better or worse . Jump up ^ Rempel , Richard A. ; Haslam , Beryl , eds. ( 2000 ) . Uncertain Paths to Freedom : Russia and China , 1919 - 22 . Collected papers of Bertrand Russell . 15 . Psychology Press . p. 529 . ISBN 9780415094115 . Retrieved 2015 - 10 - 18 . French creditors were owed forty - three percent of the total Russian debt repudiated by the Bolsheviks on 28 January 1918 . ^ Jump up to : Moss 2005 , p. 228 . Jump up ^ Hosking 1993 , p. 119 . Jump up ^ Carr , E.H. and Davies , R.W , ( 1988 ) , Foundations of a Planned Economy , Vol. 1 Jump up ^ Moss 2005 , p. 227 . Jump up ^ Hosking 1993 , p. 120 . Jump up ^ G.N. Georgano Cars : Early and Vintage , 1886 - 1930 . ( London : Grange - Universal , 1985 ) Jump up ^ Wikipedia , GAZ Jump up ^ `` Paul Bairoch '' . Jump up ^ Maddison , Angus ( 2006 ) . The world economy ( PDF ) . Paris , France : Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) . pp. 400 -- 600 . ISBN 92 - 64 - 02261 - 9 . Jump up ^ The decline and demise of the Comintern , The Australian National University Jump up ^ Harrison 1996 , p. 124 . Jump up ^ `` A Comparison of the US and Soviet Economies : Evaluating the Performance of the Soviet System '' ( PDF ) . foia.cia.gov . October 1985 . Retrieved 7 April 2015 . Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ ( 2 ) Jump up ^ Maddison , Angus ( 2006 ) . The world economy ( Updated with 2018 ( rgdpnapc ) data ) ( PDF ) . Paris , France : Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) . pp. 400 -- 600 . ISBN 92 - 64 - 02261 - 9 . Jump up ^ Manufactured goods sector was worth 118 billion rubles in 1972 Jump up ^ Shane , Scott ( 1994 ) . `` What Price Socialism ? An Economy Without Information '' . Dismantling Utopia : How Information Ended the Soviet Union . Chicago : Ivan R. Dee . pp. 75 to 98 . ISBN 1 - 56663 - 048 - 7 . It was not the gas pedal but the steering wheel that was failing Jump up ^ James W. Cortada , `` Public Policies and the Development of National Computer Industries in Britain , France , and the Soviet Union , 1940 -- 80 . '' Journal of Contemporary History ( 2009 ) 44 # 3 pp : 493 - 512 , especially page 509 - 10 . Jump up ^ Frank Cain , `` Computers and the Cold War : United States restrictions on the export of computers to the Soviet Union and Communist China . '' Journal of Contemporary History ( 2005 ) 40 # 1 pp : 131 - 147 . in JSTOR Jump up ^ Bruce Parrott ( 1985 ) . Trade , Technology , and Soviet - American Relations . Indiana UP . pp. 10 -- 12 . Jump up ^ Baten , Jörg ( 2016 ) . A History of the Global Economy . From 1500 to the Present . Cambridge University Press . pp. 65 -- 66 . ISBN 9781107507180 . Jump up ^ Yergin , The Quest ( 2011 ) p 23 Jump up ^ Yegor Gaidar ( 2007 ) . Collapse of an Empire : Lessons for Modern Russia . Brookings Institution Press . p. 102 . Jump up ^ Shane , Scott ( 1994 ) . `` The KGB , Father of Perestroika '' . Dismantling Utopia : How Information Ended the Soviet Union . Chicago : Ivan R. Dee . pp. 59 , 60 , 99 to 120 . ISBN 1 - 56663 - 048 - 7 . When he spoke to the leadership circle he said the country was faced with a question of survival Jump up ^ Manufactured goods sector was worth 459 billion rubles in 1990 Jump up ^ http://www.allbusiness.com/government/630097-1.html Jump up ^ Churchwood , L.G. ( 1987 ) . Soviet Socialism : Social and Political Essays . London : Routledge . p. 30 . Works cited ( edit ) Allen , Robert C. ( 2003 ) . Farm to Factory : A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution . Princeton , NJ : Princeton University Press . Boughton , James M. ( 2012 ) . Tearing Down Walls : The International Monetary Fund , 1990 -- 1999 . Washington , DC : IMF . ISBN 978 - 1 - 616 - 35084 - 0 . Bradley , Mark Philip ( 2010 ) . `` Decolonization , the global South , and the Cold War , 1919 -- 1962 '' . In Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad , eds. , The Cambridge History of the Cold War , Volume 1 : Origins ( pp. 464 -- 485 ) . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 83719 - 4 . Davies , R.W. ( 1998 ) . Soviet Economic Development from Lenin to Khrushchev . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . Harrison , Mark ( 1996 ) . Accounting for War : Soviet Production , Employment , and the Defense Burden , 1940 -- 1945 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . Moss , Walter Gerald ( 2005 ) . A History Of Russia , Volume 2 : Since 1855 ( 2nd ed . ) . London : Anthem Press . Peck , James ( 2006 ) . Washington 's China : The National Security World , the Cold War , and the Origins of Globalism . Amherst , MA : University of Massachusetts Press . Smolinski , Leon ( 1973 ) . `` Karl Marx and Mathematical Economics '' . Journal of Political Economy. 81 ( 5 ) : 1189 -- 1204 . doi : 10.1086 / 260113 . JSTOR 1830645 . Further reading ( edit ) Daniels , Robert Vince ( 1993 ) . The End of the Communist Revolution . London : Routledge . Davies , R.W. ed . From Tsarism to the New Economic Policy : Continuity and Change in the Economy of the USSR ( London , 1990 ) Davies , R.W. ed . The Economic Transformation of the Soviet Union , 1913 -- 1945 ( Cambridge , 1994 ) Goldman , Marshall ( 1994 ) . Lost Opportunity : Why Economic Reforms in Russia Have Not Worked . New York : W.W. Norton . Gregory , Paul ; Stuart , Robert ( 2001 ) . Soviet and Post Soviet Economic Structure and Performance ( 7th ed . ) . Boston : Addison Wesley . Harrison , Mark . `` The Soviet Union after 1945 : Economic Recovery and Political Repression , '' Past & Present ( 2011 Supplement 6 ) Vol. 210 Issue suppl_6 , p103 - 120 . Goldman , Marshall ( 1991 ) . What Went Wrong With Perestroika . New York : W.W. Norton . Kennedy , Paul . The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers ( New York : Random House , 1987 ) . Pravda , Alex ( 2010 ) . `` The collapse of the Soviet Union , 1990 -- 1991 '' . In Leffler , Melvyn P. ; Westad , Odd Arne . The Cambridge History of the Cold War , Volume 3 : Findings . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . pp. 356 -- 377 . Rutland , Robert ( 1985 ) . The Myth of the Plan : Lessons of Soviet Planning Experience . London : Hutchinson . In Russian ( edit ) Kara - Murza , Sergey ( 2004 ) . Soviet Civilization : From 1917 to the Great Victory ( in Russian ) = Сергей Кара - Мурза . Советская цивилизация . От начала до Великой Победы . ISBN 5 - 699 - 07590 - 9 . Kara - Murza , Sergey ( 2004 ) . Soviet Civilization : From the Great Victory Till Our Time ( in Russian ) = Сергей Кара - Мурза . Советская цивилизация . От Великой Победы до наших дней . ISBN 5 - 699 - 07591 - 7 . External links ( edit ) Andre Gunder Frank , `` What Went Wrong in the ' Socialist ' East ? '' Soviet Union topics History Index of Soviet Union - related articles Russian Revolution February October Russian Civil War Russian SFSR USSR creation treaty New Economic Policy Stalinism Great Purge Great Patriotic War ( World War II ) Cold War Khrushchev Thaw 1965 reform Stagnation Perestroika Glasnost Revolutions of 1989 Dissolution Nostalgia Post-Soviet states Geography Subdivisions Republics autonomous Oblasts autonomous Autonomous okrugs Closed cities list Regions Caspian Sea Caucasus Mountains European Russia North Caucasus Siberia Ural Mountains West Siberian Plain Politics General Constitution Elections Foreign relations Brezhnev Doctrine Government list Human rights LGBT Law Leaders Collective leadership Passport system State ideology Marxism -- Leninism Leninism Stalinism Bodies Communist Party organisation Central Committee Politburo Secretariat Congress General Secretary Congress of Soviets ( 1922 -- 1936 ) Supreme Soviet ( 1938 -- 1991 ) Congress of People 's Deputies ( 1989 -- 1991 ) Supreme Court Offices Premier President Deputy Premier First Deputy Premier Security services Cheka GPU NKVD MVD MGB KGB Political repression Red Terror Collectivization Great Purge Population transfer Gulag list Holodomor Political abuse of psychiatry Ideological repression Religion Suppressed research Censorship Censorship of images Economy Agriculture Central Bank Energy policy Five - Year Plans Net material product Inventions Ruble ( currency ) Internet domain Transport Science Communist Academy Academy of Sciences Academy of Medical Sciences Lenin All - Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences Sharashkas Naukograds list Society Crime Demographics Soviet people working class 1989 census Languages Linguistics LGBT Culture Ballet Cinema Fashion Literature Music opera Propaganda Sports Stalinist architecture Opposition Soviet dissidents and their groups list Anthem republics Emblem republics Flag republics Templates Departments Russian Revolution 1917 Joseph Stalin Stagnation Era Fall of Communism Book Commons Portal WikiProject Revolutions of 1989 Internal background Era of Stagnation Communism Anti-communism Criticism of communist party rule Eastern Bloc Eastern Bloc economies Eastern Bloc politics Eastern Bloc media and propaganda Eastern Bloc emigration and defection KGB Nomenklatura Shortage economy Totalitarianism Eastern European anti-Communist insurgencies International background Active measures Cold War List of socialist states People Power Revolution Predictions of the dissolution of the Soviet Union Reagan Doctrine Soviet Empire Terrorism and the Soviet Union Vatican Opposition Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Reforms Uskoreniye Perestroika Democratization in the Soviet Union Khozraschyot 500 Days Sinatra Doctrine Glasnost Socialism with Chinese characteristics Đổi mới Government leaders Ramiz Alia Nicolae Ceaușescu Mikhail Gorbachev Károly Grósz Erich Honecker János Kádár Miloš Jakeš Egon Krenz Wojciech Jaruzelski Slobodan Milošević Mathieu Kérékou Mengistu Haile Mariam Ne Win Denis Sassou Nguesso Heng Samrin Deng Xiaoping Todor Zhivkov Siad Barre Opposition methods Civil resistance Demonstrations Human chains Magnitizdat Polish underground press Protests Samizdat Strike action Opposition leaders Lech Wałęsa Václav Havel Alexander Dubček Ion Iliescu Liu Gang Wu'erkaixi Chai Ling Wang Dan Feng Congde Tank Man Joachim Gauck Sali Berisha Sanjaasürengiin Zorig Vladimir Bukovsky Boris Yeltsin Viacheslav Chornovil Vytautas Landsbergis Zianon Pazniak Zhelyu Zhelev Aung San Suu Kyi Meles Zenawi Isaias Afwerki Ronald Reagan George H.W. Bush Pope John Paul II Opposition movements Beijing Students ' Autonomous Federation Charter 77 New Forum Civic Forum Democratic Party of Albania Democratic Russia Initiative for Peace and Human Rights Sąjūdis Peaceful Revolution People 's Movement of Ukraine Solidarity Popular Front of Latvia Popular Front of Estonia Public Against Violence Belarusian Popular Front National League for Democracy National Salvation Front Unification Church political activities Union of Democratic Forces Events by location Central and Eastern Europe Albania Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany Hungary Poland Romania Soviet Union Yugoslavia Soviet Union Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Chechnya Estonia Georgia Latvia Lithuania Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Russia Tajikstan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan Elsewhere Afghanistan Angola Benin Burma Cambodia China Congo - Brazzaville Ethiopia Mongolia Mozambique Somalia South Yemen Individual events 1988 Polish strikes April 9 tragedy Black January Baltic Way 1987 -- 89 Tibetan unrest Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 Removal of Hungary 's border fence with Austria Polish Round Table Agreement Hungarian Round Table Talks Pan-European Picnic Monday Demonstrations Alexanderplatz demonstration Malta Summit German reunification January Events in Lithuania January Events in Latvia 1991 protests in Belgrade August Coup Dissolution of the Soviet Union Later events Colour revolution Decommunization Lustration Democratization Economic liberalization Post-Soviet conflicts Neo-Sovietism Neo-Stalinism Post-communism Yugoslav Wars Economic histories by country Current nations / regions Africa Arab world Argentina Australia Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Ecuador Europe France Germany Greece India Iran Ireland Republic of Ireland Japan Mexico Morocco Netherlands Nicaragua Nigeria Pakistan Peru Portugal Russia Scotland Somalia South Africa Spain Sweden Taiwan Turkey United Kingdom United States Vietnam Zimbabwe Former industrialized economies Czechoslovakia East Germany Mongolian People 's Republic Serbia and Montenegro Soviet Union Yugoslavia Historical economies Confederate States of America Empire of Brazil Byzantine Empire Dutch Republic Ancient Greece China Han Dynasty Song Dynasty Ming Dynasty Republic of China Muisca Ottoman Empire Roman Empire Scotland in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages Iroquois Eastern Bloc economies Economies Economy of East Germany Economy of Communist Czechoslovakia Economy of the Soviet Union Goulash ( Hungarian ) Communism Economy of the People 's Republic of Poland Economy of Lithuania Economy of Latvia Economy of Moldavia Economy of SFR Yugoslavia Collectivization Collectivization in the People 's Republic of Poland Collectivization in Hungary Collectivization in the Soviet Union Battle for trade ( Poland ) Collectivization in Ukraine Dekulakization Three Year Plan ( Poland ) Collectivization in Romania Five - year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union Systematization ( Romania ) Pre-dissolution reforms New Economic Policy ( Soviet Union , 1920s ) Wage reform in the Soviet Union , 1956 -- 1962 New Course ( GDR , 1950s ) Kosygin reform ( Soviet Union , 1960s ) New Economic Mechanism ( Hungary , 1960s ) New Economic System ( GDR , 1960s ) Economic System of Socialism ( GDR , 1970s ) Perestroika ( Soviet Union , 1980s ) Related concepts Eastern Bloc economies Shortage economy Sovkhoz Stakhanovite Comecon Economy of Europe Sovereign states Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City States with limited recognition Abkhazia Artsakh Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria Dependencies and other entities Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard Other entities European Union Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union&oldid=836741872 '' Categories : Economy of the Soviet Union Economies by former country Former communist economies Collectivism Hidden categories : Articles containing Russian - 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Question: what type of economic system was utilized in the soviet union


Political action committee - Wikipedia Political action committee Jump to : navigation , search This article needs to be updated . Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . ( February 2016 ) This article is about political organizations . For other uses , see PAC . In the United States and Canada , a political action committee ( PAC ) is a type of organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates , ballot initiatives , or legislation . The legal term PAC has been created in pursuit of campaign finance reform in the United States . This term is quite specific to all activities of campaign finance in the United States . Democracies of other countries use different terms for the units of campaign spending or spending on political competition ( see political finance ) . At the U.S. federal level , an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election , and registers with the Federal Election Commission , according to the Federal Election Campaign Act as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ( also known as the McCain - Feingold Act ) . At the state level , an organization becomes a PAC according to the state 's election laws . Contributions from corporate or labor union treasuries are illegal , though they may sponsor a PAC and provide financial support for its administration and fundraising ; Union - affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from members ; Independent PACs may solicit contributions from the general public and must pay their own costs from those funds . Federal multi-candidate PACs may contribute to candidates as follows : $5,000 to a candidate or candidate committee for each election ( primary and general elections count as separate elections ) ; $15,000 to a political party per year ; and $5,000 to another PAC per year . PACs may make unlimited expenditures independently of a candidate or political party In its 2010 case Citizens United v. FEC , the Supreme Court of the United States overturned sections of the Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ( also known as the McCain - Feingold Act ) that had prohibited corporate and union political independent expenditures in political campaigns . Citizens United made it legal for corporations and unions to spend from their general treasuries to finance independent expenditures related to campaigns , but did not alter the prohibition on direct corporate or union contributions to federal campaigns . Organizations seeking to contribute directly to federal candidate campaigns must still rely on traditional PACs for that purpose . Contents ( hide ) 1 History 2 Categorization 2.1 Connected PACs 2.2 Non-connected PACs 2.2. 1 Leadership PACs 2.2. 2 Controversial use of leadership PACs 2.3 Super PACs 2.3. 1 2012 presidential election 2.3. 2 Disclosure rules 3 2008 election 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History ( edit ) The first PAC was the CIO - PAC , formed in July 1943 under CIO president Philip Murray and headed by Sidney Hillman . Categorization ( edit ) Further information : List of political action committees Federal law formally allows for two types of PACs : connected and non-connected . Judicial decisions added a third classification , independent - expenditure only committees , which are colloquially known as `` Super PACs '' . Connected PACs ( edit ) Most of the 4,600 active , registered PACs are `` connected PACs '' established by businesses , labor unions , trade groups , or health organizations . These PACs receive and raise money from a `` restricted class '' , generally consisting of managers and shareholders in the case of a corporation and members in the case of a union or other interest group . As of January 2009 , there were 1,598 registered corporate PACs , 272 related to labor unions and 995 to trade organizations . Non-connected PACs ( edit ) Groups with an ideological mission , single - issue groups , and members of Congress and other political leaders may form `` non-connected PACs '' . These organizations may accept funds from any individual , connected PAC , or organization . As of January 2009 , there were 1,594 non-connected PACs , the fastest - growing category . Leadership PACs ( edit ) Elected officials and political parties can not give more than the federal limit directly to candidates . However , they can set up a Leadership PAC that makes independent expenditures . Provided the expenditure is not coordinated with the other candidate , this type of spending is not limited . Under the FEC ( Federal Election Commission ) rules , leadership PACs are non-connected PACs , and can accept donations from individuals and other PACs . Since current officeholders have an easier time attracting contributions , Leadership PACs are a way dominant parties can capture seats from other parties . A leadership PAC sponsored by an elected official can not use funds to support that official 's own campaign . However , it may fund travel , administrative expenses , consultants , polling , and other non-campaign expenses . Between 2008 and 2009 , leadership PACs raised and spent more than $47 million . Controversial use of leadership PACs ( edit ) Former Rep. John Doolittle 's ( R ) leadership PAC paid 15 % to a firm that only employed his wife . Payouts to his wife 's firm were $68,630 in 2003 and 2004 , and $224,000 in 2005 and 2006 . The Doolittle home was raided in 2007 . After years of investigation , the Justice Department dropped the case with no charges in June 2010 . One Leadership PAC purchased $2,139 in gifts from Bose Corporation . Former Rep. Richard Pombo ( R ) used his leadership PAC to pay hotel bills ( $22,896 ) and buy baseball tickets ( $320 ) for donors . Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's ( D ) leadership PAC , Team Majority , was fined $21,000 by federal election officials `` for improperly accepting donations over federal limits . '' Super PACs ( edit ) Super PACs , officially known as `` independent - expenditure only committees '' , may not make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties , but may engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns . Unlike traditional PACs , they can raise funds from individuals , corporations , unions , and other groups without any legal limit on donation size . Super PACs were made possible by two judicial decisions : the aforementioned Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and , two months later , Speechnow.org v. FEC . In Speechnow.org , the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that PACs that did not make contributions to candidates , parties , or other PACs could accept unlimited contributions from individuals , unions , and corporations ( both for profit and not - for - profit ) for the purpose of making independent expenditures . The result of the Citizens United and SpeechNow.org decisions was the rise of a new type of political action committee in 2010 , popularly dubbed the `` super PAC '' . In an open meeting on July 22 , 2010 , the FEC approved two Advisory Opinions to modify FEC policy in accordance with the legal decisions . These Advisory Opinions were issued in response to requests from two existing PACs , Club for Growth , and Commonsense Ten , which later became Senate Majority PAC . The opinions gave a sample wording letter which all Super PACs must submit to qualify for the deregulated status , and such letters continue to be used by Super PACs up to the present date . FEC Chairman Steven T. Walther dissented on both opinions and issued a statement giving his thoughts . In the statement , Walther stated `` There are provisions of the Act and Commission regulations not addressed by the court in SpeechNow that continue to prohibit Commonsense Ten from soliciting or accepting contributions from political committees in excess of $5,000 annually or any contributions from corporations or labor organizations . '' ( emphasis in original ) The term `` Super PAC '' was coined by reporter Eliza Newlin Carney . According to Politico , Carney , a staff writer covering lobbying and influence for CQ Roll Call , `` made the first identifiable , published reference to ' super PAC ' as it 's known today while working at National Journal , writing on June 26 , 2010 , of a group called Workers ' Voices , that it was a kind of ' '' super PAC '' that could become increasingly popular in the post-Citizens United world . ' '' According to FEC advisories , Super PACs are not allowed to coordinate directly with candidates or political parties . This restriction is intended to prevent them from operating campaigns that complement or parallel those of the candidates they support or engaging in negotiations that could result in quid pro quo bargaining between donors to the PAC and the candidate or officeholder . However , it is legal for candidates and Super PAC managers to discuss campaign strategy and tactics through the media . 2012 presidential election ( edit ) Super PACs may support particular candidacies . In the 2012 presidential election , Super PACs played a major role , spending more than the candidates ' election campaigns in the Republican primaries . As of early April 2012 , Restore Our Future -- a Super PAC usually described as having been created to help Mitt Romney 's presidential campaign -- had spent $40 million . Winning Our Future ( a pro -- Newt Gingrich group ) spent $16 million . Some Super PACs are run or advised by a candidate 's former staff or associates . In the 2012 election campaign , most of the money given to super PACs came from wealthy individuals , not corporations . According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics , the top 100 individual super PAC donors in 2011 -- 2012 made up just 3.7 % of contributors , but accounted for more than 80 % of the total money raised , while less than 0.5 % of the money given to `` the most active Super PACs '' was donated by publicly traded corporations . Super PACs have been criticized for relying heavily on negative ads . As of February 2012 , according to Center for Responsive Politics , 313 groups organized as Super PACs had received $98,650,993 and spent $46,191,479 . This means early in the 2012 election cycle , PACs had already greatly exceeded total receipts of 2008 . The leading Super PAC on its own raised more money than the combined total spent by the top 9 PACS in the 2008 cycle . The 2012 figures do not include funds raised by state level PACs . Disclosure rules ( edit ) By January 2010 , at least 38 states and the federal government required disclosure for all or some independent expenditures or electioneering communications . These disclosures were intended to deter potentially or seemingly corrupting donations . Yet despite disclosure rules , it is possible to spend money without voters knowing the identities of donors before the election . In federal elections , for example , political action committees have the option to choose to file reports on a `` monthly '' or `` quarterly '' basis . This allows funds raised by PACs in the final days of the election to be spent and votes cast before the report is due . In one high - profile case , a donor to a super PAC kept his name hidden by using an LLC formed for the purpose of hiding their personal name . One super PAC , that originally listed a $250,000 donation from an LLC that no one could find , led to a subsequent filing where the previously `` secret donors '' were revealed . However , campaign finance experts have argued that this tactic is already illegal , since it would constitute a contribution in the name of another . 2008 election ( edit ) In the 2008 election , the top nine PACs spent a total of $25,794,807 ( directly , and via their affiliates and subsidiaries ) as follows : International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC $3,344,650 AT&T Federal PAC $3,108,200 American Bankers Association ( BANK PAC ) $2,918,140 National Beer Wholesalers Association PAC $2,869,000 Dealers Election Action Committee of the National Automobile Dealers Association $2,860,000 International Association of Fire Fighters $2,734,900 International Union of Operating Engineers PAC $2,704,067 American Association for Justice PAC $2,700,500 Laborers ' International Union of North America PAC $2,555,350 See also ( edit ) List of political action committees 501 ( c ) ( 4 ) organizations 527 group Campaign finance in the United States Issue advocacy ads Lobbying in the United States Money loop Politics of the United States Soft money Dark money References ( edit ) Jump up ^ Janda , Kenneth ; Berry , Jeffrey M. ; Goldman , Jerry ( 2008 - 12 - 19 ) . The Challenge of Democracy : American Government in a Global World ( 10 ed . ) . Boston : Cengage Learning . p. 309 . ISBN 054720454X . Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 13 . Jump up ^ `` Kentucky : Secretary of State - Civics Glossary '' . Sos.ky.gov. 2010 - 12 - 20 . Archived from the original on 2013 - 06 - 07 . Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 04 . Jump up ^ 52 U.S.C. § 30101 http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section30101&num=0&edition=prelim . Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 03 . Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ Ely , Jr. , James W. ( 2012 ) ( 2005 ) . Hall , Kermit L. , ed . The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States ( Electronic ) format = requires url = ( help ) ( Encyclopedia ) ( 2 ed . ) . Oxford : Oxford University Press . ISBN 9780199916467 . Jump up ^ 2 U.S.C. § 441b Jump up ^ https://www.sec.gov/comments/4-637/4637-21.pdf Jump up ^ Murse , Tom . `` What is a Super PAC ? '' . About.com U.S. Politics . Retrieved December 9 , 2012 . Jump up ^ `` End Citizens United raises $4 million , projects $35 million haul for midterms '' . USA TODAY . Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 03 . ^ Jump up to : `` 20090309PACcount '' . Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ Kurtzleben , Danielle ( September 27 , 2010 ) . `` DeMint 's PAC Spends $1.5 Million in Independent Expenditures '' . U.S. News and World Report . Jump up ^ Stern , Marcus ; LaFleur , Jennifer 's ( September 26 , 2009 ) . `` Leadership PACs : Let the Good Times Roll '' . ProPublica . Retrieved December 10 , 2009 . Jump up ^ `` Leadership PACs and Sponsors '' Archived 2012 - 03 - 10 at the Wayback Machine ... Federal Election Commission . Jump up ^ `` Congress 101 : Political Action Committees '' . Congressional Quarterly . Jump up ^ `` Leadership PACs '' . OpenSecrets.org . Center for Responsive Politics . 2010 . Jump up ^ `` FBI raids U.S. Rep. Doolittle 's home - politics - NBC News '' . msnbc.com . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ `` Political Action Committees '' . OpenSecrets.org . Center for Responsive Politics . Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 04 . Jump up ^ Weisman , Jonathan ; Birnbaum , Jeffrey H. ( July 11 , 2006 ) . `` Lawmaker Criticized for PAC Fees Paid to Wife '' . The Washington Post . Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 22 . Jump up ^ `` Pelosi PAC fined $21,000 by federal elections officials '' . USA Today . February 11 , 2004 . Retrieved May 22 , 2010 . Jump up ^ `` Outside Spending ( 2010 ) '' . OpenSecrets.org . Center for Responsive Politics . Jump up ^ Cordes , Nancy ( June 30 , 2011 ) . `` Colbert gets a Super PAC ; So what are they ? '' . CBS News . Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 11 . Jump up ^ `` 20100722OpenMtng '' . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ `` Component Parts '' , Matt Corley , March 14 , 2012 Jump up ^ `` How Super PACs got their name '' , Dave Levinthal , January 10 , 2012 Jump up ^ Grier , Peter ( January 18 , 2012 ) . `` Will Jon Stewart go to jail for running Stephen Colbert 's super PAC ? '' . The Christian Science Monitor . Jump up ^ McGlynn , Katla ( January 18 , 2012 ) . `` Jon Stewart , Stephen Colbert Expose More Super PAC Loopholes Without ' Coordinating ' '' . The Huffington Post . ^ Jump up to : Crankocracy In America . Who really benefitted from Citizens United ? . Timothy Noah . 29 March 2012 . Jump up ^ Winning Our Future . factcheck.org. 5 July 2012 . Jump up ^ `` Who 's Financing the ' Super PACs ' '' . The New York Times , February 20 , 2012 ( February 1 , 2012 ) Jump up ^ Can 46 rich dudes buy an election ? By Charles Riley @ CNNMoney March 26 , 2012 Jump up ^ Corporations do n't pony up for super PACs By ANNA PALMER and ABBY PHILLIP politico.com 3 / 8 / 12 Jump up ^ Mooney , Brian C. ( February 2 , 2012 ) . `` Super PACs fueling GOP attack ads '' . The Boston Globe . 2012 - 02 - 02 Jump up ^ `` Super PACs '' . OpenSecrets.org . Center for Responsive Politics . Retrieved 2012 - 02 - 04 . Jump up ^ `` Cookies Disabled '' . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ `` An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie '' . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ `` Towards a Madisonian , interest - group - based , approach to lobbying regulation , University of Alabama School of Law , by Anita S. Krishnakumar , Page 10 of 61 , February 18 , 2007 '' ( PDF ) . Jump up ^ `` Who funds Super PAC ? FEC looks into powerful influence '' , By Gail Russell Chaddock , The Christian Science Monitor , Feb 02 , 2012 Archived 2012 - 03 - 08 at the Wayback Machine . Jump up ^ `` '' Super PACs '' in Federal Elections : Overview and Issues for Congress , Congressional Research Service , by R. Sam Garrett , December 2 , 2011 '' ( PDF ) . Jump up ^ `` Timely Tips Archive '' . Archived from the original on 16 February 2016 . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ John Blake , CNN ( 4 February 2012 ) . `` Forgetting a key lesson from Watergate ? '' . CNN . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ Colbert I. King ( 13 January 2012 ) . `` How D.C. interests sidestep campaign finance limits '' . Washington Post . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . Jump up ^ Luo , Michael . `` A Secret Donor Revealed '' . Jump up ^ `` The strange case of W. Spann , LLC '' . Center for Competitive Politics . Retrieved 13 January 2016 . External links ( edit ) FEC.gov - Political Action Committees ( PAC ) FEC.gov - Speechnow.org v. FEC OpenSecrets.org from the Center for Responsive Politics FactCheck.org Players Guide 2012 FactCheck.org Players Guide 2014 PoliticalMoneyLine dot - com company that offers some free information ; detailed info requires a subscription Sunlight Foundation ( hide ) Lobbying in the United States Topics Political action committee 527 organization Campaign finance ( reform ) Major industrial and business lobbies Agricultural Energy Health Insurance Organized labor Software Tobacco Transportation Major single - issue lobbies Administration Abortion Environmental Federal leadership Feminism Foreign policy Guns Immigration LGBT `` Homosexual agenda '' Retirees Taxes Diaspora and ethnic lobbies Arab Egypt Libya Saudi Arabia Armenia China Cuba ( Anti Castro ) Greece Ireland Israel `` Jewish lobby '' Anti-Israel lobby Pakistan Turkey Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Political_action_committee&oldid=835443140 '' Categories : Campaign finance in the United States Political terminology United States political action committees Lobbying in the United States Hidden categories : Pages with citations lacking titles Pages with citations having bare URLs Pages using citations with format and no URL Webarchive template wayback links Wikipedia articles in need of updating from February 2016 All Wikipedia articles in need of updating Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Español Français Italiano Basa Jawa Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Simple English 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 8 April 2018 , at 18 : 58 . 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Question: what is the function of a political action committee (pac)

pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation


Tiber - wikipedia Tiber Jump to : navigation , search This article is about the Italian river . For other uses , see Tiber ( disambiguation ) . Tiber The Tiber in Rome Country Italy Physical characteristics Main source Mount Fumaiolo 1,268 m ( 4,160 ft ) River mouth Tyrrhenian Sea Length 406 km ( 252 mi ) Discharge Average rate : 239 m / s ( 8,400 cu ft / s ) ( in Rome ) Basin features Basin size 17,375 km ( 6,709 sq mi ) Mussolini 's headstone near the source of Tiber Roman representation of Tiber as a god ( Tiberinus ) with cornucopia at the Campidoglio , Rome View of the Tiber looking towards the Vatican City Rome flood marker , 1598 , set into a pillar of the Santo Spirito Hospital near Basilica di San Pietro Highest level of Tiber for 40 + years , 13 December 2008 . View of Tiber Island The Tiber ( / ˈtaɪbər / , Latin Tiberis , Italian Tevere , Italian pronunciation : ( ˈteːvere ) ) is the third - longest river in Italy , rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia - Romagna and flowing 406 kilometres ( 252 mi ) through Tuscany , Umbria and Lazio , where it is joined by the river Aniene , to the Tyrrhenian Sea , between Ostia and Fiumicino . It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres ( 6,709 sq mi ) . The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome , founded on its eastern banks . The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past Perugia and Rome to meet the sea at Ostia . Popularly called flavus ( `` the blond '' ) , in reference to the yellowish colour of its water , the Tiber has heavily advanced at the mouth by about 3 kilometres ( 2 miles ) since Roman times , leaving the ancient port of Ostia Antica 6 kilometres ( 4 miles ) inland . However , it does not form a proportional delta , owing to a strong north - flowing sea current close to the shore , to the steep shelving of the coast , and to slow tectonic subsidence . Contents ( hide ) 1 Sources 2 Etymology 3 History 4 Bridges 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Sources ( edit ) The source of the Tiber consists of two springs 10 metres ( 33 ft ) away from each other on Mount Fumaiolo . These springs are called `` Le Vene '' . The springs are in a beech forest 1,268 metres ( 4,160 ft ) above sea level . During the 1930s , Benito Mussolini placed an antique marble Roman column at the point where the river arises , inscribed QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA ( `` Here is born the river / sacred to the destinies of Rome '' ) . There is an eagle on the top of this column . The first miles of the Tiber run through Valtiberina before entering Umbria . Etymology ( edit ) It is probable that the genesis of the name Tiber was pre-Latin , like the Roman name of Tibur ( modern Tivoli ) , and may be specifically Italic in origin . The same root is found in the Latin praenomen Tiberius . There are also Etruscan variants of this praenomen in Thefarie ( borrowed from Faliscan * Tiferios , lit . ' ( He ) from the Tiber ' < * Tiferis ' Tiber ' ) and Teperie ( via the Latin hydronym Tiber ) . The legendary king Tiberinus , ninth in the king - list of Alba Longa , was said to have drowned in the river Albula , which was afterward called Tiberis . The myth may have explained a memory of an earlier , perhaps pre-Indo - European name for the river , `` white '' ( alba ) with sediment , or `` from the mountains '' from preindoeuropean word `` alba , albion '' mount , elevated area . Tiberis / Tifernus may be a preindoeuropean substrate word related to Aegaean tifos still water , Greek phytonym τύφη a kind of swamp and river bank weed ( Typha angustifolia ) , Hiberian hydronyms Tibilis , Tebro and Numidian Aquae Tibilitanae . Yet another etymology is from * dubri - , water , considered by Alessio as Sicel , whence the form Θύβρις later Tiberis . This root * dubri - is widespread in Western Europe e.g. Dover , Portus Dubris . According to the legend , Jupiter made him a god and guardian spirit of the river ( also called Volturnus , `` rolling water '' ) . This gave rise to the standard Roman depiction of the river as a powerfully built reclining god , also named Tiberinus , with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard . The Tiber was also believed to be the river into which Romulus and Remus ( the former founded Rome ) were thrown as infants . History ( edit ) According to legend , the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres ( 16 mi ) from the sea at Ostia . The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome , between Trastevere and the ancient center , was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged . Legend says Rome 's founders , the twin brothers Romulus and Remus , were abandoned on its waters , where they were rescued by the she - wolf , Lupa . The river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west , the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south . Benito Mussolini , born in Romagna , adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia - Romagna , so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna . The Tiber was critically important to Roman trade and commerce , as ships could reach as far as 100 kilometres ( 60 mi ) upriver ; there is evidence that it was used to ship grain from the Val Teverina as long ago as the 5th century BC . It was later used to ship stone , timber and foodstuffs to Rome . During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC , the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base . It later became Rome 's most important port , where wheat , olive oil , and wine were imported from Rome 's colonies around the Mediterranean . Wharves were also built along the riverside in Rome itself , lining the riverbanks around the Campus Martius area . The Romans connected the river with a sewer system ( the Cloaca Maxima ) and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels , to bring its water into the middle of the city . Wealthy Romans had garden - parks or `` horti '' on the banks of the river in Rome up through the first century BC . These may have been sold and developed about a century later . The heavy sedimentation of the river made it difficult to maintain Ostia , prompting the emperors Claudius and Trajan to establish a new port on the Fiumicino in the 1st century AD . They built a new road , the via Portuensis , to connect Rome with Fiumicino , leaving the city by Porta Portese ( ' the port gate ' ) . Both ports were eventually abandoned due to silting . Several popes attempted to improve navigation on the Tiber in the 17th and 18th century , with extensive dredging continuing into the 19th century . Trade was boosted for a while but by the 20th century silting had resulted in the river only being navigable as far as Rome itself . The Tiber was once known for its floods -- the Campus Martius is a flood plain and would regularly flood to a depth of 2 metres ( 6 ft 7 in ) . The river is now confined between high stone embankments which were begun in 1876 . Within the city , the riverbanks are lined by boulevards known as lungoteveri , streets `` along the Tiber '' . Because the river is identified with Rome , the terms `` swimming the Tiber '' or `` crossing the Tiber '' have come to be the Protestant shorthand term for converting to Roman Catholicism . This is most common if the person who converts had been Anglican , the reverse of which is referred to as `` swimming the Thames '' or `` crossing the Thames '' . In ancient Rome , executed criminals were thrown into the Tiber . People executed at the Gemonian stairs were thrown in the Tiber during the later part of the reign of the emperor Tiberius . This practice continued over the centuries . For example , the corpse of Pope Formosus was thrown into the Tiber after the infamous Cadaver Synod held in 897 . Bridges ( edit ) In addition to the numerous modern bridges over the Tiber in Rome , there remain a few ancient bridges ( now mostly pedestrian - only ) that have survived in part ( e.g. , the Ponte Milvio and the Ponte Sant'Angelo ) or in whole ( Fabricius ' Bridge ) . See also ( edit ) Hollywood on the Tiber References ( edit ) Jump up ^ Richard J.A. Talbert , ed. ( 2000 ) . Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World : Map - By - Map Directory . I. Princeton , NJ and Oxford , UK : Princeton University Press . p. 630 . ISBN 0691049459 . Jump up ^ ( in Italian ) Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia Jump up ^ Lazio -- Latium Italy Archived 2009 - 08 - 28 at the Wayback Machine . ^ Jump up to : `` Tiber River '' . Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006 Jump up ^ `` Tiber '' . World Encyclopedia . Philip 's , 2005 . Jump up ^ `` Tiber Springs -- Mount Fumaiolo '' . Archived from the original on 2013 - 09 - 27 . Jump up ^ Tuscany tours -- the origin of the Tiber River ^ Jump up to : `` Tiber '' . Concise Dictionary of World Place - Names . John Everett - Heath . Oxford University Press 2005 . Jump up ^ George Davis Chase , `` The Origin of Roman Praenomina '' , in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology , vol . VIII ( 1897 ) Jump up ^ Cf . e.g. G. Alessio `` Studi storico - linguisitci messapici '' in Archivio Storico Pugliese p. 304 ; `` Sul nome di Brindisi '' in Archivio Storico Puglese VIII 1955 p. 211 f. ; `` Apulia et Calabria nel quadro della toponomastica mediterranea '' in Atti del VII Congresso Internazionale di Studi Onomastici Firenze 1962 p. 85 . Jump up ^ G. Simonetta `` La stratificazione linguistica dell ' Agro Falisco '' p. 6 citing G. Alessio . Jump up ^ G. Alessio `` Problemi storico - linguistici messapici '' in Studi Salentini12 1962 p. 304 . Jump up ^ Tiber . Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth ( 1996 ) Jump up ^ Horti : LacusCurtius Gardens of Ancient Rome ( Platner & Ashby , 1929 ) External links ( edit ) Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiber . The river mouth of the Tiber and city of Fiumicino on the Tyrrhenian Sea Emilia - Romagna Provinces , Metropolitan cities and places Bologna Ferrara Forlì - Cesena Modena Parma Piacenza Ravenna Reggio Emilia Rimini History Padanian Etruria Emilia Romagna March of Tuscany Papal States Duchy of Milan Duchy of Modena and Reggio Duchy of Ferrara Duchy of Parma and Piacenza County of Guastalla Duchy of Guastalla Cispadane Republic Cisalpine Republic Italian Republic Kingdom of Italy United Provinces of Central Italy Politics and government Elections in Emilia -- Romagna List of Presidents of Emilia -- Romagna Education and culture Music Categories Lazio Provinces and places Frosinone Latina Rieti Rome Viterbo History Latins Latium Ancient Rome Papal States Roman Republic ( 18th century ) Roman Republic ( 19th century ) Lakes Lake Albano Lake Bolsena Lake Bracciano Lago di Canterno Lago di Caprolace Lago di Fondi Lago di Giulianello Lake Martignano Lake Mezzano Lago dei Monaci Lake Nemi Lago di Posta Fibreno Lago di Rascino Lago di Sabaudia Lago del Salto Lago del Turano Lake Vico Mountains Seven hills of Rome Alban Hills Aurunci Mountains Monti Ausoni Monte Cavo Cimini Hills Monti Ernici Monte Gorzano Monti della Laga Monti Lepini Monti della Meta Monte Petrella Monti Prenestini Monti Sabatini Monte Soratte Monte Terminillo Monti della Tolfa Monti Volsini Monte Cassino Monte Abate Monte Altino Monte Appiolo Maschio dell'Ariano Maschio di Lariano Monte Artemisio Monte Autore Monte Carbonaro Monte Cefalo Cima del Redentore ( monti Aurunci ) Circeo Monte Crispi Monte Dragone Monte Faggeto Monte Fammera Mont Fogliano Monte Fusco Monte Guadagnolo Monte Lauro in Gaeta Monte Lauzo Le Rave Fosche Monte Livata Mainarde Maschio delle Faete Meta ( monte ) Monna Monte Caira Monte Cervello Monte Revole Monte Sorgenze Monte Trina Monte Val de ' Varri -- Monte Faito -- Monte San Nicola Monte di Cambio Monte le Pezze Parco regionale urbano Monte Orlando Monte Orso Monte Pizzuto Monte Ruazzo Geography Castelli Romani Valle Latina Pontine marshes Roman Campagna Sabina Tiber Tuscia Politics Elections in Lazio List of Presidents of Lazio Categories Tuscany Provinces , metropolitan cities and places Arezzo Florence Grosseto Livorno Lucca Massa and Carrara Pisa Pistoia Prato Siena History Etruria March of Tuscany Republic of Florence Duchy of Florence Grand Duchy of Tuscany Monarchs of Tuscany Kingdom of Etruria United Provinces Politics Elections in Tuscany List of Presidents of Tuscany Culture Language Music Wine Categories Umbria Provinces and places Perugia Terni History Umbri Etruria Roman Umbria Duchy of Spoleto Trasimène Via Flaminia Politics and government Elections in Umbria List of Presidents of Umbria Education and culture Flag Categories VIAF : 125605619 GND : 4119609 - 0 BNF : cb138842244 ( data ) Coordinates : 41 ° 44 ′ 26 '' N 12 ° 14 ′ 00 '' E  /  41.7405 ° N 12.2334 ° E  / 41.7405 ; 12.2334 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tiber&oldid=822143314 '' Categories : Tiber Rivers of Italy Rivers of the Apennines Tyrrhenian Sea Waterways of Italy Rivers of Emilia - Romagna Rivers of Lazio Rivers of Tuscany Rivers of Umbria Geography of Rome Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Topography of the ancient city of Rome Rivers of the Province of Perugia Rivers of the Province of Rieti Rivers of the Province of Terni Rivers of the Province of Viterbo Rivers of the Province of Arezzo Rivers of the Province of Forlì - Cesena Rivers of the Province of Rome Hidden categories : Articles with Italian - language external links Webarchive template wayback links Pages using infobox river with `` basin countries '' parameter Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Coordinates on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia አማርኛ Aragonés Asturianu Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца )  Български བོད ་ ཡིག Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Cebuano Čeština Corsu Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Furlan Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Kaszëbsczi Қазақша Kiswahili Кыргызча Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Ligure Lumbaart Magyar Македонски मराठी მარგალური Mirandés မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands 日本 語 Nordfriisk Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Scots Sicilianu Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt ייִדיש 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 24 January 2018 , at 17 : 17 . 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Question: what river is associated with the city of rome


Former presidents Act - wikipedia Former presidents Act Jump to : navigation , search The Former Presidents Act ( known also as FPA ; 3 U.S.C. § 102 ) is a 1958 U.S. federal law that provides several lifetime benefits to former presidents of the United States who have not been removed from office . Contents ( hide ) 1 History 2 Current status 2.1 Pension 2.2 Transition 2.3 Staff and office 2.4 Medical insurance 2.5 Secret Service protection 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links History ( edit ) Before 1958 , the U.S. federal government provided no pension or other retirement benefits to former United States presidents . Andrew Carnegie offered to endow a US $25,000 annual pension for former Chief Executives in 1912 , but congressmen questioned the propriety of such a private pension . That prompted legislation to provide benefits to former presidents . When the Former Presidents Act took effect , there were two living former presidents : Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman . Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to fall under the act upon leaving office . The original act provided for lifetime Secret Service protection for former presidents . In 1997 , it was reduced to 10 years for presidents taking office after 1997 . The 1997 amendment was reverted by the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 ( Pub. L. 112 -- 257 ) . All living former presidents and their spouses are now entitled to receive lifetime Secret Service protection . Current status ( edit ) By law , former presidents are entitled to a pension , staff and office expenses , medical care or health insurance , and Secret Service protection . Pension ( edit ) The Secretary of the Treasury pays a taxable pension to the president . Former presidents receive a pension equal to the pay that the head of an executive department ( Executive Level I ) would be paid , as of 2015 $203,700 per year . The pension begins immediately after a president 's departure from office . A former president 's spouse may also be paid a lifetime annual pension of $20,000 if they relinquish any other statutory pension . Transition ( edit ) Washington Transition funding for the expenses of leaving office is available for seven months . It covers office space , staff compensation , communications services , and printing and postage associated with the transition . Staff and office ( edit ) Private office staff and related funding is provided by the Administrator of the General Services Administration . Persons employed under this subsection are selected by and responsible only to the former president for the performance of their duties . Each former president fixes basic rates of compensation for persons employed for him , not exceeding an annualized total of $150,000 for the first 30 months and $96,000 thereafter . Medical insurance ( edit ) Former presidents are entitled to medical treatment in military hospitals ; they pay for this at interagency rates set by the Office of Management and Budget . Two - term presidents may buy health insurance under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program ; a GSA legal opinion ruled Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush ineligible . Secret Service protection ( edit ) Former presidents were entitled from 1965 to 1996 to lifetime Secret Service protection , for themselves , spouses , and children under 16 . A 1994 statute , ( Pub. L. 103 -- 329 ) , limited post-presidential protection to ten years for presidents inaugurated after January 1 , 1997 . Under this statute , Bill Clinton would still be entitled to lifetime protection , and all subsequent presidents would have been entitled to ten years ' protection . On January 10 , 2013 , President Barack Obama signed the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 , reinstating lifetime Secret Service protection for his predecessor George W. Bush , himself , and all subsequent presidents . Richard Nixon relinquished his Secret Service protection in 1985 , the only president to do so . See also ( edit ) Presidential Townhouse Notes ( edit ) ^ Jump up to : Smith , Stephanie ( 2008 - 03 - 18 ) . `` Former Presidents : Federal Pension and Retirement Benefits '' ( PDF ) . Congressional Research Service . U.S. Senate . Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 04 . Jump up ^ Public Law 112 - 257 Jan. 10 , 2013 Jump up ^ Ann Compton ( 10 January 2013 ) . `` Lifetime Secret Service Protection Restored for Presidents Bush and Obama '' . ABC News . Retrieved 1 May 2013 . Jump up ^ `` Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule ( EX ) '' ( PDF ) . Office of Personal Management . Retrieved 1 August 2015 . Jump up ^ Brandon , Emily ( January 16 , 2009 ) . `` President Bush Will Get a $196,700 Pension '' . US News and World Report . Retrieved 2012 - 11 - 08 . Former presidents currently receive a pension that is equal to pay for the head of an executive department . Jump up ^ Brandon , Emily ( 2009 - 01 - 16 ) . `` President Bush Will Get a $196,700 Pension '' . Washington , D.C. : U.S. News & World Report . Retrieved 2009 - 04 - 09 . Bush 's payouts will grow to $203,600 next year and $210,700 in 2011 Jump up ^ `` United States Secret Service : History '' . U.S. Department of Treasury . Archived from the original on March 14 , 2009 . Retrieved 2009 - 04 - 09 . 1965 Congress authorized protection of former presidents and their spouses during their lifetime and minor children until age 16 ... 1997 Congress passed legislation in 1994 stating that presidents elected to office after January 1 , 1997 , will receive Secret Service protection for 10 years after leaving office . Individuals elected to office prior to January 1 , 1997 , will continue to receive lifetime protection . ( Public Law 103 - 329 ) Jump up ^ Ginsberg , Wendy ( 2008 - 08 - 22 ) . `` Former Presidents : Pensions , Office Allowances , and Other Federal Benefit '' ( PDF ) . Congressional Research Service . U.S. Department of State . Retrieved 2009 - 04 - 09 . Jump up ^ `` Obama signs bill granting lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents and spouses '' . Washington Post . Associated Press . 10 January 2013 . Retrieved 12 January 2013 . Jump up ^ Sharkey , Nancy ( 1985 - 07 - 28 ) . `` Follow - Up On The News ; Nixon Guards '' . The New York Times . Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 18 . His sole reason was to save money for the government , according to his assistant , John Taylor ... Mr. Nixon 's wife , Pat , dropped Secret Service protection last year . The others on the agency 's permanent - protection rolls are former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter , and President Lyndon B. Johnson 's widow , Lady Bird . External links ( edit ) National Archives : Former Presidents Act Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Former_Presidents_Act&oldid=797671551 '' Categories : Presidency of the United States United States federal government administration legislation 1958 in American law Hidden categories : Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2015 All articles containing potentially dated statements Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Edit links This page was last edited on 28 August 2017 , at 14 : 59 . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply . By using this site , you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation , Inc. , a non-profit organization . About Wikipedia

Question: how long do former presidents get secret service protection