For the lower ranks, the changes have been far less stark but the generation that came into the ministry under Stalin is all but gone.
GOOD.
The eighth plan itself was built with a strong basis in reviving the service sector and continuing the development of agriculture, both goals that were pursued with the greatest priority. For the former, strong investments in direct population-facing service applications predominated spending as employment increased alongside improving standards of living. Trucking has steadily gone from a small industry to a major economic juggernaut critical for the operation of many enterprises with general consulting services accessible if still expensive. With the strong associated increase in funding the plan further accomplished a massive expansion of both education and childcare, preparing the next generation better than any before it.
this was I think the plan with the most focus on actual quality of life for people, so all in all it went really well.
and yeah, trucking (and roads) should help our economic growth significantly in the next plan too.
Infrastructure funding was refocused on the road crisis as the situation reached a pivotal and unmanageable point for political thinking. This only continued through the plan as all programs were pushed toward ensuring the development of transportation infrastructure. Control of waters across the Amur and Central Asia has improved water access for millions with further developments likely to only continue to improve the local situation. With the crossing of the Urals and a new canal route built, the coal crisis of the last decade has finally been solved. More mines still need to be developed to ship enough coal West but it is no longer an existential crisis with no means to address it.
Maybe we should go for an infrastructure heavy plan for the probably last plan with relatively low labour costs? As mentioned before we can't nor shouldn't keep wages down for much longer, but managing to finish most of the new road system before they go up would help us save a decent amount of budget I think.
Rural development and agriculture more broadly have seen some of the largest changes in yields across the nation. The introduction of hybridized dwarf wheat crossbreeding for harsher conditions has increased yields and fertilizer uptake massively with the shorter growing season allowing far more reliable harvests. Further, the increase in mechanization and the size of the small family farm have accompanied an improvement in labor efficiency and production. The area under tillage technically shrank across the plan but the production of basic commodities strongly increased. The provision of additional machinery and the maturity of the chemical industry further contributed to a strong growth tendency, allowing agriculture to steadily become a quasi-revenue-gaining sector.
mh... when do fertilizers and pesticides become too much? Generally speaking they've been immensely useful, but I think there's been some talk of scaling them down at some point?
The negatives of prioritization of the plan outside the acute economic crisis of Gorky come from a lack of housing, secondary infrastructure, and a focus on long-term development. The educational system built through the plan will deliver massive gains in the long-term performance of the Union but labor prices have rapidly gone up and the increase in education has temporarily limited the graduation of educated labor. Water systems that are still unexceptional and poor in areas have received little effort for modernization and the housing situation has worsened across the country. More construction is necessary along with far more focus on improving the general infrastructural system across the next plan if the Union is to overtake the West.
so more housing, more roads, more water, more healthcare... the usual, really.
education will take some time to pay us back, as will a lot of this... but we're actually in a decent position now, and can afford to invest in those things in preparation for labour costs going up.
[]ESA: Computational performance on the enterprise level has continued to perform above the expected bound with the automatization of significant quantities of secretary work providing an increased capacity. Focusing on a new automated system of governmental control will eliminate a massive number of previously redundant positions and allow for the rapid computation of numbers. Current Erbrus units are already sufficient for much of the work required with further efforts focused on improved machines and microelectronic terminals. This will shift some positions and eliminate some lower-ranked redundant personnel through new hires, keeping the ministry leaner and more organized. (250 Progress Infra Project) (Probable Gain of Four Dice(can be free dice)) (Significant Political Cost)
[]Continue Conventional Promotions: Promoting students to the point that they can be educated and trained by more experienced personnel is going to be essential to maintaining the state of the ministry. Current long-service personnel have effectively already trained a mass of incoming juniors and to a large extent, the ministry has recovered from the deficits of the sixties. Bringing in new personnel can be done in a measured fashion, avoiding disruption and continuing a steady expansion of governmental capacity. (Gain of Four Dice, Determined Next Turn and you Cannot put more than two in one category)
[]Expand the Student Cadres: There is not a shortage of students who have taken experienced positions doing key economic consulting work for enterprises along with a bevy of engineers who have each pushed through their technical tasks. Hiring them into the ministry will to an extent dilute experience but it will ensure that more trained and more technical personnel continue to be hired. As an added advantage the rotation of cadres and the inclusion of more students is expected to continue the consolidation of control away from the old guard with more reliable and generally better-educated youths. (Gain of Six Dice, Determined Next Turn and you Cannot put more than two in one category) (-2 Experience bonus, +1 Economics Education) (Eventual Political Gains)
I'm unsure between ESA and Expand.
it's basically "less hiring, more computerization" or "hire more to later remove the old fossils", right?
I don't really care about the number of dice here, but more about the narrative consequences.
[]Infrastructure:. The massive strides made in the last plan towards bringing the Union's road system out of the past and developing to a point over all but the most advanced capitalist powers has greatly accelerated the economy but far more can be done. Continuing the drive towards improving the state of general infrastructure by concentrating efforts on it can produce massive results and continue to serve both private and state industrial development. The sector itself has yet to run out of low-cost projects but several more ambitious ones have already been proposed. (+6 IN Dice) (Required for Reversal of Northern Rivers, Baikal-Amur Line, and Basic Infrastructure Target)
[]Heavy Industry: The previous plans since Malenkov's failure have discouraged investment into the conventional industry in favor of the development of consumer-facing production. Work now however must be done to address the shortage of electronics integration, lower technology machinery using numerical control, and the integration of computing into the production process. Initial electronic systems have built a basis but far more can be done to automate the factory floor. Further, with new innovative techniques any semblance of an energy crisis can be solved through strong capital investment and innovative atomic technologies. (+6 HI Dice) (Required for Modernization of Tooling Supplies, Atomash, and the High Technology Industries Target)
[]Services: Services have delivered considerable returns for the funding invested into the sector as the mobilization of the population has continued. Providing basic childcare alone has massively contributed towards increasing the number of workers available and the quality of life of mothers. Further programs will be focused on extending the development of current services along with ensuring a universal extent of availability. Further, distribution programs can be extended into the countryside to allow for specialty goods to be shipped to end users rather than kept in stockpiles. (+6 SR Dice) (Required for Logistical Integration, Labor Reserve Educational Mobilization, and State services partnerships)
It looks to me like Heavy Industry and Infrastructure are currently the most important sectors.
We need more roads, more energy, we wanted to go relatively heavy on nuclear and high tech...
I could be convinced to go Service in place of one of the above though.
[]20+20% GNP: Increasing the rate of spending for enterprises and ensuring that managers can have the largest possible degree of initiative will leave the largest effect on modernization. The economy is in an important transitional period and providing as much funding as possible for it will produce strong growth. The machine industry can be focused on in the state sector all while demand increases in the enterprises' relentless drive for modernization. The political risks of the strategy are immense, especially since enterprises may push to maintain the level of funding. Further increasing capital expenditure also poses risks and may lead to instability and lagging growth in later plans. (8200 RpY)
I'm leaning towards this I think, if we can deal with the political risks mentioned therein.
the 25% options seem to expensive/risky, and the enterprises WOULD benefit from some help right now...
[]Basic Infrastructure: Abandoning chasing high targets and focusing on the population is an understandable deviation from conventional approaches and one that may be necessary. The previous plan has massively expanded employment and economic turnover with the one before that arguably more extreme. Instead of chasing growth to the largest extent possible, the nation can instead focus on the development of housing and transportation to enable future growth. The size of the Union leaves transport expensive and extraction is only growing further from the industrial base. A massive housing program alone can also finally deliver on the promise of universal apartments for all, improving population growth and contentedness. (35% MFPG, 30% Capital Goods, 40% Consumer Goods, 20% Agricultural, and 50% Service Sector Valuation Increase) (7 Housing Dice 1 HSR, and 1 electrification Dice Required)
I think this is my favourite. it obviously requires an infra focus, but I think we were doing that anyway, and we ARE still behind on both housing and roads and so on.
Also wouldn't electrification help a bit with reducing oil/coal/gas use?
That said, 7 housing IS a bit high...
Automatic Projects (Automated things you may want to build/Have to build) (Approximate Power Expectation of 450 a turn, expect more with a HI or CI or to a lesser extent LI focus)
...that went up by a lot, didn't it?
Housing Construction Efforts(Selection Required):
-[]3 Infrastructure Dice: Some mild mistakes may have been made in the initial housing projections with the state of housing defined as desirable generally overestimated in the extreme. There is currently less of a housing shortage and more of a shortage of high-quality housing, but that can be comparatively deprioritized relative to more important industrial developments. Committing enough resources to keep the sector functioning will allow for the construction of larger and more economically stimulating projects than a few million workers having a larger kitchen. (300 RpY Modified by Steel Prices)
-[]5 Infrastructure Dice: Expanding the pace of the housing program to ensure that the new generation can receive up-to-date housing along with improving the general state of housing is considered something of a priority. A full-scale decisive program is not required in that as an investment housing can be comparatively deprioritized compared to economic gains, but it can still be made better. Continued financial efforts will allow for the acceleration of construction to meet the demands of the rising population with a strong increase in per-family rooms along with a reduction in the age of construction. (480 RpY Modified by Steel Prices) (Stage 5 Air Conditioning required by 1973)
-[]7 Infrastructure Dice: Housing is the largest interaction most workers have with the economy and inherently one that defines their perception of the world as so much time is spent in it. The old Mikoyankas and immediate post-war builds are approaching obsolescence and that alone must be decisively answered to improve the general state of housing. Further expanding the program to the point that nearly five million new apartments are constructed per year will take a massive provision of funding and organizational capacity but it will ensure that the struggle for housing is won. The capacity developed now will further contribute to expansions in later plans allowing the total elimination of cooperative housing and inadequate wartime constructions by 1980. (700 RpY Modified by Steel Prices) (Stage 6 Air Conditioning required by 1973)
If we don't go for basic infra plan goal, I think 5 housing is enough. Otherwise sure, go all in!
[]High Speed Rail:
-[]Passenger Rail Network(Ural Region): The Ural mountains pose a massive technical and logistical challenge to overcome for the track that must run mostly straight with few bends or major elevation changes. Still, the builders of the Trans-Siberian were able to overcome it, and there is no reason why we cannot. The Northern corridor will be built as an extension of the lines from Kazan, crossing the Urals in the direction of Sverdlovsk. Ufa will further be integrated into the network with a line headed South into Orenburg. In the Southern sector, a line from Saratov to Uralsk to Orenburg to Orsk will be constructed, allowing for an easy linkage into the Central Asian planned project. Construction past the Urals will continue from Orsk to Kostanay along the main populated corridor, entering Omsk from the South. In the North challenging work will be done to further link Saratov to Tyumen followed by a further corridor to Omsk. To increase integration a further small corridor is planned from Sverdlovsk to Kostanay, easing the transportation burden and preparing for further network expansion. (2 Infrastructure Dice) (300 RpY)
-[]Passenger Rail Network(Caucasus): The construction of high-speed lines into the Caucasus poses several challenges due to the terrain, but work can still be done at scale. Initial line construction will focus on extending a path from Stalingrad to Astrakhan, followed by a run south toward Baku. From Baku, the most challenging elements of completing the Southern loop will be undertaken, running partially along the Kura River, transiting on a Baku-Tbilisi-Sukhumi axis. Work around Tbilisi is expected to be the most complex path for the overall system, with maximum speeds likely limited, but it poses a critical challenge toward network construction. The Western sector will be constructed as a path down from Rostov to Krasnodar to Sochi, connecting at Sukhumi. A further interline will be made across the north, linking Krasnodar, Stavropol, Natlchik, and Grozny, linking with the Eastern line around Makhachkala. (1 Infrastructure Dice) (160 RpY)
I have no idea just how much we need more HSR right now, I admit.
[]Rail Electrification:
-[]1 Infrastructure Dice: Massive savings in the operation of electric locomotives have already shown themselves as grid stability has improved but the technology is still new and untested at scale. Focusing programs towards the electrification of cargo rails along the trans-siberian and working on ensuring that the primary corridors for bulk freight are electrified will provide the largest returns for the least investment. The current plan effectively calls for main cargo lines to the east to be electrified with a line from Moscow to Leningrad and Rostov joining the campaign to ease the transport of goods. (1 Infrastructure Dice) (140 RpY) (Estimated 60 RpY Return)
-[]2 Infrastructure Dice: As electric traction is almost sixty percent of the cost of diesel traction, broadening the program towards a ten-year plan for the replacement of cargo lines can yield significant gains. Current programs will modernize the Trans Siberian along with main cargo routes to the republic capitals in the West. Interlinks to the Polish network will further be established to enable a direct handover and continuous electric traction to Berlin once fully coordinated and established. Further work on the project will shift towards the construction of branch lines towards the largest cities in the Union, ensuring that most freight can utilize more efficient traction. (2 Infrastructure Dice) (300 RpY) (Estimated 100 RpY Return)
-[]3 Infrastructure Dice: Electrification is the future of development and one that must be embraced rapidly to further improve global competitiveness. The Union moved to diesel traction first and decisively and the same can be done for electric traction. Mainline cargo routes will be focused on further electrification to simplify and cheapen transportation all while programs to improve locomotive production are underway. Not only will the core lines in the West be electrified but so will lines into Central Asia and the Caucasus. The program will not be complete for some time but moving now will cheapen goods across the Union and further accelerate industrial development. (3 Infrastructure Dice) (480 RpY) (Estimated 150 RpY Return)
I'm kinda tempted to go all in on this, and just ignore HSR instead.
Admittedly the savings will take some time to make it worth it though.
yeah, I won't comment on Dams. they're always worth it, but they take time to pay off and we only have so many Infrastructure dice...
Nuclear is a must, but not sure if 1 or 2 dice. We definitely want Atommash, which should reduce the costs, ESPECIALLY if we go for the 2-dice option one.
Coal is annoyingly necessary. maybe 2 dice?
Gas seems obvious to max out, and it also helps in keeping oil costs down which is nice.
Healthcare is either 2 or, if we can afford it, 3 dice.
Education... 2 or 3, again.
.. All of this will cost quite a bit... I think we definitely need a Infra+HI focus, but I'm a bit unsure on how far to go on most of the possible automated projects...
