Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "Mighty Soviet Rouble Versus American Dollar. USSR currency #sovietmoney" video.

The change in value form 10 "old" rubles to one new ruble was really a tactic to try to punish the "Fartsovshchik", those involved in the so-called second economy of Russia. All the transactions were in cash and, as you say. most rubles were converted to West German marks. Some were held out for purchases just in country, and some were held out for blat, the system of favors that really ran the economy. When the new money came out, many Fartsovshchiks were bankrupted. Being a Fartsovshchik in the Soviet Union was dangerous, especially under Stalin, who regularly had some of them rounded up and shot. It was also profitable, and the Soviet consumer economy really couldn't run without the black market. The official exchange rate was just a number that could be published in Pravda and talked about on Soviet radio and TV. Almost no one ever got dollars or marks at anywhere near the official rate. BY 1980, the second economy was operating as a dual economy with the state run economy as Soviet leadership decided it was better to regulate and tax it rather than continue to run it underground. .
7
@dzonikg My late wife and her now late twin sister were Slovenian. I visited Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia a number of times from 1985 on. I'd sure be a subscriber to anyone wanting to do a Yugoslavia series like this one.
3