During the 1980’, the Soviet Union was less productive than the United States. It took the Soviets longer to process their raw materials and build new structures. One example, it took an American company 2 years to make an industrial plant, the Soviets spent 10 years constructing the same plant.At the same time, the USSR was using 1.8 Times as more steel, 23 times as more cement, and 7.6 times more fertilizer than the US during the same period. Below is a comparison of USSR and US Economies in 1989: Comparison of USSR ond US Economies in 1989: ‘Gross Domestic Product (SDP) In millons § | 2559500 5233300 Population (uly 990) 29083869 25020000 ‘GDP per capita 9211 ‘i982 Labor fore (1989) 52300000 125557000 Source: CA The Word Fctbok 1990