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The Soviets left Finland's market economy and private ownership of farms untouched. This should be seen within the context that Stalin and other Soviet officials believed that after the War that Communism would prove its superiority. And since the Communist Party was allowed to participate in the political process, the Finns would turn to Communism. Here we are not entirely sure about what transpired in Finland. The Finns did not dare participate in the American Marshall Plan (1948) This meant that for nearly two decades, the Finns did not participate in the American-led post-War European economic recovery beginning with the German Economic Miracle. The Soviet Union offered an alternative to the Marshall plan--the Molotov Plan. The Soviets claimed to offer subsidies and trade preferences. It eventually evolved into the COMECON. In actuality the Soviet economic relationship developed into Finnish and other Eastern European subsidies to the Soviets. The Finns had to export to the Soviets what might have earned them valuable hard currency in the West. It did provide needed raw materials, often at below market prices. In return they got low-quality, high-cost Soviet manufactured goods. The result was that the Swedish and Finnish economies that had become closely linked developed very differently. Sweden like the rest of Western Europe boomed. Finns endured low wages and high unemployment (1950s-60s). Various industries benefited from trade privileges with the Soviets. One source maintains that there was widespread support for pro-Soviet policies among business interests in Finland. Sources claim that there was rapid in the postwar era and by 1975 Finland's GDP per capita was the 15th highest in the world. Here we are looking into just what occurred. It is true that economic success enabled Finland to finance one of the most extensive welfare states in the world.
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