ABSTRACT
In the Soviet Union, the rationing of urban housing is primarily by allocation, whereas in the United States it is primarily by price. Those who wish to bypass the tyranny of the allocation process can try their luck in the housing market. The Soviet Union's housing market picks up where the allocation process leaves off and depends largely on one's ability to pay. The Soviet Union's acute housing shortage is very much of the government's making. Citizen initiatives to improve their housing situation are consistently stifled. On the one hand, the government continues to invest heavily in industry, attracting workers and management personnel to urban areas, and on the other, it deliberately underinvests in housing construction and other consumer services. Upward movement from one housing class to the next, though not impossible, is difficult and may take a good part of one's life.
