The market of goods and services in Irkutsk in the period from the Civil War to the New Economic Policy (NEP): Problems of food shortages and rising prices

The years of the Civil War have significantly worsened the situation in Irkutsk in many areas of society. The issue of food and its prices, as well as the increase in the price of a number of other goods and services, which were considered equally important for Irkutsk residents, did not bypass the problems. Irkutsk began to suffer from a shortage of certain types of food during the First World War, and the Civil War only worsened the current state of affairs. People suffered from a shortage of goods or the most inflated prices for them, which led to the development of speculation in all its forms, which caused prices to increase even more. Since the beginning of the new economic policy (abbreviated NEP), in 1921, the situation has become more favorable: private trade has been allowed, which has increased the number of products offered on the local market. Contemporaries noted that store shelves began to be actively filled with all kinds of products from vegetables, fruits and meat to textiles and shoes. In addition to expanding the range, prices for these types of goods also begin to decrease, which was one of the results of the monetary reform of 1922-1924. In addition to the stabilization of prices for goods of various kinds, this trend is beginning to affect the service market, where the situation is also beginning to improve significantly: the range of offered services is expanding, their prices are becoming more acceptable to citizens. However, it is worth noting that there is still no talk of a complete restoration of the situation in the 1920s, up to the beginning of the industrialization policy. As before, there were certain difficulties with some types of products when purchasing them, some types of goods were completely absent, however, the situation became much more stable.

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