Editing Yuri Andropov (section)

====Economy====
At home, Andropov attempted to improve the [[Economy of the Soviet Union#1970–1990|USSR's economy]] by increasing its workforce's efficiency. He cracked down on Soviet laborers' lack of discipline by decreeing the arrest of absentee employees and penalties for tardiness.<ref>{{cite book|author= Sakwa, Richard |title= Soviet Politics in Perspective|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-16992-9|pages= 73–74}}</ref> For the first time, the facts about [[Brezhnev stagnation|economic stagnation]] and obstacles to scientific progress were made available to the public and open to criticism.<ref name="GRE">[[Great Russian Encyclopedia]] (2005), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 1, p. 742.</ref> Furthermore, Andropov gave select industries greater autonomy from state regulations<ref>{{cite book|author=Brown, Archie|title=The Gorbachev Factor|date=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-288052-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gorbachevfactor00brow_0/page/64 64–65]|url=https://archive.org/details/gorbachevfactor00brow_0/page/64}}</ref> and enabled factory managers to retain control over more of their profits.<ref>{{cite book|author= Sakwa, Richard |title= Soviet Politics in Perspective|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-16992-9|page=74}}</ref> Such policies resulted in a 4% rise in industrial output and increased investment in new technologies such as robotics.<ref>{{cite book|author= Kort, Michael |title= The Soviet Colossus:History and Aftermath |date=2001 |publisher= M. E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-0396-8|page= 315}}</ref>

Despite such reforms, Andropov refused to consider any changes that sought to dispense with the [[Planned economy]] introduced under [[Joseph Stalin]]. In his memoirs, Gorbachev wrote that when Andropov was the leader, Gorbachev and [[Gosplan]] chairman [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]] asked him for access to real budget figures. "You are asking too much", Andropov responded. "The budget is off limits to you."<ref>{{cite book|author=Gorbachev, Mikhail|title=Memoirs|date=1996|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=978-0385480192|page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsgorb00gorb/page/147 147]|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsgorb00gorb/page/147}}</ref>