The management caste was afraid like the devil of holy water that aidealised, socialist society machinery from beyond the iron curtain could produce products better, longer lasting and superior in all aspects. The system people imagined up until the 80s was something similar to atomic heart- and that was what drove systemic competition. It drove quality, it drove investment, it protected the state against subversion and destructive ideologies like liberalism - because the state was the big protector against the thing with even more state. The systemic competition.

Capitalism needs a deadly threat to be good.