The centenary of education and the thirtieth anniversary of the collapse of the USSR actualize the search for the causes of what happened. In recent years, a number of monographs and collections of documents have been published (listed in the list for publication by L.N.Lazareva –1, 3, 4, 6), in which the economic theme occupies an important place. The idea of the round table, held on April 22, 2022 at the Center for Socio-Political History (to which the participants of the event express their sincere gratitude), was for the authors of these publications to present their vision of the connection of economic processes at all stages of the history of the Soviet Union with the collapse of the state. The initiative of the round table belongs to the State Public Historical Library, the Department of Modern History of Russia of Moscow State Regional Pedagogical University, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. The texts are published in the author's edition. Responsible for the publication D.V.Maslov, L.N.Lazareva.