The cold war was one of attrition and boiled down to two numbers 1.5 and 2.1. The soviets had access to 1.5 times the resources but used those resources at 2.1 times the rate of the West. (eg. if it took the US 1 tonne of steel to build a tank it took the soviets 2.1 tonnes.) Economists attribute the increase resource cost to the waste and inefficiencies inherent in a centrally planned economy. This is basically why for what a waste of money it was Star Wars was a success because it forced the Soviets into using resources they could not afford in order to keep pace with the west.
