What commodity helped conceal the economic malaise of the Soviet Union? What policies of Gorbachev helped send a message that decentralization was coming? What did Margaret Thatcher mean when she told Gorbachev that her job was much easier than his?

What commodity helped conceal the economic malaise of the Soviet Union? What policies of Gorbachev helped send a message that decentralization was coming? What did Margaret Thatcher mean when she told Gorbachev that her job was much easier than his?