Comment author:knb
14 March 2010 07:54:54AM
8 points
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The Soviet Union killed tens of millions of its people through work camps, starvation and purges. How is that not a disaster?
This is a really good point. It kind of goes to the heart of the emptiness of GDP as a statistic. What was the death toll of a 5% increase in GDP? The Soviet economy also was infamous for overproducing big capital goods but failing to produce consumer goods people actually wanted to buy.
Comment author:ggg
14 March 2010 09:30:27AM
9 points
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Similarly, Ceauşescu supposedly managed to clear Romania's national debt, but, in doing so, impoverished the people and crushed their spirit. The socio-cultural damage he did to the country cannot be overstated. (btw I'm half-Romanian and lived there during his reign).
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This is a really good point. It kind of goes to the heart of the emptiness of GDP as a statistic. What was the death toll of a 5% increase in GDP? The Soviet economy also was infamous for overproducing big capital goods but failing to produce consumer goods people actually wanted to buy.
Similarly, Ceauşescu supposedly managed to clear Romania's national debt, but, in doing so, impoverished the people and crushed their spirit. The socio-cultural damage he did to the country cannot be overstated. (btw I'm half-Romanian and lived there during his reign).