>>Charles: In the larger historical picture the Russian Revolution of 1917
>>and following most rapid economic development in the history of industrial
>>civilization...
>
>Ummm...
>
>No.
>
>Let's take the 1913-1973 period that ends just as Soviet economic growth
>effectively ceases, and for which Angus Maddison has constructed reasonable
>estimates of economic growth (although note that I consider his estimates
>of growth in the Soviet Union and its dependencies too high: not enough
>adjustment for the low quality of most produced consumer goods). We find
>that national product per capita grew at (according to Maddison):
>
>Japan... 3.52% per year
>Finland... 2.76% per year
>USSR... 2.34% per year
Brad's periodization is a bit strange here, since 1913 is well before the WW I and the revolution. Let's break Maddison's figures down a bit according to his own periodizations:
REAL PER CAPITA GDP GROWTH
Latin Asia ex-
America Japan Africa Japan US Germany Russia 1820-1870 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 1.3% 0.6% 0.6% 1870-1913 1.5% 0.5% 0.4% 1.4% 1.8% 2.2% 0.9% 1913-1929 1.5% 0.7% 0.9% 2.4% 1.7% 0.8% -0.4% 1929-1950 1.5% -0.9% 0.9% -0.2% 1.6% -0.1% 3.5% 1950-1973 2.6% 2.5% 2.1% 8.0% 2.4% 5.0% 3.4% 1973-1992 0.6% 4.2% 0.2% 3.0% 1.4% 2.1% -1.4%
While Charles's "most rapid" ever characterization may be a bit hyperbolic, it's still way up there. And why is the Soviet Union always compared to Japan and/or the US? In comparison to other "underdeveloped" regions, the 1929-73 period was pretty damned spectacular.
Doug