> the bulk of the West German economy — which was then being hailed globally as Modell Deutschland — monopolies, taxes, subsidies, and so on actually left its

> the bulk of the West German economy — which was then being hailed globally as Modell Deutschland — monopolies, taxes, subsidies, and so on actually left its price structure further from the “efficient” optimum than in the moribund Communist system behind the Berlin Wall. This isn't really contradicting what I said. As they say, the gap in the West's favor was greatest in the places where the market was relied upon in contrast to a system full of "monopolies, taxes, and subsidies". Neither West Germany nor East Germany had particularly market-oriented economies. To wit, the market mechanism efficiently provides a price level but that doesn't mean you can't mess it up by poorly planned gov't intervention in the economy (and to be clear, I mean "gov't intervention that is poorly planned", not that gov't intervention is per se ill-advised).