4 ms·

Pinochet's economic policies were regarded as extremely successful, basically his turn around of the economy is what allowed him to be so brutal to his politica

• notahacker 4y ago
  What allowed him to be so brutal to his political enemies is that he commanded the army. The economic reforms came after the coup d'etat and suppression of the opposition not before. And they were far from smooth sailing: ironically Friedman coined the idea of a "Miracle of Chile" in an article at the beginning of 1982, shortly before Chile was plunged into a deep recession. Either way, the comment further upthread ranting about Keynes was weird considering that Keynesianism really didn't involve shooting people, and whilst the ideologically opposed Chicago School policy didn't either, it was famously most faithfully implemented by a military junta Friedman himself had plenty of time for.
• culi 4y ago
  There have been plenty of dictators that have been able to be ruthless efficient with their suppression of their people that had nothing akin to free markets (Russian tsars, Genghis Khan, certain dynasties in Japan, etc) An effective government isn't evidence of anything. You forget that the most productive economy the US has ever had was during WW2. When the government basically took complete control over almost every aspect of production to make sure everything went to the war effort. Does it work? Yes. Does it mean it's a "good economy"? I don't think I'd wanna live in such an economy personally