4 ms·

Also did the communists do a bad job... Compare West and East Germany. Compare North and South Korea. Compare Mainland China and Taiwan. And once you've don

Also did the communists do a bad job... Compare West and East Germany. Compare North and South Korea. Compare Mainland China and Taiwan. And once you've done those comparisons ask yourself about what kind of job the communists have done. Many millions dead. Many more millions in poverty. That's the job they've done.

rxin 13y ago
What about comparing mainland and Taiwan? I don't think there exists an obvious conclusion from this comparison if you look at status quo. If you are judging based on the situation before 2000s, I agree with you that there is an obvious conclusion.
- tokenadult 13y ago
  Taiwan is still well ahead of the P.R.C. both in economic development and personal liberty.
  - DominikR 13y ago
    Of course they are, Taiwan is a small country that is supported by the only superpower left. (another example of such a country: Israel) Where do you think that the economic development of Taiwan would be if it wasn't backed by the US? And where do you think they will be in 20 years, with China constantly rising in power and influence. I don't think it's controversial to say that they'll probably be part of China, considering that there is even political support for that in Taiwan.
- khuey 13y ago
  Per capita GDP in terms of PPP US: ~$50000 Taiwan: ~$39000 EU: ~$35000 China: ~$9000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP...
  - Volpe 13y ago
    That's right, lets take our Western-pro-US measuring stick out and measure china against it in order to show they are not as "successful". China's goal posts are not in the same spot as the US's.
    - marshray 13y ago
      What measure do you propose we use to compare mainland China with Taiwan?
spikels 13y ago
Brad Delong an economist at UC Berkeley once gave a good prsentation on the comparison between communist and market economies. http://delong.typepad.com/files/20091103-115.pdf http://delong.typepad.com/files/20091103-115.pdf
oddx 13y ago
If you want understand what communists did in China it's better look on other numbers. For example, rise of life expectancy was incredible (especially if you look at comparable country like India) http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&met_y=sp_pop_totl#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_le00_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CHN:USA:IND&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&c... Child mortality http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&met_y=sp_pop_totl#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sh_dyn_mort&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CHN:USA:IND&ifdim=region&hl=ru&dl=ru&ind=false http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&c...

rxin 13y ago

What about comparing mainland and Taiwan? I don't think there exists an obvious conclusion from this comparison if you look at status quo. If you are judging based on the situation before 2000s, I agree with you that there is an obvious conclusion.

tokenadult 13y ago
Taiwan is still well ahead of the P.R.C. both in economic development and personal liberty.
- DominikR 13y ago
  Of course they are, Taiwan is a small country that is supported by the only superpower left. (another example of such a country: Israel) Where do you think that the economic development of Taiwan would be if it wasn't backed by the US? And where do you think they will be in 20 years, with China constantly rising in power and influence. I don't think it's controversial to say that they'll probably be part of China, considering that there is even political support for that in Taiwan.
khuey 13y ago
Per capita GDP in terms of PPP US: ~$50000 Taiwan: ~$39000 EU: ~$35000 China: ~$9000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP...
- Volpe 13y ago
  That's right, lets take our Western-pro-US measuring stick out and measure china against it in order to show they are not as "successful". China's goal posts are not in the same spot as the US's.
  - marshray 13y ago
    What measure do you propose we use to compare mainland China with Taiwan?

spikels 13y ago

Brad Delong an economist at UC Berkeley once gave a good prsentation on the comparison between communist and market economies. http://delong.typepad.com/files/20091103-115.pdf http://delong.typepad.com/files/20091103-115.pdf

oddx 13y ago

If you want understand what communists did in China it's better look on other numbers. For example, rise of life expectancy was incredible (especially if you look at comparable country like India) http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&met_y=sp_pop_totl#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_le00_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CHN:USA:IND&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&c... Child mortality http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&met_y=sp_pop_totl#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sh_dyn_mort&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CHN:USA:IND&ifdim=region&hl=ru&dl=ru&ind=false http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&c...