Re: "State Capitalism"

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug Henwood:
>
>Yes, and South Korea generated one of the great booms in economic history,
>while North Korea is suffering from famine and under the influence of a
>truly bizarre personality cult. Now I know that the NY Times is often full
>of lies, and no doubt Shawgi Tell will set us straight on this one, but
>this item (from a story about the hereditary ascension of Kim Jong Il to
>leadership) brightened my morning today:
>

Woudld the South Korean boom have been possible without mammoth support
from the US, especially during the Vietnam war? The problem with gauging
economic success is that there is no such thing as capitalism in one
country. Yugoslavia was a success in the 1950s and early 60s for reasons
that had little to do with its "market socialism" experiment.
I suspect that North Korea's current economic woes can not be disassociated
from the collapse of the Soviet trading bloc. North Korea's economic model
was based on People's China and there was, after all, spectacular growth in
China since WWII. All you will get from Tell is stupid Stalinist
propaganda, but there is more to the North Korea than meets the eye in the
NY Times. As far as bizarre personality cults are concerned, you should not
forget that Reverend Moon is one of the most powerful political and
industrial leaders in South Korea.

Louis Proyect