Re: "State Capitalism"

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Louis Proyect wrote:

>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.

Of course South Korean growth wouldn't have been possible without support
from the U.S., and even before the Vietnam war - Korean firms learned how
to do large construction projects in part by building bases for the U.S.
military in Korea itself. I share your admiration of Cuba, Lou, but it's
very hard to hold up North Korea as much of a model for development; yes it
did grow for a while, but not all that spectacularly.

China's economic record under Mao is pretty mixed. Maddison's figures, if
they can be trusted, show a PPP-adjusted per capita GDP of $614 in 1950
rising to $962 in 1958, falling back to $718 in 1962 (below 1952's level),
rising to $1,025 in 1966, falling with cultural revolution, then rising
again in the 1970s, to $1,205 in 1976, the year of Mao's death. So from
1950 to 1976, Chinese per capita incomes rose an average of 2.6% a year,
which is good, but not "spectacular." I don't mean to deny the tremendous
social gains of Maoist China, of course; man (and woman) doesn't live by
yuan alone.

I don't see how Rev Moon's status excuses hero worship in the North.

Doug