[brosinante]

Didn't China (https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/04/01/l...) and the USSR (https://borgenproject.org/tag/poverty-in-the-former-soviet-u...) do similarly?

[purpleflame1257]

The millions dead in the Holodomor and the Great Leap forward certainly don't have any need for money anymore.

[twblalock]

Both of those articles demonstrate that the improvement happened after those countries allowed market economies.

[bmmayer1]

China's unprecedented generational explosion into the middle class happened only after Deng Xiaoping instituted market reforms. Economically, China is certainly more socialist than the west, but far more capitalist than it was in the 1970's.

Same with USSR/Russia, post-communism.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

At least currently, Russia is far below USSR median PPP income, inflation adjusted.

Life has gotten worse for the average person in Russia in the last 40 years, not better - by almost every measurable metric.

And that's with all the low cost tech they can import - like $20 cell phones and pirated Hollywood movies.

If China is on one end of success, Russia is on the other.

[janef0421]

Market reforms are not intrinsically capitalist.

[bmmayer1]

Yes but these were. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform#:~:tex....

[mensetmanusman]

Only after they gave up a planned economy.

[AnnikaL]

Your second link refers to poverty being reduced after the fall of communism, when former Soviet states instituted capitalist reforms.

[throwaway4good]

There was a massive drop in living standards in the former Soviet Union after the introduction of capitalism in the 90es. Average life expectancy dropped something like 10 years, corresponding to millions of dead.

[kurisufag]

>There was a massive drop in living standards

that tends to happen when the government runs resources down to near-zero, forcing the new system to start from scratch.

had the conversion occurred earlier, when the USSR was still a reasonably successful state, I suspect it would have gone nicer.

[snovv_crash]

It also coincided with massive increase in the supply of available alcohol.

[wiseowise]

And that’s an issue of capitalism, not impotent economy that has been drained by decades of poor planned economy of communism?

[epistasis]

Most communists and socialists will refer to both the USSR and China as capitalist projects on accelerated timelines. They were trying to speed-run from feudalism, through capitalism, to communism.

At least that's what comes up when you mention the problems that these countries have.