Some interesting data from the appendix of a paper by Novokmet, Piketty, and Zucman (2018).
gabriel-zucman.eu/files/NPZ2017M…
If these PPP numbers are real, the UK before Thatcher was much more of an economic basket case than I realized, while the Soviet "miracle" was far less impressive.
gabriel-zucman.eu/files/NPZ2017M…
If these PPP numbers are real, the UK before Thatcher was much more of an economic basket case than I realized, while the Soviet "miracle" was far less impressive.
However, I should mention that I don't entirely trust these historical PPPs, and I shall track down some alternative estimates in a bit...
(These numbers are, in general, quite weird.)
Here are alternative numbers from the Angus Maddison database (rug.nl/ggdc/historica…)
As you can see, the British slowdown and recovery are still present but MUCH less pronounced. Also Soviet Russia does a lot better, and post-Soviet Russia does a lot worse.
As you can see, the British slowdown and recovery are still present but MUCH less pronounced. Also Soviet Russia does a lot better, and post-Soviet Russia does a lot worse.
And here's a USSR-U.S. comparison (also in PPP) from Markevich and Harrison (2011). voxeu.org/article/soviet…
Russia was a little richer than the overall USSR, and the U.S. a little richer than West Europe, so this overstates the gap a little,
Russia was a little richer than the overall USSR, and the U.S. a little richer than West Europe, so this overstates the gap a little,
For a slightly different type of source, here's a declassified CIA report from the 80s claiming that Soviet consumption per capita was about a third of U.S. levels.
cia.gov/library/readin…
cia.gov/library/readin…
The weird thing in these data series is that everyone seems to broadly agree on mid-20th-century *Soviet* GDP, which you'd think would be super hard to measure, but there seem to be huge disagreement as to *British* GDP, which you'd think would be one of the best-measured...
Also note this:
And remember, it's hard to measure standards of living when prices are controlled, consumption goods are rationed, and you have to wait in line for stuff.
Here are two papers on the subject:
1. academic.oup.com/qje/article-ab…
2. scholar.harvard.edu/files/weitzman…
Here are two papers on the subject:
1. academic.oup.com/qje/article-ab…
2. scholar.harvard.edu/files/weitzman…
