I believe that even quite recently (in the last year or two) China was found
to be inflating its growth estimates significantly, and I have some
economically minded Indian friends who claim Indian estimates are also
intentionally inflated. I believe at the collapse of the Soviet Union it was
found that may growth estimates were also inflated back into the Seventies at
least, so I would look towards number tampering in general as being a
contributing cause.
Quoting fabio guillermo rojas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> In preparing a lecture about socialist economies, I have come across the
> claim that socialist nations had decent life expectancies. How can that
> be? We know that:
>
> (a) there have been episodes of mass starvation in the largest
> socialist nations (USSR, China)
>
> (b) socialist nations have often engaged in destructive wars
> against other nations (USSR) and against their own populations
> (Cambodia)
>
> (c) chronic shortages of consumer goods, and in some cases,
> shortage of basic food stuffs (think of wheat imports to Russia
> and North Korea)
>
> (d) Socialist nations tend to be stressful places with mass arrests
> and
> the like
>
> I could think of a few mechanisms: socialist nations tend to invest in the
> kind of infra-structurers that extend life (Education, sanitation, etc.),
> a vibrant black market, or most likely - vital statistics from these
> nations are hugely misleading.
>
> Any comments?
>
> Fabio
>
