Western Europe, and especially Western Germany, benefited immensely from the Marshall plan. And economic freedom, the early days of what would become the EU and so on. And still, the USSR competed, successfully in the for them relevant fields of sciences and military. And their country didn't collapse doing so. Neither did it collapse immediately after loosing its competitiveness, that took until 1989.
Worth pointing out, Germany outpaced the European allied nations economically pretty quickly, as did Japan.
Being competitive for decades, and the most part of the Cold War, surely is no fluke. In the end, capitalism won out, no doubt about it. Also worth pointing out, capitalism does not lead to freedom, China is a very good example of that.
By the way China, they became the economic power house in the early 2000s. Is the Chinese system a fluke?
Worth pointing out, Germany outpaced the European allied nations economically pretty quickly, as did Japan.
Being competitive for decades, and the most part of the Cold War, surely is no fluke. In the end, capitalism won out, no doubt about it. Also worth pointing out, capitalism does not lead to freedom, China is a very good example of that.
By the way China, they became the economic power house in the early 2000s. Is the Chinese system a fluke?