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The Soviet Union had the second-longest economic boom ever observed, becoming the second-largest economy in the world by the late 1960s (up from a Third World basket case under Stalin). Culture is upstream of both politics and economics, good leadership can make bad systems work. Its what happens when an economy goes into failure mode that really distinguishes central planning and market economies.

The USA did a roaring trade with the USSR, starting in 1917. One man's human rights abuse is another man's business opportunity.