China

After Japan was defeated in WW 2, Mao took control of China and an estimated 50 million people died because of self-induced famine, mass political executions, force labor and brutal purges. Between 1949 and 1956 the government nationalized all private enterprises, restricted private ownership and placed all industry and commerce under state control, a full communist government. The country stagnated until Dung Xiaoping took control in 1978. He started the “Reform and Opening-up” policy, shifting away from a planned economy to a socialist market economy. Dung had been to the West and understood free market capitalism but wanted to keep political control in the hands of the federal government. Many In the West believed that once the people got economic freedom, they would demand political freedom but that did not happened. The West gladly did business with China to capture the billion new potential customers and China began to grow slowly at first but accelerating later. China was given special status as a developing country and in 30 years became a major economy on the world stage. The free-market approach allowed people to retain their profits and this led to the rapid expansion where a half billion people were moved out of poverty.