In support of Nehru

They say that hind sight is 20/20. So if we were to look back to the late 70s and the political decisions made during those times, maybe we can see and analyze them more clearly. It may even offer a chance to express moral indignation at the blunders of our leaders. 

The late 70s were a pivitol time for 3 Asian countries; namely South Korea, China and India. Each of these countries were facing political and economic uncertainty. In China Mao had just passed away and memories of the cultural revolution and great leap were fresh in their minds. In India, the people were disillusioned for the first time about Independence and the Congress party. For the first time since independence there was call for Sampoorna Kranthi. In South Korea there was widespread unrest against the president Park, who had ruled Korea since the 50s. He was ultimately assassinated in 1979.

In China, a mere 2 years after Maos death, his successors, started the policy of liberalisation, dubbed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics". It moved away from centralized planning to a market economy; creating oligarchs in the process; who could leverage the workforce to create incredible wealth. In Korea too massive conglomerates like Samsung flourished  with State patronage; effectively becoming an Oligarchy. 

It is an Irony of history that the Chinese Comrades did a 360 turn from the ideologies of Dear Leader in such a short time. There is also an Irony in the case of India. The Indian government in the 70s in response to political and economic turmoil did the opposite of what the Chinese did. They nationalized Banks and drove out foreign investment. In hind sight we can see that this was not the best decision Considering China made massive economic strides during the time. Eventually India did open up its economy. But we are left wondering what would have happened if India had gone the other way.

Even without hindsight one person had it right though. That was Nehru. What China and South Korea ended up being are mixed economies. It's central planning with market economy that brought them economic success.