INTRODUCTION

Some countries experience phenomenal rates of economic growth while governed under dictatorship. By the end of General Franco's reign in 1975, Spain's per capita income was eight times as large as it had been since the end of World War II. China's average income nearly tripled under Deng Xiaoping. The East Asian “tigers,” such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea, all achieved growth rates of over 10 percent under the thumb of dictators. Yet some of the worst economic disasters also occur under dictatorial regimes. Zambia under Kenneth Kaunda witnessed its average income fall: from 996 dollars in 1964 when he took power, to 817 dollars shortly before he left in 1991. The revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini was costly for average Iranians: their per capita income when he died was almost 1,600 dollars less than when he seized power. It is only now that average income in Iran is returning to its pre-revolution levels.

South Korea and Zaire constitute the paradigmatic comparison. In 1960, per capita incomes in South Korea and Zaire were similar. In fact, as the second largest state in Africa and endowed with copper, cobalt, and diamonds, Zaire faced considerably brighter prospects than small, resource-poor Korea still dealing with postwar devastation. Yet the reversal of fortune could not have been more complete.