Comment by mmooss
> There have been a few autocratic-esque governments that have gotten around the dictator information problem by basically implementing a free-ish market by fiat.
The way I understand that is they allow some freedom and thus receive some of the benefits. They still are far behind democracies socially, politically, economically, militarily, etc.
China did the same for awhile, starting small when Deng Xiaopeng took power and expanding until Xi took over.
Freedom of individuals, which allows a country to harness all of their talents and imaginations, is an enormous advantage. People forget that freedom is the most powerful thing in the world.
I realize it's a flawed analysis but both UAE and Singapore are higher on the Index of Economic Freedom [than USA], although much worse in certain social aspects. They also are more efficient in their military spending.