I see this claim made a lot: that the Soviet Union achieved economic growth that has never been seen before or after, so threw it at some angry Redditor. They brought up Japan/ South Korea from 1950-1990 and looking into it, it seems as though they are comparable, at least when using GDP South Korea actually does a lot better than the Soviet Union. Now this leaves out rapid Industrialization which I assume is what is meant with "unparraleled economic growth" and also GDP may not be the best indicator but it's still impressive. Of course Japan and SK were also subsidized by the US. Am I missing something? and does anyone have good sources on the growth of the Soviet Economy from 1921-1990?
I'm not close to being an expert on the topic but comparing Soviet Union to fucking South Korea is ridiculous. That's comparing an elephant to a peanut.
Even if the GDP numbers are higher, the sheer scale of growth and industrialization isn't comparable. And this is Soviet Union on the eve of the Second World War, fresh from WW1 and a few civil wars—not to mention being surrounded by an entire planet of capitalist enemies. South Korea, as you mentioned, was highly financially and militarily supported by US. South Korea also still has high economic inequality and other social issues that are endemic to developed, neoliberal capitalist nations, so it's not as if they even succeeded in economically uplifting probably even the same percentage of the population as did USSR, not to mention actual numbers. Who cares if GDP increased so highly but all of that wealth just went into a capitalist's pocket instead of furthering more growth among the nation itself?
I don't know if they can boast higher GDP than the USSR but that doesn't tell the whole story by a long shot.