As far as I know, Matt Mitchell and I are not related, but we both have a low opinion of socialism.

He covers a lot of ground (defining socialism, the role of prices, socialism’s death toll, and the myth of Nordic socialism) in this 15-minute interview.

Matt does such a good job that I didn’t think there was anything I could add.

But then I realized I could take this opportunity to update my 2011 comparison of South Korea and North Korea.

So here is the most compelling comparison of a pure socialist economy and a mostly capitalist economy.

The chart is based on the Maddison database, and there are data gaps during World War II as well as several decades of missing North Korean data.

But the lesson is blindingly obvious. South Korea has become a rich nation while North Korea is mired in grinding poverty. Heck, you can see the difference from outer space.

It makes the East Germany-West Germany comparison seem trivial by comparison.

South Korea is definitely not perfect and its long-run outlook is worrisome because of demographics.

But pretty good is definitely better than totally awful.

Another win for capitalism over socialism.

You can peruse previous editions in this series by clicking here, here, here, and here.