[roundandround]

This seems like a past performance as a measure of future returns error to me.

China has had a lot of success with free market and exports while having substantial central control and without being a liberal democracy. It's not really clear how systems will fail or succeed as technological balance rebalances or unbalances power between the estates.

I think long term leaders will continue to be parasitic burdens upon their societies but its quite possible that technology will help alleviate their typical consequences on productivity.

For example, virtually every corporation is at its heart a failure in democratic control and a centrally controlled institution with either a long term dictator or oligarchy. They had substantially more problems competing in earlier times when paperwork overhead was literal paper.