This piece is part of a two-part series. To read the other half, click here.

In the fields of social science, it continues to be extremely difficult to differentiate between causality and mere correlation, because these sciences deal with complex human interaction and the construction of imperfect systems. But, one instance within the social sciences where it’s becoming increasingly easier to identify clear causality is the relationship between capitalism and prosperity. That’s because when we see states adopt policies that allow for freer markets and less government intervention, the well being of their citizens has increased. The two places around the globe that this has been seen most sharply are Southeastern Asia and Eastern Europe.

In Southeastern Asia, in 1993, there existed over 900 million people living below the international poverty line with a life expectancy of 70 years. Towards the end of the 1980s, states such as Vietnam and Indonesia underwent major economic policy reform that included de-regulation and major shifts away from centrally planned economies. In 2015, this resulted in only 47 million people in Southeastern Asia who live under the international poverty line and the region now has a life expectancy of 75 years (World Bank 1993-2016). This trend is directly related to the governments’ choice to remove themselves from the economies of their state. While this region of the world was able to escape poverty and despair by moving away from their histories of central planning from totalitarian regimes, the other region that also deserves our attention has literally removed themselves from communism to provide greater prosperity to its people. That region is Eastern Europe.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland are all unique in the fact that they were all former Warsaw Pact members who, in 1999, were the first to join the premier international organization for the spread of free market capitalism and democracy, or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Because of this transition between ‘sides’ after the collapse of the Soviet Union, these states are prime examples of life, formerly under a centrally planned government, that has transitioned towards a mixed economy. There are three key statistics from each of these states that we can look at to see the direct effects of this transition. They are the life expectancy, infant mortality rate, and amount of trade as a percent of GDP, as seen in figure 1.

The life expectancy rises about six years in each state, the infant mortality rates drop by about two thirds across the board, and trade, as a percent of GDP, almost doubled for the Czech Republic and more than doubles in Hungary and Poland. These statistics are strong measurements for the type of growth that is associated with adopting capitalist systems.

Many are quick to point out that the 1990s and early 2000s were a great economic period for all states, and since there was general growth all across the world, these former Warsaw Pact states are no exception. To that, one might ask, why then was there so much global growth during this period? The 1990s were full of states abandoning their mid-20th-century ideas of communism by removing government intervention from their economies. As a result, state economies were allowed to flourish across the globe. Through further international trade, these economies fed off one another, growing at high rates, resulting in benefits for the world.

It is through the global expansion of capitalism during the 1990s that humanity continues to see progress in bringing up the poorest of the world. What many people quickly forget when capitalism is interrogated for its faults, is that poverty is the natural state of existence for all people, but it is through capitalism that individuals can rise and provide for themselves and others.

This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one, ‘Capitalism Feeds The Masses,’ below: