Handbook of Economic Growth

6.4.3 Economic Miracles are Not All the Same²¹

All of that having been said, an interesting application of growth accounting is to compare episodes of rapid catch-up growth, which exhibit some striking differences when viewed through this lens.²² Table 6.16 reports estimates relating to the Golden Age of Western European growth, the East Asian Miracle, the Celtic Tiger, the rise of the BRICs, and the Soviet Union. This last case ended in failure but back in the 1960s it was conventional wisdom that the USSR was on track to overtake the United States before the beginning of the 21st century (Levy and Peart, 2011).

Table 6.16

Accounting for growth during “economic miracles” (percent per annum)

Notes: Ireland and USSR are GNP not GDP. Education ...