Is it even possible for a nation which truncates the free flow of information because of its authoritarian/totalitarian tendencies to achieve a first world economic status and income? Has that ever happened before in the post war period as economies became more information based and agile and supple?
South Korea was a military dictatorship and Taiwan an authoritarian one-party state with permanent martial law when they made the transition to a first world economy.
How rigorously did they restrict information flows, and is doing so now with the evolving economic structure more of a hindrance to growth now than in the past?
Neither country restricted information on technology, economics and business related matters, so whether it was a hindrance to growth depends on if you believe that there are indirect benefits for businesses and STEM research from a free intellectual debate in general and that e.g. restrictions on foreign travel and lack of freedom of the press (both in place in SK to the late 80's) have an indirect effect on the economy. I'm sure there are researchers who have studied and discussed such indirect effects but it's not a topic I'm familiar with.
Today's economy is of course even more knowledge based than it was in the 60's, 70's and 80's when the economic transformation of these countries took place, so the effect of curtailing the free flow of information is likely greater, but it again depends on whether you can compartmentalize technology/STEM/business and separate such knowledge. Authoritarian regimes want to keep up with the "free world" when it comes to technology and business without being bothered with social, political, philosophical and artistic ideas that challenge their power and established social structures and norms, and that's almost certainly less realistic today than it was back then.
That is the issue, what economic price do authoritarian regimes pay for insulating their populace from destabilizing ideas? And how possible is it to "train" a population to embrace a closed society, so even if the cage door is opened, those inside would prefer to stay in it?
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