Part 2/10:
Yet, amidst the economic despair of the Great Depression, one nation defied the odds. The Soviet Union, relatively isolated from global economic dynamics due to its detached banking system and a state-controlled economy, not only weathered the crisis but thrived. Between 1929 and 1934, the Soviet Union's industrial output surged by 50 percent, bolstered by state policies that kept unemployment near zero. This stark contrast led some Western economists, in their desperate quest for solutions, to praise the Soviet system, even arguing its potential superiority over Western capitalism.