i've hinted at this repeatedly, but i'm going to be explicit because it's somehow poorly understood that the soviet union collapsed not due to communism or centralized planning but due to the introduction of market reforms. we can have debates about whether things were really worse there or not, but the breaking point is not up for debate: the lines around the street for bread were because of pro-market reforms.
this is what i'm worried about with trump: that he'll let that kind of thing happen. it's the same basic problem that ron paul always presented. if you pull back funding enough, the state will collapse altogether.
it is a realistic threat.
so, i keep pushing this idea that trump will produce glasnost. i'm not going to stop, either.