Sunday, September 27, 2026

"East German espionage raised GDP by 7.4% in late 1980s, study finds"

Now do China.

From Reuters, September 26/27:

East Germany's extensive Cold War economic espionage in the ​1970s and 1980s lifted its overall economic output ‌by 7.4% at the end of the 1980s, according to a study by the Rockwool Foundation Berlin, seen by ​Reuters on Sunday.
 
Here are some more details:
 
Industrial ​value added was 22.3% higher due to espionage, ⁠equivalent to 20.2 billion East German marks, or €4.1 ​billion ($4.7 billion) in 2020 prices. All estimates refer ​to 1988, the year before the Berlin Wall fell.

Co-author Adrian Lerche said the findings had present-day relevance as governments tighten ​export controls, screen foreign investment and seek to ​protect strategic technologies.

The Stasi, East Germany's sprawling intelligence service, helped companies ‌obtain ⁠scientific and technical information from Western businesses and research institutions. Firms receiving useful intelligence recorded faster productivity growth, invested more and concentrated more on core ​products....
....MORE 

Our last visit with the Rockwool Foundation was February's "Technology's Long Shadow: How Areas In Germany That Early-Adopted The Steam Engine Are Outperforming Today".