This is a good comment. I would like to add Hongkong into that list, as it was a United Kingdom colony without any serious form of democracy during its crazy period of "Asian Tiger" growth. (Nominally, it had a local legislature, but it was toothless to pass any serious labour or economic reforms.)
Let's dig deeper. You wrote: <<But my research indicates that Democracy does truly have a shoddy track record at spurring development.>>
Zero trolling: I am always curious: How it possible that fast food restaurants (McD, etc.) in Danmark can pay the equivalent of 15 USD per hour? Yet, Danmark remains incredibly economically competitive. It is regularly short of labour (unemployment rate is considered too low by national economists). I picked Danmark instead of Norway (which has similar issues), because Danmark is not an oil major country. From the economically liberal view, Danmark should be crumbling under the weight of its personal income tax regime and globally leading wages for unskilled workers.
Can anyone with formal economics training comment on this matter? We would appreciate your thoughts.
> Nominally, it had a local legislature, but it was toothless to pass any serious labour or economic reforms.
Its members were appointed by the governor until the last ~10 years. The last governor Chris Patten implemented democratic reforms at the very end, despite protests by the Chinese government. A meaningfully democratic legislature only existed between 1994 and 1997. Before that, the legislature wasn't even "toothless", it was simply a rubber stamp, or (less cynically) a way for the government to consult influential business interests ($$$$) about impending government policies.
Let's dig deeper. You wrote: <<But my research indicates that Democracy does truly have a shoddy track record at spurring development.>>
Zero trolling: I am always curious: How it possible that fast food restaurants (McD, etc.) in Danmark can pay the equivalent of 15 USD per hour? Yet, Danmark remains incredibly economically competitive. It is regularly short of labour (unemployment rate is considered too low by national economists). I picked Danmark instead of Norway (which has similar issues), because Danmark is not an oil major country. From the economically liberal view, Danmark should be crumbling under the weight of its personal income tax regime and globally leading wages for unskilled workers.
Can anyone with formal economics training comment on this matter? We would appreciate your thoughts.