“you can see the comparison of France's public spending as a percent of GDP to the peak public spending as a percent of GDP of major communist nations”
Claim: France's public spending as a share of GDP exceeds the peak levels of major communist states, including the Soviet Union in 1989, communist Romania, Chavez's Venezuela and communist China.
Evidence. The raw numbers roughly hold: French public spending was 57.2% of GDP in 2025, and the Soviet state budget was about 51% of GDP in 1989. But the comparison is apples to oranges. In planned economies the state owned virtually all enterprises, so most economic activity sat outside the budget figure, and those budgets understate state control of the economy.
Friedberg presented a chart he attributed to 'RAND Group Research'; the original chart was not located.