When you think about it, capitalist societies were better at forcing people to spend money. Kill the streetcars (trolleys) so everyone has to purchase a car. Sure you earned more, but you also had to spend more, thus driving the economy. That’s why they were really capitalist and consumerist economies. Just look at the Bay Area salaries and cost of living there nowadays. Once Poland became a car manufacturer (low cost labor for European brands), it sounds like the same thing happened there.