> This incident seems to be a mark in the column of the old argument that authoritarianism is bad for economic growth because of the ever-present potential for capricious action such as this.

And yet, compare the economic growth of India to China, or Yeltsin Russia versus Putin Russia. Or look at South Korea's economic miracle in the 60s -> 80s, under a repressive, authoritarian regime.

All things considered, authoritarianism seems to be able to hold its own with respect to economic growth.

And in this case, a strong argument can be made that this is the bad kind of economic growth - the kind that introduces systemic risks through the economy, by overleveraging credit. 2007 says hello.