The transition from socialism to capitalism caused a dramatic drop, which for all we know likely would have never dropped had they remained socialist. We also know that socialist countries like Cuba continue to have excellent life expectancies. There is no reason I am aware of that we would believe that, given a similar timeframe, continuing socialism would have not achieved similar or better life expectancies. The switch was bad, but it was not merely “mismanaged.” Rather, it was managed exactly the way it was intended, as a free for all looting spree for western countries, which is why the nationalists taking charge actually did help, compared to the looting.