Even after the rapprochement with America, Mao remained an immovable obstacle to China’s development. The author of the Great Leap Forward, a man-made economic disaster of the highest order, Mao refused to allow any criticism of his policies. He encouraged a group of CCP radicals (the “Gang of Four”) led by his fourth wife to obstruct any economic or political reforms. The deadlock broke only when Mao died in 1976 and, two years later, Deng Xiaoping became paramount leader. Deng and a few key advisers understood that the Maoist model of economic autarky and self-induced political chaos was
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“In 1976, Mao single-handedly and dramatically changed the direction of global poverty with one simple act: he died.” —Stephen Radelet, “The Great Surge”
