Same car for 30 years. Ten-year wait to get a new one

The outcome of the socialism experiment between East and West Berlin can be highlighted in many ways, by the time the wall came down the East Berlin grocery store still had about 3,000 items while the West ones pushed toward 10,000, the big markets cleared 15,000. But the clearest outcomes show up in two very different parts of life. By the time the Berlin Wall came down the wait time for either of the two cars you could buy was over 10 years, the main car you could buy in East Berlin, the one type of car you could buy in East Berlin, the Trabant, was over 10 years and the exact same car the state-run auto company produced at the time the wall went up. Same materials, same engine, no upgrades for over 30 years. Used ones went for more than new ones because people didn't want to wait 10 years. West Berlin had dozens of cars and you could buy one same day. And then there was health. Over that same 30 years, these neighbors, friends, family who shared a city, breathed the same air, had the same genetics, those in East Berlin had a life expectancy 2.5 to 3 years shorter than West Berlin. Well documented, deeply studied. Within 10 years of the wall being torn down, East and West being unified, 1989-1999 the gap completely erased, those in East Berlin had the exact same life expectancy as those in the West.