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Pinochet launched an era of economic deregulation and privatization. Critics often note that the unemployment rate increased from 4.3% in 1973, to 22% in 1983. Meanwhile, real wages would decline by 40%. Pinochet promised to "make Chile not a nation of proletarians, but a nation of entrepreneurs". In doing so, Pinochet would abolish the minimum wage, outlaw trade union rights, privatize the pension system, state industries, and banks, and abolish taxes on wealth and profits.
Supporters of Friedman argue that subsequent events in Chile have vindicated his views. They argue that Chile's economy is noticeably stronger and more advanced than those of other Latin American nations and that the development of a large middle class eventually forced the military junta under Pinochet to relinquish power to a democratic government.
The experience of Chile in the 1970s and 1980s, and more particularly the model of authoritarian political control combined with neo-liberal economic policies, has influenced the policies of the Communist Party of China and been invoked as a model by economic reformers in other countries.
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