Freedom is chaotic. Dictatorship is orderly.
The Russians would seem to have made their choice.
If dictatorships are orderly, it is that order which stifles innovation, creativity, and ultimately, prosperity. Likewise, if freedom is chaotic, that chaos inspires individuals, giving them the freedom to innovate in ways that creates wealth for our universal benefit. There are brief periods when it would seem that the reverse is true. Certainly, some of the greatest art ever created occurred during the counter-reformation when the church imposed discipline and order with a heavy hand. Likewise, Hitler's Germany was certainly more prosperious than the poreceeeding Wiemar Republic, probably precisiely because it impose order on the preceeding chaos. China would be another example of a counrty's standared of living being raised as a result of distatorship. However, I would argue that these are examples of a temporary reversals, which did not or will not persist for very long.