Score one for Yglesias.

On the issue of whether Cold War Hawks really overestimated the Soviet economy, they did.

The free market solution for the Cold War was for the US to maintain just enough military deterrence and wait for a weak centrally planned economy to collapse. That assumes Cold Warriers in the US followed free market principles. In fact, Cold War Hawks wanted dominance over the Soviets, implying a fear centrally planned economic power.

Cold War hawks, like Reagan, were closet socialists.