Relative Economic strength of Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania?

Question

In George Orwells' 1984 the World is divided into 3 countries Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. Oceania when at war with one of these Powers was generally at peace with the other. Any comments on the relative Economic potential of these 3 States.

Answer 1

Not only are those states fictitious, they were explained in a novel-within-a-novel (the book that Goldstein writes which is quoted in 1984). So we don't know even if in the context of the book if there really were three countries at war, since Orwell was trying to impress on the possibility that governments can create historical illusions.

The idea was that those countries were the empires, and they fought for control of resources in the 'third world', described as being areas in a quadangle between Tangier, Hong Kong, Darwin and Brazzaville.

Answer 2

They must be broadly equal, for if one were strongest then each of the others would seek it as an ally in preference to the third.