{"ok":true,"trend":{"id":511808,"platform":"hn","region":"global","key":"cold war espionage added $4.6b to east germany's economy","title":"Cold War espionage added $4.6B to East Germany's economy","url":"https://www.popsci.com/technology/cold-war-spy-economy-east-germany/","first_seen":"2026-09-30T18:02:45.596994Z","last_seen":"2026-10-01T21:26:14.822321Z","last_rank":8,"peak_rank":7,"last_volume":13,"peak_volume":13,"seen_count":21,"score":75.45,"category_hint":"war","section":"war","category":"war","summary":"A new analysis estimates that East Germany's Cold War espionage operations contributed roughly $4.6 billion to the country's economy. The figure covers the value derived by the Stasi and other intelligence services, including stolen Western technology and know-how. Readers are debating how such an estimate can be calculated and what it says about the true costs and benefits of the spy state.","why":"A striking new economic estimate about Cold War spying has just been published, sparking discussion about how espionage's value can be measured.","tone":"neutral","entities":["East Germany","Stasi","Popular Science"],"summarized_at":"2026-10-01T18:14:26.241844Z","meta":{"via":"scan","lang":"en","link":"https://www.popsci.com/technology/cold-war-spy-economy-east-germany/","term":"war","comments":1},"nw":null,"promo":null,"kind":null,"importance":null,"hidden":false,"hide_reason":null,"judged_at":null,"title_en":"Cold War espionage added $4.6 billion to East Germany's economy","section_name":"War","category_name":"War","timeline":[{"captured_at":"2026-09-30T18:02:45.596994Z","rank":9,"volume":9},{"captured_at":"2026-09-30T19:24:45.397259Z","rank":7,"volume":11},{"captured_at":"2026-09-30T20:47:05.157707Z","rank":7,"volume":11},{"captured_at":"2026-09-30T22:09:05.261876Z","rank":7,"volume":12},{"captured_at":"2026-09-30T23:31:05.195985Z","rank":7,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T00:53:05.643009Z","rank":7,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T02:15:05.788869Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T03:37:05.717005Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T04:59:24.839325Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T06:21:46.313818Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T07:43:51.637464Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T09:06:21.087077Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T10:28:25.390901Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T11:50:25.893677Z","rank":9,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T13:12:50.054518Z","rank":10,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T14:35:10.654787Z","rank":10,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T15:57:10.391656Z","rank":9,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T17:19:10.249126Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T18:41:32.858504Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T20:04:15.153630Z","rank":8,"volume":13},{"captured_at":"2026-10-01T21:26:14.822321Z","rank":8,"volume":13}],"posts":[{"platform":"hn","url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49908610","author":"snarky-comments","title":"Cold War espionage added $4.6B to East Germany's economy","snippet":null,"posted_at":"2026-09-30T13:24:28Z","likes":13}],"elsewhere":[],"window":"7d"}}