There has been a much stronger capital supply than in a shattered group of countries.
The EU does not exist as a unit, it's 27 sovereign states cooperating. In the EU the single market is an achievement across countries, but can't compare with single large internal markets.
China as the second economy of the world managed to succeed with a centralised plan.
So I think market size and economic power is a bigger indicator than centralised vs not.
practicing computation is important in math education, I think Eastern Europeans and Asians often have an advantage due to working through 5-10K problems / year