Was the East German Government Effective?

When one thinks of the East German government they think brutal, secretive and evil. But was it effective? It depends on how view the word effective. Was it effective in making life easier for its citizens or effective in making a progressive government. Or was it effective in keeping the government constantly in a state of all power. The East German government was only effective in re-ensuring its survival by crushing all independent thoughts. For example in the film The Lives of Others they arrested an artist who was a neighbor to another artist who fled the country. They interrogated him for two days straight until he cracked and mentioned one name. They tortured one man for one name for forty eight hours proving how desperate the government is to maintain it's regiem.