I'm a C++ programmer and a python programmer. I assure you your conclusion is incorrect. Python with type checking is by far more productive. Many people who know python and another language can testify to this general truth.
Comparing Python to Java, C#, Haskell, Erlang, Go, maybe even C or Rust, would show a much smaller performance difference.
Have you tried RAII?
Would you like to know more? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2321511/what-is-meant-by...
Rust is a little better since at least the ownership concept is known to the compiler and automatically enforced.
(Tracing/Copying/Compacting) GC is much easier since this entire concept goes away. You always pass references to data, and the physical storage is "owned" by the GC itself. It's also much faster for certain workflow patterns, though it always consumes more memory than deterministic destruction schemes.