For John, BLUF: Our economic vision is sometimes confused in this Great Nation There is no magic, just hard work. Nothing to see here; just move along.
This item is almost two months old, a column in USA Today, but it is as current as today. Law Professor and Blogger Glenn Harlan Reynolds 7:56 a.m. EDT October 27, 2014 gives us "How we 'won' in Vietnam, but are losing at home". The subheadline is "Special interests weigh down America's economy, while Vietnam's young capitalism booms."
Here is the lede and subsequent paragraph:
So I guess we won that war after all. According to the Pew Global Poll, 95% of people in Vietnam agree that most people are better off under capitalism, even if there is inequality.By contrast, only 70% of Americans believe the same thing. (America is out-performed by such other less developed countries as Nigeria, China, Turkey, Malaysia, the Philippines and India). Maybe, quipped an Internet commenter, the Vietnamese should send us some advisers.
In his book, The Rise and Decline of Nations, economist Mancur Olson argues that established economies develop a web of special interests that gradually chokes off economic growth. Vietnam's advantage is that its own parasites haven't had a chance to start spinning much of a web yet. Ours, on the other hand, have been at it for decades.Food for thought.
Hat tip to the Instapundit.
Regards — Cliff
My wife's manicurist is Vietnamese and goes "home" to visit at least each year. She grew up in the Cholon district. She says that there is "lots and lots of money now in Vietnam. Everybody is very rich." Of course she is referring to explosive growth of production and improvement of infrastructure. Da Nang is almost unrecognizable from that in 1970. Most cities have erased any evidence of warfare. Even the peasants in the countryside have entered an era of relative comfort and prosperity.
ReplyDeleteWho won??