Gus,
I wish I had time to respond to this fully. But I don't right now, gotta get out of here. But a couple of comments:
Yes, it's not as easy as that. And yes the US was in part (not single-handedly) "responsible for supporting and tolerating the kind of command-and-control Asian economies that are now being routinely lambasted". The US did a lot of nutty things during the Cold War, including supporting state socialism by any other name.
However, the routine lambasting didn't start in the last year. You surely recall the auto, textile, steel, toy, chip, consumer electronics, and other industries crying out with pain in the 70s and 80s, not to mention unions. Now granted that those industries could be faulted--they had certainly gotten arrogant and fat, and werely pretty easy marks. And some countries--especially perhaps Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore--have raised the living standards of many people by quite a bit, in addition to creating some massive fortunes for a few families.
However, the Asian countries I think (from press + media only, so must take with a grain of salt) have gotten pretty arrogant and corrupt themselves. The chip debacle is just the most visible example of this--the overbuilding despite many warnings about what was impending implies a lack of sense of business reality. Not to mention the real estate markets in these places.
Must go now. But would be interested in hearing your take on what "changes" must be made.
Best regards,
Sam |
