Re: When VN becomes a real Tiger?

[Thanh Tung Truong <tung.truong@e-technik.tu-chemnitz.de>]

Hi Trung,

sorry for the late response to your feedback, but I have been too busy.

> 
> Thanh Tung Truong wrote:
> 
> > 1. The GDP figure is only an imperfect measurement for the strength and the
> > potential of an economy.
> > Important factors such as enviromental conditions, intellectual potential,
> > social security, buying power or the amount of peoples leisure time remain
> > unreflected in GDP figures.
> 
> Sure, I agree that it's far from perfect. But, like democracy, nothing
> better has yet been invented.

I do not really know about what you said. What I know is that both GDP/GNP and 
democracy are country specific matters, i.e. in different countries GDP/GNP 
(democracy) may be calculated (practiced) in different ways. BTW, as regards 
democracy, it is not for every country and in every historical period a good 
thing, is it?

What I wanted to point out in my previous posting was that GDP can reflect 
certain sides of the economy. However, it does not give the whole picture and 
cannot be used as an ultimate mean to predict the future. So I am not as much 
concerned with the GDP figures as with enviromental, cultural and human issues, 
which also determine the long-term economic growth and tell much about the 
strength of a nation.

> > 3. Income per capita cannot be used to measure peoples' wealth and
> > happiness.
> 
> For hapiness your statement may be true, but IMO there exists a very
> strong corelation between a country's IPC and the commonly understood
> wealth of its people. IPC may not be used to exactly mesure, but it
> definetly reflects the living standard of a country. Can you cite a
> country with hight IPC and poor people or vice versa. I mean poor and
> rich in the material sense of course.

Take a look at Brazil. I do not have up-to-day figures, but in 1985 this 
country's IPC stands at some 1700 US$ per year, more than 6 times of that of 
today’s Vietnam. And you sure have heard about street childreen in Rio. In 
fact, the majority of Brazilians are poor due to the extremely uneven economic 
distribution. And even in the US there are millions of poor and HELPLESS 
people. 

> > The Vietnamese people can live with a modest income per capita if they
> > don't repeat the mistake others have been making.
> 
> Sure we CAN. But do we HAVE to ?

When saying „we CAN live with ...“ I mean „we are SATISFIED with ...“. In that 
sence, I am even not sure if we CAN, as far as we do not find a balance between 
what we WANT and what we HAVE to. It is a common mistake WANTING to see fast 
and, in fact, short-term changes. On the other side, we definitely HAVE to 
maintain resources and do sustainable development. The current position of our 
nation implies we HAVE TO a lot when it comes to material side of life. If we 
WANT more, we will naturally get discontented.

BTW, it is a global trend to put back the material demands of man, even if this 
trend has been facing many enemies/opponents. I am convinced that this more or 
less philosophic approach is the only solution for a number of global problems 
that cannot be solved otherwise, for example by just democracy.

Of course, Vietnam needs lots of money for defence, infrastructure, and for the 
wealth of its citizens after all. But this can by no means justify the attempts 
to maximize the GDP/GNP at the expense of enviroment or culture. A reasonable 
growth rate is neccessary to keep the interests of present and future 
generations in harmony. 

Cheers,

Thanh-Tung Truong