5 ms·

Botswana have done very well given their geography, as have many of the Eastern Bloc states (Estonia and the Czech Republic both spring to mind.) In that regio

Botswana have done very well given their geography, as have many of the Eastern Bloc states (Estonia and the Czech Republic both spring to mind.) In that region, actually, democracy seems to have correlated positively with economic growth.

inglor_cz 6y ago
Czech Rep. here. A lot of our original industrial development prior to 1900 was done in conditions of very limited democracy. Only wealthy people and the middle class could vote before 1907. (After that, franchise was extended to all men over 24.) Prior to that, you had to pay some minimal yearly taxes in order to have a vote, which excluded majority of the population. After 1989, a large element in our prosperity was geographic proximity to Germany. Germans outsourced a lot of production to the Visegrad states. It definitely helped grow our GDP, but it also puts sorta-kinda ceiling on it. The most valuable parts of the entire production chain are still back in the West and they are not going to move abroad. BTW Viktor Orbán is a great friend of the German investors and they protect him quite a bit as well. It seems that investors do not care about local state of politics much, only about stability.
- paganel 6y ago
  > The most valuable parts of the entire production chain are still back in the West and they are not going to move abroad. Related to that, it does seam than whenever Skoda the brand is about to surpass the models of its parent (German) company, Volkswagen, the powers that be decide that that behaviour should stop immediately. The most recent example is the Mk2 Skoda Superb, which imho was miles ahead in terms of style above the Passat, and further back the Mk1 Skoda Octavia was also miles ahead in terms of reliability compared to anything that the VW brand had.
  - mbroncano 6y ago
    Another good example of the same is SEAT.
Toutouxc 6y ago
Czech person here, I have to agree. During the soviet era my country, a pre-WWII (even post-WWII, as the Czech part of Czechoslovakia has only seen very light fighting) industrial powerhouse, was reduced to an underdeveloped dwarf. Thirty years later I'm living in a modern country, typing on a MacBook, receiving healthcare, paying my taxes with corruption only noticeable at the highest levels of the hierarchy (politicians, union leaders), certainly not throughout the country. I believe this has to do with the proximity of other developed and modern countries, economically, but also culturally. To put it bluntly, nobody wants to do business with a bunch of cavemen.
rahimnathwani 6y ago
In Botswana, part of the credit goes to the discovery of diamonds.
- bilbo0s 6y ago
  That, and a small, controllable population. I agree, the Botswana example is not exactly what India is looking for given the history there. To this day, the TSwanna have not diversified from diamonds. They have no industrialization to speak of.
  - throwaway2037 6y ago
    But they have amazing, world-class nature. Tourism is, and will, be a large part of their economic growth. Mostly, they are focused on very high income travelers, not unlike Bhutan.
- screye 6y ago
  A very large (62 + 18 = 80%) [1] part [1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Tree_map_export_2009_Botswana.jpeg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Tree_map...
throwaway2037 6y ago
Wow. I recently discovered Botswana during a deep dive on Wikipedia. Botswana is the size of Metropolitan France, which has a population of ~60 million, but Botswana only has a population of 2.2 million! Resources? They have the most productive diamond mine in the world that consistently produces the highest quality large diamonds in the world. GDP per capita? 18,500+ USD. They are solidly middle class by global standards. Also, as I understand, the country lies just outside of the tsetse fly belt, which is very important for human development. Interestingly (and sadly), they also have one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, but seem to be managing it very well. (Wiki says: <<As of 2014, Botswana has the third-highest prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS, with roughly 20% of the population infected.>>)

inglor_cz 6y ago

Czech Rep. here. A lot of our original industrial development prior to 1900 was done in conditions of very limited democracy. Only wealthy people and the middle class could vote before 1907. (After that, franchise was extended to all men over 24.) Prior to that, you had to pay some minimal yearly taxes in order to have a vote, which excluded majority of the population. After 1989, a large element in our prosperity was geographic proximity to Germany. Germans outsourced a lot of production to the Visegrad states. It definitely helped grow our GDP, but it also puts sorta-kinda ceiling on it. The most valuable parts of the entire production chain are still back in the West and they are not going to move abroad. BTW Viktor Orbán is a great friend of the German investors and they protect him quite a bit as well. It seems that investors do not care about local state of politics much, only about stability.

paganel 6y ago
> The most valuable parts of the entire production chain are still back in the West and they are not going to move abroad. Related to that, it does seam than whenever Skoda the brand is about to surpass the models of its parent (German) company, Volkswagen, the powers that be decide that that behaviour should stop immediately. The most recent example is the Mk2 Skoda Superb, which imho was miles ahead in terms of style above the Passat, and further back the Mk1 Skoda Octavia was also miles ahead in terms of reliability compared to anything that the VW brand had.
- mbroncano 6y ago
  Another good example of the same is SEAT.

Toutouxc 6y ago

Czech person here, I have to agree. During the soviet era my country, a pre-WWII (even post-WWII, as the Czech part of Czechoslovakia has only seen very light fighting) industrial powerhouse, was reduced to an underdeveloped dwarf. Thirty years later I'm living in a modern country, typing on a MacBook, receiving healthcare, paying my taxes with corruption only noticeable at the highest levels of the hierarchy (politicians, union leaders), certainly not throughout the country. I believe this has to do with the proximity of other developed and modern countries, economically, but also culturally. To put it bluntly, nobody wants to do business with a bunch of cavemen.

rahimnathwani 6y ago

In Botswana, part of the credit goes to the discovery of diamonds.

bilbo0s 6y ago
That, and a small, controllable population. I agree, the Botswana example is not exactly what India is looking for given the history there. To this day, the TSwanna have not diversified from diamonds. They have no industrialization to speak of.
- throwaway2037 6y ago
  But they have amazing, world-class nature. Tourism is, and will, be a large part of their economic growth. Mostly, they are focused on very high income travelers, not unlike Bhutan.
screye 6y ago
A very large (62 + 18 = 80%) [1] part [1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Tree_map_export_2009_Botswana.jpeg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Tree_map...

throwaway2037 6y ago

Wow. I recently discovered Botswana during a deep dive on Wikipedia. Botswana is the size of Metropolitan France, which has a population of ~60 million, but Botswana only has a population of 2.2 million! Resources? They have the most productive diamond mine in the world that consistently produces the highest quality large diamonds in the world. GDP per capita? 18,500+ USD. They are solidly middle class by global standards. Also, as I understand, the country lies just outside of the tsetse fly belt, which is very important for human development. Interestingly (and sadly), they also have one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, but seem to be managing it very well. (Wiki says: <<As of 2014, Botswana has the third-highest prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS, with roughly 20% of the population infected.>>)