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I've worked and traveled in many developing countries, and the key seems to be to get to the point where you have a self-perpetuating middle class: there have t

I've worked and traveled in many developing countries, and the key seems to be to get to the point where you have a self-perpetuating middle class: there have to be enough people with disposable income that they can start a virtuous cycle where their spending pulls other people out of poverty. And this is most easily (if that's the word) done by creating factory jobs that both pay better than farming and reward the entrepreneurial. This happened in China, in Singapore, in Korea, in Japan, in Thailand, and thanks to the BPO industry it's starting to happen in the Philippines and India as well. Alas, it's manifestly failing to happen in Africa. As it happens, I'm typing this in a mid-tier Vietnamese city of some fame as a beach resort. Coming out the War of American Aggression (as they call it here), Vietnam had a hardline Communist government and sub-Saharan Africa levels of poverty, with most people earning a dollar a day or less, but in the 1980s they finally started experimenting with capitalism. When I first visited this city in the early 2000s, there were a few hotels, but they catered almost exclusively to adventurous foreigners. In 2022, the equation has been flipped completely on its head: the beach is packed side to side with highrises that could easily be in Miami or the Gold Coast, and 99% of the visitors here are now locals. This applies even at the top-end places like the Western chain hotel I'm staying at, which is completely booked out, and the expensive seafood restaurants: the one I ate at tonight was doing a roaring trade in imported Alaskan king crabs selling for hundreds of US dollars each. And for every hi-so there's 10 or 100 regular folks on company-sponsored getaways and the like, and behind every domestic tourist there's the local low-cost airline with its air crew and ground staff, the Grab (Uber) driver, the tour guide, the IT guy sorting out the hotel's networking, etc etc.

menshiki 4y ago
I am not sure how accurate is the first paragraph. There is a strong notion in Confucianist countries that promotes saving majority of your income. People in China, Taiwan, and Singapore often tend to send save 70% of their income. The same can be said about migrants from those nations that moved to the western countries. At the same time, in the US and Western Europe is one decides to save 50% of their income it is considered exceptionally high.
- thematrixturtle 4y ago
  The actual savings rate in Singapore is around 40%, and Confucianist countries also have a strong notion of "face", including conspicuous consumption to keep up appearances. But feel free to visit any Singaporean shopping mall or restaurant: it's locals who are doing the vast majority of the spending.
  - menshiki 4y ago
    I've spent years in Taipei and I have definitely observed the phenomenon you're describing. However, from my experience, it's mostly the ultra rich/upper class people that occupy the department stores on weekends.
- hapiri 4y ago
  The saving habits was mainly of the post-WW2 generations that have to follow a prudent life style to survive. Highly doubt that Confucius has anything to do with this.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  > There is a strong notion in Confucianist countries that promotes saving majority of your income. Rather than ancient Chinese philosophy, this mindset was probably more driven by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_financial_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_financial_crisis
t43562 4y ago
I'm from sub-Saharan Africa and FWIW I agree. The middle class represents a threat to power of the elite which continually tries to disempower it with the help of the jealousy of the "not middle class". So in countries where the middle class is under constant attack via corrupt use of their taxes, such as my home, economic development cannot really happen. Everyone is living hand to mouth and not able to take risks or invest.

menshiki 4y ago

I am not sure how accurate is the first paragraph. There is a strong notion in Confucianist countries that promotes saving majority of your income. People in China, Taiwan, and Singapore often tend to send save 70% of their income. The same can be said about migrants from those nations that moved to the western countries. At the same time, in the US and Western Europe is one decides to save 50% of their income it is considered exceptionally high.

thematrixturtle 4y ago
The actual savings rate in Singapore is around 40%, and Confucianist countries also have a strong notion of "face", including conspicuous consumption to keep up appearances. But feel free to visit any Singaporean shopping mall or restaurant: it's locals who are doing the vast majority of the spending.
- menshiki 4y ago
  I've spent years in Taipei and I have definitely observed the phenomenon you're describing. However, from my experience, it's mostly the ultra rich/upper class people that occupy the department stores on weekends.
hapiri 4y ago
The saving habits was mainly of the post-WW2 generations that have to follow a prudent life style to survive. Highly doubt that Confucius has anything to do with this.
pessimizer 4y ago
> There is a strong notion in Confucianist countries that promotes saving majority of your income. Rather than ancient Chinese philosophy, this mindset was probably more driven by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_financial_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_financial_crisis

t43562 4y ago

I'm from sub-Saharan Africa and FWIW I agree. The middle class represents a threat to power of the elite which continually tries to disempower it with the help of the jealousy of the "not middle class". So in countries where the middle class is under constant attack via corrupt use of their taxes, such as my home, economic development cannot really happen. Everyone is living hand to mouth and not able to take risks or invest.