tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post1726405347265980544..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Friedman on TaiwanMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-42719969879672113292012-03-15T20:52:25.490+08:002012-03-15T20:52:25.490+08:00Friedman is such a windbag. He's like a caric...Friedman is such a windbag. He's like a caricature of himself at this point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-55591641895806881622012-03-14T00:48:26.941+08:002012-03-14T00:48:26.941+08:00I like reading your post as I am interested in rea...I like reading your post as I am interested in reading what foreigners think of Taiwan and its people. <br /><br />"Taiwan is not a barren rock, but a large and complex island whose riches have been obvious to eager settlers, colonialists, and investors for nigh-on four centuries. The island is blessed with a superabundance of water, a key component of almost every industrial and agricultural process, fertile agricultural land, rich forest resources, and a long tradition of complex economic activity and participation in world markets."<br /><br />One apparently cannot literally describe Taiwan as a barren rock -- no country in fact is/should be. But i think most of the locals would consider Taiwan to be devoid of natural resources, not completely but to a large extent. We rely mostly on imports on almost everything. When you speak of the water resource, Taiwan's river typically has a long dry season and when it rains, it frequently floods -- not a very "good" river. The statement of Taiwan being a barren rock (or something to that effect) might have appeared in school textbooks in the 60-70s. However, the kind of statement really impresses on me that one must be diligent and work hard to succeed in life. I think Taiwan owes its economic success (if any) in part to the virtue of the diligence of its people, a widely accepted and deemed virtue of the Taiwanese people.B.Y.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08595707019443207123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-38508697983467209772012-03-13T21:47:52.417+08:002012-03-13T21:47:52.417+08:00http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/create-your-own...http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/create-your-own-thomas-friedman-op-ed-column<br /><br />It's like Choose Your Own Adventure of Pseudointellectualism!Jenna Lynn Codyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04032277820150000198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-79181169390426392842012-03-13T19:19:09.467+08:002012-03-13T19:19:09.467+08:00Friedman's article = paternalistic twaddleFriedman's article = paternalistic twaddleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-36657125842206731272012-03-12T14:15:48.621+08:002012-03-12T14:15:48.621+08:00Can't we assume everybody does this fudge? But...Can't we assume everybody does this fudge? But more importantly why doesn't the US do it then to not be in the (relative) crapper....or is Bill Maher right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-22231981364268040502012-03-12T06:45:02.932+08:002012-03-12T06:45:02.932+08:00Part of me thinks they just aren't the types t...<b>Part of me thinks they just aren't the types to cheat, so are you casting aspersions on our Asian hosts and neighbours as score fluffers?</b><br /><br />Here's why: the international assessments are locally controlled. The tests are sent to local schools for distribution. Now imagine if you are a local schoolmaster. You know which classes are good even if they are not outright tracked/triaged, as is done at many many schools. Are you going to distribute the tests randomly, or hand them off to the best classes? Now multiply your answer by all the schools receiving the test. I can't prove it, but I know how Taiwan works.<br /><br />MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-13963541624138390872012-03-12T02:57:08.787+08:002012-03-12T02:57:08.787+08:00"Asian school systems produce high test score..."Asian school systems produce high test scores in part because the students are trained to take tests, in part because they go to school up to seven days a week as high school exams approach, and in part because, I have long suspected but can't prove, the international test score assessments are gamed to produce the expected high scores." <br /><br />I have no qualifications in windbaggery and thus defer to you in all matters as you are in the research/education business, but wonder how Canada, Finland, or NZ do so well. I doubt they can fudge their OECD scores so much more effectively than US might. Part of me thinks they just aren't the types to cheat, so are you casting aspersions on our Asian hosts and neighbours as score fluffers?<br /><br />Thank you for all your work here. You rank up with Matt Taibbi, and Amy Goodwin on my daily must reads. There are so few good deep sources on Formosa in English. Thanks again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-2583582749524354152012-03-11T21:49:31.076+08:002012-03-11T21:49:31.076+08:00I don't think there is any doubt of that witho...I don't think there is any doubt of that without US aid Taiwan would have never been able to achieve anything like its current level of GDP per capita. In the 50s and well into the 60s 85-90% of the budget went to the military. It was US aid that provided the capital to agriculture that got the farmers going. US aid stabilized the currency, covered the trade deficits, and protected Taiwan from the CCP. US aid personnel also forced the KMT gov't to incorporate a Taiwanese business sector and private capitalism, and identified promising businessmen. US aid personnel (along with technocrats in the KMT) were responsible for pushing the switch from import-substitution to export-orientation. The industrial districts were a US idea. Taiwan had preferential access to US markets and its own quota for college students. Etc etc etc.<br /><br />We can argue, but the US Aid-wasn't-crucial side won't have a very good time of it :)<br /><br />MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-23160410708289902602012-03-11T20:31:00.858+08:002012-03-11T20:31:00.858+08:00We can argue till the cows come home on whether US...We can argue till the cows come home on whether US aid is the key contributing factor to Taiwan's development. But the simple fact that the neo-Marxist "dependency theorists" have treated Taiwan as THE "deviant case" proves that things are far more complicated than a direct correlation between foreign aids and a country's GDP growth. If nothing else, Taiwan's decreasing economic inequality during a period of rapid growth would make the country stand out as one unique case that defies all "dependency theory" hypotheses on the ill effects of foreign aid.Lilmohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01826473388945731256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-30406735704281599492012-03-11T18:11:00.150+08:002012-03-11T18:11:00.150+08:00I am tired of your repeated bias against KMT and i...<b>I am tired of your repeated bias against KMT and its contribution to Taiwan's economic success long before DPP even existed.</b><br /><br />I'm tired of the ignorance of my commenters. Please do some reading on the economic history of Taiwan. A good start is Ho's _Economic Development of Taiwan 1860-1970_. Another key book would be Jacoby's _US Aid to Taiwan_. I doubt very much that you'll take the time to study before you comment here, so I'm making these suggestions for the remainder of my readers.<br /><br />I'll just put a citation from the conclusion of his analysis of the effects of US aid.<br /><br />"Aid more than doubled the annual rate of growth of Taiwan's GNP, quadrupled the annual growth of per capita GNP, and cut thirty years from the time needed to attain 1964 living standards." <br /><br />The interesting thing about 1964 is that it is around the time that per capita income finally regained the level it had known in the late 1930s under the Japanese, after the hit from war and the postwar looting of Taiwan, as well as the transfer of the government in exile to Taiwan. <br /><br />Good luck with your reading. If you need more suggestions I will be happy to provide themMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-12691558571060320182012-03-11T18:10:23.520+08:002012-03-11T18:10:23.520+08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Michael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-65854012375052975332012-03-11T17:48:51.996+08:002012-03-11T17:48:51.996+08:00President Ma would agree with Friedman. Taiwan is ...President Ma would agree with Friedman. Taiwan is alo his 2nd favorite country. As for which of the USA or China is his current favorist country. He leaves that decision open hindging upon which one would offer a better protection for his true identity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-49322186771603864492012-03-11T17:22:30.113+08:002012-03-11T17:22:30.113+08:00Your comment about that Vietnam War made concret i...Your comment about that Vietnam War made concret industry prosperous hit the point. Whenever there was a major war breaking out around Taiwan, a new industry always blosoms in Taiwan. <br /><br />From a rational economic being's view, Taiwanese businessmen should really welcome war instead of fearing it. Imagine if a war broke out between APEC and China, US will definitely equips Taiwan with some latest unmanned technology. Some money to make here.drop-bynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-30082954230081425762012-03-11T16:44:48.594+08:002012-03-11T16:44:48.594+08:00I am tired of your repeated bias against KMT and i...I am tired of your repeated bias against KMT and its contribution to Taiwan's economic success long before DPP even existed. American money did contribute to some of Taiwan's success, not it's NOT the real reason behind Taiwan's economic success. Just look at how many failed states in the middle East, Central/South America or the Philippines which had received way more aid money from the Uncle Sam over the years than Taiwan did. What good did that money do to those countries. If the government power failed to set the right economic policies, implement an education that reward ability and smarts, willing to change its political systems when the time is right, its people always suffer (even up to this day) no matter what kind of money or influence the Great Uncle Sam throw at them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com