Originally posted by MikeboydUS
reply to post by oozyism
In the long run, Afghanistan, will come out better. Japan, Germany, and South Korea are free countries with powerful economies. Iraq and Afghanistan
will follow in their footsteps.
[edit on 13/3/10 by MikeboydUS]
Not that I completely disagree with your post, but the examples you gave are a little thin and I am slow to accept that occupied-Afghanistan is in
good shape.
Japan (perhaps referring to post-WWII Japan) has a large economy, it does not necessarily have a strong economy. The war actually reversed a
century's worth of gains the nation had experienced. More recently, it has suffered a series of recessions and slipped into depression over the last
two decades. It was held at gunpoint into becoming a Westernized nation, and it has yet to develop a strong foothold as a solid capitalist economy
(The Lost Decade taught us that). It wasn't until 2005 that the Japanese economy showed true signs of improvement.
Germany (either post-WWII Germany or post-Unification Germany) has struggled since 1989 to develop a truly functional economy. Although GDP
eventually rose years after the Unification, unemployment also reached record numbers. It's worst years of growth were 2002, 2003 and 2005, followed
by a recession in 2008-2009. Not to mention it is tied to the EU, and no one is claiming that the EU economy is stable.
I don't know too much about South Korea's economy, other than the growth since 1980 has been astonishing and admirable. However, it has been
affected by the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the global economic woes in the last two years.
It is simply too soon to claim any of these countries have powerful economies because so much of the power is built on bubbles and smoke and mirrors
(sound familiar?). Perhaps this is an overreaction on my part, and you didn't intend to place this much weight on the phrase "powerful economies".
I suppose I'm just sensitive to it given my education in economics and my lack of trust in major financial powers and policy makers in this
world.
On that note, I wish the best for Afghanistan and hope the sudden spike in opium production and shipment to the US doesn't marginalize their growth
or potential.
