Having just visited Korea, I can tell you, this article by Hank Hyena is right on the money. Korea is a major rising star. It is wired, educated, and those folks work hard:
In 1960, SK was a famished pauper with a per capita annual income of $100. Since then, “The Miracle on the Han River” has boasted the world’s most explosive economy; 8.7% annual growth from 1960-1990 transformed it from agricultural hick into techno-metro sophisticate. SK is #1 in digital technology, #1 in shipbuilding, it constructed the world’s tallest building (Burj Khalifa in Dubai), the largest shopping center (Shisegae Centrum City), the biggest boat (cruise ship “Oasis of the Seas”), it houses Samsung, LG Electronics, Hyundai-Kia, Cyworld, POSCO, etc. How’d SK do it? Relentless education, long work hours (2,390 hours per person annually, 34% more than Americans) and brave creativity — they own the 3rd largest number of patents and they’re the “Most Innovative Country” according to Global Innovation Index. Meanwhile, though North Korea is one of the globe’s poorest nations — its citizens average 4 inches shorter in height than southerners due to malnutrition — it does have mineral wealth. Goldman-Sachs believes a unified Korean economy could rival Japan’s by mid-century.
This is all very confusing. Alex Tabarrok tries to clarify:
It is true that capitalism was named by its enemies. Thus, it’s interesting to note that a socialist is someone who believes in socialism, a communist someone who believes in communism but a capitalist is someone with capital.
It’s also true that capitalism is a truly social system, a system that unites the world in cooperation, peace and trade. Thus, if all were tabula rasa socialism might be a good name for capitalism. But that boat has sailed.
Eek gad. I’ll have to give it a ponder.
["Libertarians Against Capitalism" - Free Association via MR]
Tyler Cowen and Bryan Caplan both write about how good this past decade was. I’m inclined to agree. Bryan takes the long view, comparing the naughts to the rest of the century, which happened to have world wars and/or the Soviet Union. My favorite sentence from either of them:
It might be pleasant to boast that America is — or should be — a world leader in every area, but the practical reality is that if some other country solves the problem of green energy, so much the better for us.
This worldview, that the success of another country is not an automatic detriment to our own, is a big part of what draws me to Masonomics. The idea that we can be in competition with China and still benefit if they “win” a technological arms race, is wonderful.
I would add to that by emphasizing the quality of entertainment that came in the first decade of the 21st century. Just to use TV and film as a representative for the whole industry: spectacular television like The Sopranos, Pixar’s re-invention of animation, and the rise of the superhero movie helped to make this a stupendous decade for both the big and small screen. Now imagine India and China contributing to not just tech, but to entertainment. I guess that’s something to look forward to in this century.
Pop Transhumanism | Kyle Munkittrick | 
February 25, 2010 2:58 pm | 
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