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It is sometimes said that the widening gap between the rich and the poor is due to the fact that capital is so easily shifted around the globe while labor, bound to family and place, is not. But there is nothing natural about this. Human beings, after all, have wandered the earth for ages - crossing oceans and continents, in search of food, land, and adventure - whereas a factory, shipyard, or office building, once built, is almost impossible to move in a cost effective way. In the decades following World War II, many Latin American countries were involved in Import-Substituting Industrialization (ISI) to be self-sufficient and maintain their nationalism.
The decision to adopt aggressive programs of ISI benefited these countries and their citizens in some aspects. By industrializing, these countries could reduce their dependence on expensive imported manufactures. ISI programs allowed individual nations to reduce imports of consumer goods with high import duties while promoting expansion of domestic companies to produce these goods. Expansion of these companies meant that more jobs would be opened for citizens and essentialities became cheaper, benefiting the nation as a while. Later, when Multinational Corporations (MNCs) were brought into the picture, the fixed and immobile long-term investments increased capital flow into the countries - promoting growth and a sense of stability.
A company could not just pick up and return home, leaving a country destitute, and lacking resources to grow. Along with the profitable businesses introduced to the country, these industries brought with them new technologies. Citizens of the country were encouraged to take advantage of training, including taking classes on managerial skills and other training. Because these MNC's provided long term growth for these countries (because short term, quick-fix economic plans only solved debt problems temporarily), many countries were given the option to benefit from these companies that came over assigned to a role of capitalist development through a program of economic and social engineering. But how is it that one country may flourish despite the constant changing of a global economy, while one remains at the bottom of the totem pole?
On one side of the globe, the backbone of Taiwan's success story has given birth to democratic rule and the development of one of the world's most advanced economies. The shift gave birth to new technologies and growing industries, all benefiting the society. At the same time, miles and miles away, Haiti remains, damaged by the continual failure of their own government that has directly and indirectly affected the Haitian community. Haiti's problems are uniquely different from her Latin American counterparts. Years and years of struggle, and Haiti is still "poor little Haiti." Taiwan - The History of Taiwan's Economic and Historical Evolution In the space of a generation, the small island of Taiwan has seen the birth of democratic rule and development of the world's most advanced economies. At the end of 1990, Taiwan's population exceeded 20 million, which makes the island one of the world's most densely populated places.
Except for the approximately 350, 000 aborigines, the people of Taiwan originate from the Chinese mainland, most from the coastal providences of Fukien. Chinese migration to Taiwan began as early as A. D. 500. Dutch traders claimed the island in 1624 as a base for trade with China and Japan.
It was ruled by China's Manchu dynasty from 1683 until 1895, when China ceded Taiwan to Japan after the first Sino-Japanese war. Following World War II, China regained possession of Taiwan. A civil war in Mainland China between Nationalist and Communist forces ended with the victory of the Communists in 1949. Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, proclaiming Taipei the provisional capital of Nationalist China. In 1971, the People's Republic of China replaced Taiwan in the United Nations.
Taiwan's ROC Constitution is based on the Principles of the People: Nationalism, Democracy, and Social Well-being. The Constitution was introduced on January 1, 1947, and put into effect on December 25 of that same year. The National Assembly has amended it three times in recent years. Major amendments stipulate that the president shall be elected by direct popular vote to a four-year instead of a six-year term.
The first direct popular election of the president was held on March 23, 1996. While the Republic of China still maintains it is the legitimate ruler of all China, nearly all nations, including Taiwan, now recognize the mainland's People's Republic of China. The first official talks regarding reunification were held in 1993, and an historic accord was signed committing the two countries to continued dialogue. Since World War II, Taiwan's economy has changed from agriculture to industry. A past emphasis on light industry producing mainly consumer goods has shifted to technology and heavy industry. Although only one-quarter of the island is arable, farmland is intensely cultivated, with some areas producing two and three crops a year.
Though rice, sugar cane, fruits, tea, and fishing are important, much food must be imported. Until the historical opening of the People's Republic of china by United States President Richard Nixon, Taiwan was the "little yellow adopted brother of the United States" (van Kemenade, 111). Taiwan was seen as a country who could not decide anything for himself and constantly looked for his big brother, the United States, for protection. The sustained United States military and economic aid (and capital), which went to South Korea and Taiwan in the 1950 's and 1960 's, played a crucial role in strengthening the capabilities of these emergent national security states. United States Military aid to South Korea between 1945 and 1979 was about $ 7 billion. As much as 75 percent of Taiwan's infrastructure investment came from United States economic aid in the 1950 's.
This was more than all the United States economic aid to Africa and half the figure for all of Latin American over the same time period. In the 1950 's and increasingly in the 1960 's, manufacturers based in Taiwan gained privileged access to the North American market, while the United States tolerated Taiwan's protected markets and their government's tight control on foreign investment. Taiwan entered the world export markets when a consumer boom was under way. By the 1970 's, Japanese trading countries controlled fifty to seventy percent of the international trade of South Korea and Taiwan. In this period, Japanese corporations also provided a substantial portion of the machinery and other components needed for industrialization in Taiwan and South Korea, and they were also an important source of technology licenses. Soon, Taiwan began to establish postal, trade, air and shipping links.
The small country retained a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region, including maintaining its own armed forces. Taiwan's social and economic system remained unshakable and the country began to maintain its own foreign economic and cultural relations. Taiwanese investment and trade expanded and the government worked diligently to restrict and regulate it to keep the flight of capital in the country and within limits (van Kemenade, 113) Taiwan is the richest and most successful exile country in the world. Its population and economy are larger than those of the great majority of member states of the United Nations. Taiwan's population has now grown to 21 million people, 85 percent of whom are native Taiwanese. The other 15 percent of the population is greatly comprised of refugees from China - of the two million escaping Communism of China (van Kemenade, 385).
Taiwan is anti-Communist, and follows economic policies backed by socialism. Taiwanese government created reforms of land, la...
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