Rotorhead 
08/17/2007, 17:44:36
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I did research with actual data, using World Bank data and Penn World Tables as primary sources and an index of socio-politcal instability developed by Professor Gupta at SDSu after rejecting several other less comprehensive indicies of instability. What was clear from hard data, not idiology, was that as income rose so did instability, and Singapore fit this model quite well. It's early low income years were fraught with race riots, jailings of political opponents ( read up sometime how Lee came to power there ), followed by instability in the Malay Federation from which Singapore was eventually expelled. The ultimate instability is getting booted from your own nation! It wasn't until the racial problems were addressed and Singapore became accepted as an independent nation that would actually stay together ( something that could not be assumed back in the early 1960's when it was booted from Malaysia ) that Singapore's growth took off. You betray a lack of knowledge of Singapore's early history, it fit my model quite well. Oh, and I guess you were asleep for all the street rioting in South Korea during the old days of the military dictatorship as that nation's economy grew and democracy settled in. Soouth Koreans fought for their political freedom with tremendous vigor in massive demonstrations that often as not devolved into big riots. I have long admired this characteristic strength of the Koreans, but again that stage in South Korea's development was characterized by great political instability. Nobody really knew what would come of all the fighting. The outcome was good but back then we didn't know how things would turn out. Again South Korea's economy finally reached maturity after the political upheaval was mostly settled and a democratic government established. Another good fit for the model.
So tell us about your own quantitative research on the effects of political instability on economic growth. What is your own research resume in economics?
The pilot is always the first person at the scene of the crash.
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