Really fascinating, in-depth look at economic inequality in Korea. It's interesting to see how historical events, economic crises, a patchwork welfare state, and tightly-knit family structures interact to form the current economic landscape.
A few highlights for me:
-The middle class double crisis: elderly who have slipped into irregular work/small fixed incomes after retirement and their 30something children who have less than full-time work create a situation where the traditional social safety net, family support, is ineffectual and leads to perpetual poverty.
-A huge uptick in wealth concentration after the 1997 crisis. This has to be an economic universal...
-The mortality rate for male HS dropouts is 8.4 times that of HS graduates.
For folks living in, from, or just interested in Korea, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think there are any politicians who might be able to address these issues?
Here's the Korean version of the article: Korean version
Feel free to comment in English or Korean.
Address how? Oh you mean by taking money from most people and giving it to others (after taking their "administrative costs", of course)? Can you create prosperity by taking money from some and handing less out to others?Do you think there are any politicians who might be able to address these issues?
Thanks for putting words in my mouth. Redistribution approaches and/or the creation/augmentation of additional welfare systems could be one approach; likely one that the current Mayor of Seoul would likely be in favor of (Seoul mayors often end up making presidential bids). There could be other approaches, too, such as public awareness campaigns encouraging individual savings and promoting different approaches to cultural institutions. To elaborate on that last bit, parents paying for a lavish wedding and buying a home for newlyweds is still the expectation in SK (though not fully realized by all). With one or two kids, this can really create a dent in the personal savings of people approaching retirement, and could be contributing to the impoverished elderly phenomenon. Do you have any ideas? I'm getting the feeling you're very much against welfare programs, and possibly any state interference in markets, but surely you didn't read the article and think all is well in the Land of Morning Calm. Do you think freeing up rules on foreign investment might create more jobs for the highly educated, yet struggling, 22-39 demographic?
I didn't put words in your mouth. It was a (snarky) question. As I snarkily suggested, taking money from some people and giving it to others (minus "costs"), does not create wealth. In fact, it destroys wealth, because the bureaucrats running the circus consume some of the money being "redistributed". Then there's the problem that taxation is extortion, and thus immoral. When a mafia threatens people with violence to get money from them, it's called "extortion". When a government threatens people with imprisonment to get money from them, it's called "taxation" (because it's actually extortion and rulers don't want people to see that). All people need to get by just fine is for the government to get out of their way and let them produce wealth, goods and services. Look at how Burma has been rising recently, when the rulers there decided to become less tyrannical. There's your proof. If that's not enough, look at America's history, or England's, or Germany's. Whenever there's relative freedom, there will be prosperity. Political power can't be used to fix problems that are caused by political power's existence to begin with.Redistribution approaches and/or the creation/augmentation of additional welfare systems could be one approach