Thursday, September 2, 2010
Plus one country
This article compliments Becky's article on labor unrest in China. The article talks about labor issues in Vietnam and claims that it will become "China's plus one country". The article shows through graphs how the labor in Vietnam is cheaper than in China or in any other surrounding nations, claiming that this could provide a large boost to the Vietnamese economy. The country is showing progress in the garment export industry and the labor unrest in China is helping Vietnam come into the forefront. However the article continues to discuss that the gains in GDP over the years combined with the growth in garment exports is still not sufficient for the country.
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6 comments:
As a Vietnamese citizen, Im gladto hear that the country's GDP increased. But does that mean any thing favorable to the citizens at all? It was written in the article that people still work for just $84 a month. I don't think those little wages have positive effects on their standard of living at all even when the standard of living in Vietnam is quite below average but $84 cant possibly cover the rent, food, and living expense, especially if you have children burden. Vietnam is facing a lot of problems such as high inflation, currency crisis, inefficient bureaucrats. It's a well known truth that success in just one sector cannot improve the economy of a country. Success in every aspect is necessary. Reforms should be taken up to solve these problems, especially come from the government. That would improve the country's economic status and the standard of living of its citizens .
I agree with JP. The rise in GDP does not necessarily mean the people of Vietnam are directly affected by the economic growth. Perhaps more government support of the Vietnamese people would be helpful. What are the chances of welfare systems in Vietnam? Who is being affected by the economic growth?
welfare system in Vietnam is pretty bad.Even though I dont closely follow the system in Vietnam, I know recently the social welfare system in Vietnam has been gradually fine tuned and expanded to a number of other services. They include vocational training, job creation, labor supply, medical and social insurance, and social allowances. However, due to its inconsistent policies and limited funding, the system has yet to meet the requirements of many target groups. I think mostly the middle class is affected by the economic growth. Upperclassmen normally earn their income by illegal agreement and commissions. Socially, theres a really huge gap between the rich and the poor in Vietnam
Although I agree with JP's comment, I should note that the $84 per month is at best slightly misleading. As students attending a university where tuition is well over $40,000 per year, we cannot even conceive of living the lives these workers do in Vietnam. We certainly could not survive in Delaware, Ohio on $84/month, but that does not necessarily mean that the living conditions in Vietnam would be the same.
For example, the current poverty line in the United States for one person (as set by DHHS) is $10,830 per year. This comes to $902.50 per month - well over 10 times the wage of that Vietnamese worker. The individual in the United States seems nominally better off than the individual in Vietnam, but these measures are absolutes, whereas the relative measure is far more important. Without a cost of living index, it is impossible for us to make a true comparison between our standards of living and those of Vietnamese workers.
Nick, I wonder what you meant by misleading. Did you mean that the number was not cited correctly or that because of the difference in the standard of living, $84/month is not necessarily terrible in Vietnam. In both case, I would have to say that with $84/month you cant have a convenient life anywhere, that's for sure. $902.50/month is the currently poverty line in the States but noticed that the $84/month is not the poverty line but rather just a indication of, perhaps, average GDP per capita. And that means Vietnam's current poverty is much lower than that. U.S.'s GDP per capita is $46,381 which averages almost $4,000/month. that's 14 times higher than that in Vietnam.
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