Taiwan: A Fierce Economic Fortress

choi

Julian Snelder, Taiwan: A Fierce Economic Fortress. Lowy Interpreter, May 8, 2015.
www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/201 ... nomic-fortress.aspx

the last 3 1/2 paragraphs:

"So it has the industrial infrastructure to develop serious military systems.

"More significantly, Taiwan has the financial muscle to do so. Taiwan has quietly pursued probably the most ruthless mercantilist agenda of any modern state. To encourage exports and discourage imports, Taiwan pursued financial repression and a currency debasement that make today's currency interveners look like free-market liberals. During the 1980s and 1990s, one expert marveled that the Taiwan central bank's 'volume of sterilization instruments reached 40 percent of total bank deposits...and more than twice the size of the monetary base.'

"For non-economists, this means cheapening its currency on a scale so vast that its entire banking system is distended by the policy. The legacy remains to this day. Taiwan's US$400 billion of exchange reserves, divided per capita, are bettered only by the banking cities of Hong Kong and Singapore. With a stingy minimum wage of only US$4 per hour, wealthy Taiwan is a national corporate savings machine.

"In short, Taiwan's economic policy has been about as fierce, brazen and willful as it gets. Of all the small, vulnerable countries trying to build the techno-economic foundations to deter a more powerful adversary, Taiwan is an exemplar. It is a veritable fortress economy. Whether it converts these piles of money into the means to defend itself is entirely a matter of Taiwan's resolve.

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest of the text, which says something we are all familiar (his intended audience is Australians).
(b) The author does not supply any proof. But I believe the quotations are correct. Since I came to US, I have often wondered the wisdom of various Taiwan policies, including the one raised here. Life is short. Regarding Taiwan's pursuits listed in quotation 2: 有意思嗎?
(c)
(i) About The Interpreter. undated
www.lowyinterpreter.org/page/About-The-Interpreter.aspx
("The Interpreter is published by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent, nonpartisan think tank based in Sydney. It publishes daily commentary and analysis on international events, and is edited by Sam Roggeveen")
(ii) Julian Snelder. The Interpreter, undated
www.lowyinterpreter.org/profile.aspx?id=Julian Snelder
("Julian Snelder is a Kiwi who has resided in Asia for almost a quarter-century. He has lived in India and China and has also worked extensively in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. He worked for eight years at McKinsey & Company, and then eight years at Morgan Stanley where he ran the high-technology investment banking unit. Since 2005 he has been a partner in a global investments fund. He has two bachelors’ degrees, one in engineering from the University of Canterbury and the other in economics from Trinity College, Cambridge")