Wealth and Freedom: Taiwan's New Political EconomyWhen Chinese Nationalists retreated from the mainland to Taiwan in 1949-50, they governed a people barely recovered from the Japanese occupation and Pacific War. Wartime damage to factories, plants and buildings had not been repaired and food was barely sufficient to feed an increasing population. However, by 1997 Taiwan had entered the select list of wealthy nations. It is the world's 14th largest trading nation, has the third largest foreign reserves and is the sixth largest outbound investor. The International Monetary Fund reviewed Taiwan's economic indicators in 1997 and placed it for the first time among the world's developed nations. This transition from poverty to affluence in less than 50 years constitutes an economic miracle, claims the author, and its explanation is one of the themes of this book. |
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