This fascinating and inspiring story from the BCC shows how Vietnam has been transformed through trade and capitalist practice. “Vietnam now attracts more overseas investment than India does; it is second only to China in the Asian economic growth league, and 50% of the Vietnam population is aged 35 or under. The trite way of putting it is that when they stopped making war here, they made love.”
It is yet another fascinating case of how communism is being redefined in capitalist terms.
The hook for the story is that Vietnam joins the WTO next week but note that all this economic progress has taken place prior to joining the WTO—which raises questions about the role of this “pro-market” world planning apparatus. The WTO provides a means of dispute resolutions but would it have prevented the US from having imposed vicious anti-dumping duties on the Vietnamese catfish industry? Doubtful.
