Correlation between the Rule of Law and Economic Prosperity

Correlation between the Rule of Law and Economic Prosperity

By Nguyễn Ái Việt

Below is how prosperous an average citizen is in China compared to several countries. Data copied from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ICPINT/Resources/GNIPC.pdf

Ranking           Country                 PPP dollars per year (2001)*
1                 Luxembourg              $48,560
3                 United States           $34,280
27                France                  $24,080
32                Singapore               $22,850
54                Korea, Rep.             $15,060
81                Malaysia                $7,910
87                Russian Federation      $6,880
93                Thailand                $6,230
125               Philippines             $4,070
            . . .
127               China                   $3,950
136               Syrian Arab Republic    $3,160
159               Vietnam                 $2,070
166               Haiti                   $1,870
168               Cambodia                $1,790
175               Lao PDR                 $1,540
208               Sierra Leone            $460

* Taiwan is not listed by the World Bank (for political reasons?), but its PPP dollars is estimated at $17,400.
* Cuba and North Korea do not disclose data
* These statistics does not yet take into account internal wealth disparity. To understand the PPP based per capita GNI concept, see http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/china/02080901.html . This concept takes into account the cost of living in each country. 
A cursory look at the World Bank ranking reveals the indisputable correlation between the rule of law and prosperity. Note that the Russian fledging democracy is only 13 years old and thus in many aspects not representative of grown democracies (read 50-year-old Western European). Regardless, by no means has embarking on the democratic path devastated that country. As you can see, Russia ranks substantially higher than China who has benefited from more than 20 years of economic reform. Naturally, a democratic government will disclose much turmoil that is otherwise hidden under a totalitarian regime. This may give you an impression that Russia is collapsing while the Chinese grass is greener than it actually is. The media loves stories about the phenomenal jumpstart of the world''''''''s most populated market. But this World Bank number shows that flashy pictures of Hong Kong-like Chinese coastal cities, which masquerade the reality elsewhere in the vast China, speak more to its mounting economic gap than to anything else. I do not believe that China will ever surpass Russia or Korea on the World Bank rankings without first becoming at least as democratic and thus as deferential to the rule of law as those countries.
That belief coincides with Clinton''''''''s: "The twentieth century resolved one big question, I believe, conclusively. Humanity''''''''s best hope for a future of peace and prosperity lies in free people and free market democracies governed by the rule of law." Chinese leaders'''''''' egos may compel them to try their best to make China a superpower. But in many ways, China is already a superpower. It has the world''''''''s largest population, the world''''''''s largest army, and the world''''''''s second highest GDP. So I guess sheer collective volume alone does not define a world power. What matters most to a Chinese or anyone is how much he can bring home individually in a year. There lies the true measure of successful governance. In man''''s experience, such governance must be by the rule of law.

Nguyễn Ái Việt ----------------- "The twentieth century resolved one big question, I believe, conclusively. Humanity's best hope for a future of peace and prosperity lies in free people and free market democracies governed by the rule of law." -  William Jefferson Clinton."Law will never be strong or respected unless it has the sentiment of the people behind it." - James Bryce.

Hi Nguyenaiviet,
I''m full of admiration for your English skill, can you tell me how long have you been studying English and how did you study writing? And could anyone tell me what does PPP stand for?

Statistics luôn có dạng plural thì có lẽ does phải chuyển thành do chứ nhỉ, và yet đã là từ mang nghĩa phủ định thì có lẽ phải bỏ chứ NOT đi Brit cũng không chắc liệu cấu trúc này có được dùng đúng không, hình như chỉ có cấu trúc have yet to do sth thôi thì phải.

Now that I've found you, I won't let you go away...

PPP: Purchasing power parity (Ngang giá sức mua-mối quan hệ giữa sức mua của hai đồng tiền. VD 1$ và 17,000 VND mua được 1 DVD tàu thì tỷ giá giữa hai đồng tiền là USD/VND=17,000).

very useful, although, i haven''t read all. Thanks, i''ll collect all
To Brit: so strict you are. This doc, i think we can have at BC
Chưa Nghĩ ra chữ ký
Được britneybritney sửa chữa / chuyển vào 16:05 ngày 29/02/2004

I''m not strict, just because it changes the meaning of the sentence. If NOT is used, then I won''t understand what she means at all. And the structure also sounds strange to me, thus I just want to ask.


There can be miracles when you believeThough hope is frail, it's hard to killWho knows what miracle you can achieveWhen you believe... somehow you willYou will when you believe....

Statistics luôn có dạng plural thì có lẽ does phải chuyển thành do chứ nhỉ, và yet đã là từ mang nghĩa phủ định thì có lẽ phải bỏ chứ NOT đi Brit cũng không chắc liệu cấu trúc này có được dùng đúng không, hình như chỉ có cấu trúc have yet to do sth thôi thì phải.[/QUOTE]
Dear Britney,
Thank you for your compliment, and for hosting this wonderful forum. English is a key to our economic development. By promoting it, you are doing our country a great service.
To answer your questions, I started learning English some time around sixth grade as most of us. However, I did not really practice it until the last ten years. As you have promptly pointed out, I still commit basic grammatical errors such as "these statistics does not," which I, of course, meant "do not." I guess Microsoft Word Grammar Check ignored the word "these" and thought that I meant "statistics" as in that branch of mathematics.
You have also correctly pointed out that "yet" can mean "never up to now" as in "she?Ts been there several weeks and we have yet to hear from her." However, the "yet" in my sentence "these statistics do not yet take into account internal wealth disparity" just means "so far." Prompted by your keen observation, I quickly looked up the word at http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?search=yet and pasted in the result below. As you can see, "yet" comprises only three letters, yet it can have so many different meanings.
I think that the beauty of language, as of anything, lies in the thing''s simplest and universal aspects. Whether it is a three-letter word that has eight different meanings or a simple yet succinct sentence that conveys more than what it appears, this beauty transcends all human languages. How to communicate to humans effectively applies to all humans because despite our cultural and linguistic barriers, peoples of this world are more alike than we are different. If having "mở đề, thân đề, và kết luận" the most effective way to write in Vietnamese, so is it in English. Likewise, if transition between paragraphs and sentences sounds good in England, so will it anywhere else. This suggests that structurally what makes a writing good in English is not at all different from what makes one good in Vietnamese: the same canons we all learned in primary school. I think that if you recognize this, you have gone eighty percent of the way.
Of course, what you probably wanted to ask me was the other twenty percent. But I wanted to mention first the importance of good structure in writing because I cannot stress it enough. Concerning the nuts and bolts of the English language itself, I am afraid I cannot offer a better advice than the old tried-and-true formula of linguistic mastery: practice, practice and practice. By practice, I do not mean the kind of practice applying rules to problems in the abstract with which one would approach the subject of math, I mean practice as in to use it in your everyday life because contrary to what we might have learned in grammar school, languages are not defined by rules, they are defined by experience. Mr. Justice Holmes, a great American jurist, once wrote this about the law: ?oThe life of the law is not logic but experience,? in it, "[a] page of history is worth a volume of logic." So is, I think, the life of language, the man-made law of human communication. While grammar rules provide a good starting point, we cannot assume that the whole language necessarily falls evenly or neatly into those rules, and thus we cannot be content with our mastery of them alone lest we sound ridiculous. For example, we were taught to exclaim: "How pretty you are!" but believe me that this will not help you pick up an American girl. A better compliment is just "how pretty!" or "you are very/so pretty." After all, grammar is deduced from language, not the other way around.
Because language is formed and evolved through human experience, not rationale, I am afraid that to master a language, there is no substitute to actually experiencing it. The first step is probably try do as much of your everyday reading as possible in English. Instead of reading world news on VNN or VnExpress, do that on an English site such as CNN, or MSNBC. If you are interested in cooking, or computer, instead of buying books written in Vietnamese about those subjects, grab ones in English. Read your favorite genres in English. Read the English translations on labels. Do not try to look up every new word. Give it your best guess and move on. Look up only words you have seen many times but are still unsure of their meanings. But try to use English-English dictionaries. Learn to speed-read. The point is that you must not confine your English exposure to only during your English classes or study hours. You must let it permeate your life. Similarly, do as much of your everyday writing as possible in English: your diary, your letters (especially to those who are willing to help correct your writing), your random thoughts, arguments, etc (I regret that box "Thảo Luận" on ttvnol does not allow English). Same goes for listening and speaking: VOA, BBC, making friends with English speaking people, etc. You get the idea.
You are evidently a very sharp and determined girl. By writing this letter to you, I risk stating the obvious. But I hope my observations here will help inspire a few of the forum readers, who feel perpetually stuck paying monthly tuition to English learning centers as I did more than ten years ago. These advices I had heard then but I dismissed them as being too obvious, too general. So I did not take them to heart. I was looking for a get-it-quick scheme, a shortcut, a trick, a secret, a magic center with the best teacher who would transform me overnight. At the very least, writing to you forces me to think about the road I have traveled since, to convince myself, after ten years, of a simple truth that should seem obvious to everyone else that one can never get over the crib of learning until one starts living.
Sincerely,
Nguyễn Ái Việt
-------------------------

yet [ yet ]
adverb
1. so far: so far, or up to now ( often used with a negative or interrogative )
The information has not yet been analyzed.
2. now: now, as opposed to later ( often used with a negative )
I can?Tt come over just yet.
3. even: even or still ( often used with a comparative )
He spurred her on to yet greater efforts.
4. in spite of everything: used to indicate that it is still possible that something will happen despite everything
We?Tll solve this problem yet.
5. up to now: used with superlatives to indicate that something is, for example, the best, worst, or most impressive up to now ( often used after a superlative )
This study is the largest yet ?" a 14-year study of 87,000 nurses.
6. for longer: used to indicate that something will go on happening for a specified time
It would take hours yet for the space telescope photos to arrive on Earth and be processed.
7. never up to now: used to indicate that somebody has not done something up to now
She?Ts been there several weeks and we have yet to hear from her.

conj

nevertheless: however or nevertheless
They can?Tt find the cause, yet the researchers agree that one must be found.

[Old English gīet , of uncertain origin]
Word Usage

Did she go yet?
In the simple past tense yet is used in this way in informal English rather than the perfect tense: Has she gone yet? In some meanings, yet and still are largely interchangeable: This has still to be decided or This has yet to be decided.
<P>Nguyễn Ái Việt
-----------------
"The twentieth century resolved one big question, I believe, conclusively. Humanity''''s best hope for a future of peace and prosperity lies in free people and free market democracies governed by the rule of law." -  William Jefferson Clinton.
"Law will never be strong or respected unless it has the sentiment of the people behind it." - James Bryce.</P>
Được nguyenaiviet sửa chữa / chuyển vào 17:15 ngày 02/03/2004

Not mean to preach or anything, but does everyone who comes here HAVE to have an useful and meaningful conversation? ^^ I feel out of place most of the time, making lame and inappropriate comments that don''t quite help.
On with something useful then.. I''m not really a grammar expert, but I do aggree with Britney that the term ''yet'' in this case was indeed inappropriately placed. Even if with the meaning of ''so far'', or other meanings, the sentence "these statistics does not yet..etc.." sounds rather awkward, infact I must admit that I have never come across similarly written sentences. With the same meaning, the sentence should have been written as "These statistics has not yet.." or "These statistics hasn''t ... as of yet". However, I am not sure at all (in risk of being proven wrong, which I''ve always thought was rather -crude-, -rude- and -bold- so I should not be hypocritical). I still stand my ground that ''small'' words should be overlooked, and English itself should be seen as something -whole-, even with wrong grammar, spelling, etc..the feelings -are- impossible to miss or change.
There is something in which the way you write your ideas that make things seem a little crazier, but a little lovelier, and I must say I again, tip my hat off to you, Nguyenaiviet. Perhaps I see a reflection of myself through your words, and for that I thank you, for I recently have lost my passion for English.
My -best- regards to you,
Sil.
P.S: Just to be randomly silly... how can anyone be interested in economics!!! =p it''s sooooooooooo boring!
"Gomen nasai....demo..A****erui Sayuri-san.."