By: Dini Nurhani
Japanese Slacker, German Thief: Is the culture of society determining the country's economic development or otherwise?
Not many know the fact that Japan was once a (early 20th century) dubbed a lazy race, and Germany was called as a fascinated people (before the mid-19th century). They are called so much that the nature is characterized as a period of habits and is said to be the nature of their ancestral habits (national heritage).
However, what is happening now, the two countries are no longer a lazy and stupid race, and even become a highly developed and precarious race much more economically.
Japan is the third country with the world's largest economy, while Germany has the largest power of economy in the European Union. If indeed they had gone through a phase where they had such bad habits, how could they have made such progress now?
What caused their old habits that were said to be the epoch of this era seems to have vanished among Japanese and German people today?
On the other hand, those who were formerly called lazy, disobedient and live for the present people, seem to be the people who are praised for their craftsmanship, are very punctual, and become among the countries with savings rates the highest saving rate in the world for a more secure life in the future.
The Germans who have been called as powerful fraudsters and thieves have now had the lowest rates of corruption among the world. Once a big scammy has become an honest and transparent person?
What madness is this? Is this an end to the mark?
According to Ha Joon Chang, which caused the change in nature in their community culture is in fact with the change and the development of its economic structure.
Japanese people began to change after 1945. At that time, they experienced the miracle of the Japanese economic miracle, where they had been the second country to have the world's largest economy after the United States. The German people are gradually stealing and cheat only after the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe.
Good economic conditions encourage some positive attitude change among the people.
However, the changing nature of this local community culture is not only achievable if there is a real change in economic activity. This is because even though today the industrial process is happening globally, there are many countries that are slow to the progressive phenomena that occur in the south east Asia. There are also many countries that have retreated in the African continent.
Thus, there are two other important aspects in promoting the change of society's character and attitude towards a better. It is also in the role of institutional and policy makers.
Here, we can see the importance of policymakers in determining the direction of the decades, even hundreds of thousands of years ahead. The savior or destroyer of the country is also in fact among the policy makers, not just politicians.
Policy makers who prioritize development from the corners of education will produce more educated generations that have a brighter future for good leaders.
This good leader will also lead the country's institutions and bring good change to society as a whole. This is what we call 'trickle-down effect'.
So we can conclude that the situation in Japan and Germany is due;
Change of economic structure + Good policy makers + Good institutions = Changing bad character and attitude among society
Nevertheless, despite the change of attitude and good character that these Japanese and German people have, the change of economic structure has resulted in a bad attitude as well as inviting more serious problems among the people. This is called the cost-effect (opportunity cost) that we have to accept.
This cost (Opportunity cost) means we have to give up something to get something else. In other words, in this world we can not have everything.
Japan, despite its diligence and strong work, has the highest rates of suicide in the world as a last resort. Developed healthcare has led them to experience the lowest rates of death in the world but they have very low birth rates.
Germany also faces the same problem as the aging population. As with most other developed countries, Germany is experiencing problems for wealth distribution with increasingly unpredictable levels at Gini level 0.78, the second highest in the European Union (EU).
Again, to counter this problem, policy makers and institutions play a role in determining the direction of economic development that we want to come.
So, the style of the policy makers also plays a role. Nowadays, the average policy makers and institutions are more towards the neo-liberal economy where economic openness is prioritized. Is it good for us? It depends on the availability of that country. Countries should have good political management as well as have strong export products before entering the international market.
What if the policy makers and institutions do not follow the neo-liberal economy? Does trickle down effect really take place in a neo-liberal economic framework?
Next time try to comment.
References:
1) Bad Samaritans: Myth of Free Trade and Secret History of Capitalism (Ha Joon Chang)
2) Globalization and Its Discontents (Joseph Stiglitz)
Comments