A good run in Hanoi

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What is poverty?

There are many ways of looking at it. Here's an excerpt from Carola Barton's summary of some of the ways of viewing it:

We sometimes treat it as a matter of blame: the poor are poor because they cannot or choose not to be better off. We sometimes treat it as a matter of virtue: people choose material poverty because it generates—or does not interfere with—spiritual well-being.

We have a long history of explanations for the existence of poverty:

• Sociology: the poor are poor because human beings instinctively look to differentiate themselves from one another, and someone needs to be at the bottom of the pyramid
• Economics: the poor are poor because economic forces depend on a mass of impoverished workers to provide the labor that makes our societies run
• Psychology/Physiology: the poor are poor because individuals have unequal faculties, and in a society that does not compensate for those inequalities, someone must wind up at the bottom
• Scarcity: the poor are poor because there aren’t enough resources to go around
• Environment: the poor are poor because of regional environmental conditions—climate, topography, soil, etc.
• Spirituality: the poor have chosen material poverty because they have found, or have been endowed with, immaterial sources of wealth

Vietnam is considering raising the poverty line

In rural areas, the current poverty line is 200,000 vnd/person per month.

That is $11.11 per month.

The new definition would raise that to $19, which will double the number of poor.

Vietnam—“New poverty line would double number of poor”—Viet Nam News

25-07-2009

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs proposed raising the official poverty line to twice its former level. The move would mean those living in rural areas who earn VND 350,000 (US$19) or less a month or those living in urgan areas who earn VND 450,000 ($25) or less will be considered poor. (The existing poverty line is VND 200,000 per person per month in the countryside and VND 260,000 for those living in urban areas, respectively.) The new standard means that the number of households living in poverty would rise from 13% to 20%...

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=07SOC250709

In a country where you can earn $25+ per hour teaching English with no previous certification.

New Release from the Economist Intelligence Unit

Here's what the Economist Intelligence Unit has to say about Vietnam:

Outlook for 2009-10

• The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam will maintain its tight grip on power in 2009-10, rejecting calls (especially from groups of overseas Vietnamese) for political pluralism.
• The government's fiscal stimulus package includes spending on infrastructure, as well as tax breaks and a delay in the implementation of the new personal income tax regime.
• Given that the inflation rate is continuing to ease, the State Bank of Vietnam (the central bank) is likely to keep policy interest rates low in 2009-10.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts that the economy will expand by 1.6% in 2009, before growth picks up to 4% in 2010. But concerns exist that official data will not reflect fully the extent to which the economy is suffering.
• As domestic demand growth weakens, we expect price rises to continue to abate, and inflation is forecast to slow to an average of 5.4% in 2009.
• We forecast that the value of the dong against the US dollar will fall by around 8% in nominal terms in 2009.
• The current-account deficit will narrow sharply in 2009-10 as a result of a major reduction in the merchandise trade deficit.

Monthly review

• A recent court case suggests that the government is increasingly intent on curbing unfair business practices that contravene the 2006 Competition Law.
• From June 1st foreign investors will be allowed to acquire up to 49% of total equity in unlisted companies, up from 30% at present. The move brings the foreign-ownership cap into line with that for listed companies.
• The government’s policy approach to boost economic growth will focus on supporting key sectors; stimulating investment; poverty reduction and social stability; and adopting a flexible approach to monetary and fiscal policy.
• A study of two industrial zones by an international charity, Oxfam, showed that the global economic downturn has had a negative impact on business. Most firms conceded that production orders have fallen.
• The trade balance swung into deficit in April. After posting three consecutive months of surpluses, the trade deficit soared to US$700m for the month.
• Foreign direct investment inflows are down significantly. The government approved US$6.4bn in new projects the first four months of the year, down by over 72% year on year.

Poor Mexico

Lately, all I've been seeing is drug crime and swine flu. Considering I spent my entire senior year focused on people and money moving across the US - Mexico border, I feel a bit involved and attached to transborder flows of any sort, and I've got to say - it's never good news. No one ever talks about on the news, "Oh how great that we have a huge border with Mexico so that we can get easy access to inexpensive labor, fruit, and vacations." Pshaw.

On the issue of drug crime, I'd like to refer you all to the following article: Reflections from Latin America by Ibsen Martinez. He notes, as I have maintained, that the crackdown on drug imports from Colombia have led Mexico to be the new route into the US. The decreasing purity and increase in street price of cocaine in the US are also a side effect of this success. However, he also points out (which I did not know) about a potentially huge gun smuggling business from the US into Mexico. So perhaps increases in gun control in the US would be one policy to help our neighbor?

See an excerpt from the article below:

Mexico has quickly become the other epicenter of the violence activities carried out by criminal organizations associated with drug trafficking. Mexican drug cartels have come to supplant the Colombian traffickers as the main suppliers of illicit drugs to the U.S. market.

Mexico's attorney general reckons that U.S. consumers buy U.S. $10 billion worth of drugs from his country's cartels each year. All that money allows the two main cartels to arm, equip and pay for a highly motivated army of 100,000 that almost equals Mexico's armed forces in size and often outguns them.

"Americans are understandably focused on the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. from Mexico," says Andreas Peter, author ofBorder Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide. "But too often glossed over in the border security debate is the flow of weapons across the border into Mexico," he told FoxNews.com in a statement via the Internet.3 Mexican authorities say 90 percent of smuggled weapons come from the United States.

Visitors!

For those of you threatening to come my direction, can you stick your dates on here cuz I am rockin without any of this blackberry crap and I'm having a hard time keeping track of all the amazing jet setters I know...

Go here and put in some clues about when/where you'll be in Asia. I end my job contract officially on July 31, and at some point between now and then I'll be running a teambuilding workshop for my office. That's my only main reason I wouldn't be in Hanoi, unless I'm off with someone who is swinging through town.

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The Temples at Angkor Wat

I had one of my best days in Asia to date yesterday, bicycling around Angkor Wat.

From Temples at Angkor Wat

 I was on my own, and on a bike rather than motoring around in tuk-tuk, so I really got to take my time, enjoy some beautiful weather, and chat up all the girls who were selling post cards and things. There are several who are incredibly bright and excellent salespeople - I was seriously impressed. These two, on the other hand, I think mostly traded on the cuteness factor

From Temples at Angkor Wat

In and around Siem Reap, Cambodia are scattered a myriad of temples built by the different Khmer empires. At one point, the Khmer empire stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean and into Thailand. The most famous of these temples are located near the heart of the empire at its apogee, which is at Angkor Wat. What most people think of as Angkor Wat are the temples that are inside the Archeological Wat Archeological Area, and include Angkor Wat itself, the Bayon, Ta Prohm and about a million other ruins large and small, in varying stages of restoration.

Angkor Wat itself was built in the mid 12th century by a fellow named Suryavarman II. It was originally Hindu, but as the state religion changed to Buddhism some of the Hindu imagery was destroyed or modified to fit the new times. These include immense bas-relief mural carvings of different Hindu myths, like the Churning of the Sea of Milk, and these apsaras (heavenly consorts).

From Temples at Angkor Wat

Part of what makes it so spectacular is the massive moat that surrounds the complex.

Other very cool ruins include the Bayon, which is inside the Angkor Thom walled city and was used by a variety of kings. Each of them seems to have added bits and pieces so now it has quite a labarynthine feel, which is made even more bizarre by the fact that faces have been carved into the towers.

From Temples at Angkor Wat

My personal favorites were Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, partly because I loved the look of the temples that have been left to be overgrown my trees. 

From Temples at Angkor Wat

From Temples at Angkor Wat

From Temples at Angkor Wat

It was a full day, starting with a 4:30 AM wake up to bike out there for sunrise, and ending with a final half our biking in the pouring rain at 7:30 pm, which was hilarious. It was well worth it to see the bolts of lightening frame the spires of Angkor before I left. It started lightening while I was sitting with a little girl who was chatting me up and sharing some of her fruit. Her English was incredible - you don't get kids who speak English like that in Vietnam really, unless they have family in the USA. So very full, and very, very nice. If anyone is going to Angkor any time soon I definitely recommend bicycle! It made the trip (thanks to Adam Flynn for the advice).

From Temples at Angkor Wat

If you really want a personal view, check out these videos: