Incompetence Begins at Home
As an antidote for the rampant romanticization of the Burmese riots in Yangon and else where in Myanmar, Power and Interest News Report offers a report about the economic factors behind the Myanmar protests.
The last major uprising in Myanmar occurred in 1988. The underlying cause of the revolt was economic and resulted in violent repression by the military. The outcome of the current protest could be similar. Regardless, due to the decades of military involvement in the economy, dependency on resource exports and a high rate of corruption that pervades the country, the necessary economic improvements will not come easily. Even with peaceful political change, without significant international oversight, the overwhelming precedence of military intervention and control in the country will likely return Myanmar to state-sponsored economic mismanagement.
But China is a much more attractive bogeyman!
In an article where the International Herald Tribune gets it (and then goes too far), Michael Green, a former Bush administration official and current quote factory, has his own simple formula.
«The more authoritarian the regime, the more vulnerable it is to mobilized dissent when they try to raise energy prices,» Green said.
«When democratic institutions are stronger, governments have been better able to manage energy demands. That's the lesson from Indonesia.»
The list of miracles democracy can perform increases by the day!
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