Healthcare. Inequality. Development Asia - devasia14.pdf. Deepening Divide: Can Asia Beat the Menace of Rising Inequality? Description Beneath the gloss of Asia’s newfound prosperity lies an unsettling reality.
Rising inequality has denied the benefits of Asia’s economic growth to many millions of its citizens. The problem is worsening as the region’s rich get richer much faster than the poor, who miss out on the income, education, and health care they need to lead fulfilling lives. Asia isn’t the only region suff ering from a wealth gap, but unlike others it has failed so far to narrow the divide. Most of its large economies have shown rising income inequality since the 1990s, and rural poverty is outpacing urban poverty across much of the continent.
Inequality and Unsustainable Growth: Two Sides of the Same Coin? By Andrew G. Berg and Jonathan D. Ostry; IMF Staff Discussion Note SDN/11/08; April 8, 2011. - sdn1108.pdf. Inequality in China: To each, not according to his needs. Mapping China's Income Inequality - Matt Schiavenza. Income inequality between different regions in China has become a growing problem.
(Carlos Barria/Reuters) China, like the United States, has an income inequality problem: the country's GINI coefficient, a measure which tracks economic equality, was 0.474 in 2012, making it more unequal than countries like Peru and the Philippines. Often, inequality in China is blamed on the country's high rural population—39 percent of China's citizens worked in the agricultural sector in 2008, a number much higher than that of developed economies.
The situation isn't lost on China, either. Prime Minister Li Keqiang has unveiled a plan to urbanize the country, betting that doing so would help balance China's economy. Winning Essay: I Have a Dollar. My Neighbor Has a Million. - Winners of "Asia's Challenge 2020" Essay Prize. The Case of the Old Lady The old lady walks in with the evening crowd, clutching an old bag that she sets down in the middle of the square.
Surrounded by fancy windows promoting sparkling jewelry and diamond brocaded watches, and restaurants that charge more per meal than she spends on her food in a week, she unties her sac of wares and lays them out. Five minutes later, she is sitting on her foldable chair with her arms stretched out in front of her, with two packets of paper tissues at the end of each, quietly beckoning the flowing multitude around her to equip themselves for an unexpected case of a sweaty brow or a running nose. It is Friday evening in Orchard, Singapore's premier shopping district, and the setting sun is making way for the revelry of yet another weekend.
The old lady is beginning her lonely struggle to earn what she will need to feed herself tomorrow. Next Healthcare in Asia: A Roadmap for the Next Decade. Japan's social contract under severe stress. Only a few decades ago, Japan seemed to have one of the world's strongest social contracts.
But today, it is under severe stress. What do we mean by a social contract? Although we are all individuals, we live in societies with governments. By living in a society, we surrender certain "freedoms" from our “state of nature”, like the freedom to do things that might disturb social order and peace. We subject ourselves to the law, but we gain protections and rights in return, including the right to choose our government, if we live in a democracy. Social contract for the Asian century? Asian trade union leaders are pushing for a new social contract in the region.
What are the issues? What are the chances?