The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS, 主計處) recently said that Taiwan's domestic inflation rate reached 2.36 percent in January. Including the unemployment rate for the same month, which was 3.35 percent, the total "misery index" (痛苦指數) for people in Taiwan has jumped to 5.71 percent -- a new high in Taiwan's history -- which has attracted a great deal of attention.
To carefully analyze the rising figure, however, the 2.36 percent inflation rate is not only within tolerable limits, but is also more advantageous for Taiwan's economy since it might help to increase companies' operating income.
Thus, what makes the "misery index" seems so miserable to us is actually the climbing jobless rate in Taiwan, which has long surpassed 3 percent.
Taiwan's economy has been on the slide since last July. Many local factories have shut down and capital has been flowing out of the country. Since then, the domestic jobless rate has remained above 3 percent, and it even surpassed 3.2 percent last November and December. As many as 4,995 companies closed last year, a number 25 percent higher than the previous year.
Although the government has realized the seriousness the unemployment problem, the measures proposed by the Cabinet -- such as its unemployment relief program (
To solve the unemployment problem, the US and many European countries usually encourage their citizens to take up vocational training so the jobless don't have to rely so much on the government's assistance. Thus, they try to tackle unemployment by providing both long and short-term solutions, which is worth considering in Taiwan.
The International Monetary Fund recently lowered its predictions for global economic growth rate for this year from 4.2 percent to 3.4 percent. Meanwhile, the political situation in the Persian Gulf has become increasingly uncertain in the light of recent US and British air attacks on Iraq. The possible influences of the global economy and international political situation on Taiwan's economy need to be closely examined. If the current business slowdown continues, I believe the unemployment problem will go from bad to worse.
What makes people in Taiwan feel so miserable at the moment is not how high the "misery index" is, but actually the climbing jobless rate. The fact that more and more people are losing their jobs is where the trouble lies. The government, therefore, must come up with solutions immediately to end the people's misery.
Jonathan Chiang is a post-doctoral fellow at the National Health Research Institute.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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