Ever since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office, he has always made a point of talking about how much he has achieved, and how he has put all his efforts into creating a sense of well-being among Taiwanese. Unfortunately, if this sense of well-being really exists, it does so only in a parallel universe.
The first to throw cold water over these dreams was the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). Early this year, Ma said that the nation’s economic growth rates would be the highest among the four Asian Tigers (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea). However, not only is the growth rate unlikely to reach 2 percent this year, it is likely to be the lowest it has been since 2010 and the lowest among the four nations.
For the past seven years, the Ma administration has proven itself to be helpless in the face of a whole range of falling indicators, with little idea of how to turn things around. All it does is come up with empty slogans such as “all-out for the economy.” Does anyone recall the “Economic Power-up Plan”? There are many more where that came from. Unfortunately, any substantial plan or national vision from the government is conspicuous only by its absence. The plethora of slogans and sound bites means little more than a dearth of strategy. The fewer ideas it has, the more it relies on slogans; the more it talks of substance, the more fantastical it all is.
Even the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement the Ma administration is so proud of has only borne the bitter fruit of closer ties with China that have exposed Taiwan’s economy to high degrees of risk. Taiwan has yet to receive any benefits from this agreement, but has certainly had its fill of drawbacks. With huge capital flows to China, there has been a crowding out effect for corporate investment in Taiwan, leading to a hemorrhaging of jobs. In addition, exports have been concentrated in a single region: If China experiences economic difficulties, or structural changes occur within the manufacturing industry there, Taiwan’s trade structure would be put at extreme risk.
This can be seen from DGBAS statistics as well as how a decreasing GDP is due to China’s declining economic growth rate and the emergence of the red supply chain, making China increasingly independent of Taiwanese suppliers.
Despite a weakening economy, the Ma administration continues to accumulate government debt. In the almost eight years he has been in office, Ma has seen the legal debt limit rise to NT$1.84 trillion (US$55.96 billion). The economy is in trouble, the government is allowing state finances to go further and further into the red, ordinary people are finding it harder and harder to get by, salaries are falling in real terms and workers in the 30-to-39-year-old bracket are earning less now than they were 18 years ago.
An economic growth rate below that of other Asian nations, the burgeoning wealth disparity and low salaries for younger generations — all of these issues should serve as a wake-up call for the government, because they all involve national competitiveness and social stability. Still, the Ma administration has no clue what to do and just tries to hide behind massaged statistics.
It is interesting that the National Development Conference report on the public’s perception of their current quality of life shows that people are satisfied with their lives, especially when compared with the harsh realities. The trouble is, people have no way of knowing whether the figures were just cooked up by the Ma administration, or if Taiwanese really are enjoying their lives.
Chang Ching-yun is an assistant research fellow at the Taiwan Brain Trust.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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