This didn't age well now that the South Korean growth is contracting, and Japan's growth has slightly surpassed South Korea in 2023, although by just 0.1%.
There's a big new report on Korean problems which I'll look at when I get a chance. For what it's worth, the IMF forecast in April sees ROK per capita GDP in 2021 PPP dollars going from 15th in the world in 2020, to 16th in 2024 to 12th in 2030. and Japan's going from 26th to 31st to 32nd. These rankings exclude major oil exporters and countries with very small populations.
I don't agree with saying that South Korea is all concentrated in Seoul. In fact, for example, cities like Ulsan have a higher GDP per capita than Seoul, which is not the case in Japan, where Tokyo has a much higher GDP per capita than the rest of the country. And in fact it should be just the other way around, being larger in population is an advantage in terms of economies of scale and by the way in Japan a higher proportion of people live in big cities than in South Korea. If Japan is not growing it is because it has adopted bad policies and decisions, not because of geographic, demographic or cultural reasons.
One is that Korea is small. A single city, Seoul, dominates Korea. Korea is more like a city nation, Hong Kong or Singapore. So, their efficiency is generally high.
The other is that Japan is large. Or Japan has large inertia. Large established entities in Japan chose strategies to protect them, not to do challenges. They did follow the long-lasting traditions that brought to GDP No.2 position. They hired students from famous universities. Those students obeyed their bosses in the big companies. Or young generations needed to follow such streams. Otherwise, people regarded them as dropouts. So, very few new big companies were born in Japan. Young people became to prefer not to do challenges.
This didn't age well now that the South Korean growth is contracting, and Japan's growth has slightly surpassed South Korea in 2023, although by just 0.1%.
There's a big new report on Korean problems which I'll look at when I get a chance. For what it's worth, the IMF forecast in April sees ROK per capita GDP in 2021 PPP dollars going from 15th in the world in 2020, to 16th in 2024 to 12th in 2030. and Japan's going from 26th to 31st to 32nd. These rankings exclude major oil exporters and countries with very small populations.
I don't agree with saying that South Korea is all concentrated in Seoul. In fact, for example, cities like Ulsan have a higher GDP per capita than Seoul, which is not the case in Japan, where Tokyo has a much higher GDP per capita than the rest of the country. And in fact it should be just the other way around, being larger in population is an advantage in terms of economies of scale and by the way in Japan a higher proportion of people live in big cities than in South Korea. If Japan is not growing it is because it has adopted bad policies and decisions, not because of geographic, demographic or cultural reasons.
morning all thanks far you I"m fron eciatorial guinea Malabo a
I thought of two things.
One is that Korea is small. A single city, Seoul, dominates Korea. Korea is more like a city nation, Hong Kong or Singapore. So, their efficiency is generally high.
The other is that Japan is large. Or Japan has large inertia. Large established entities in Japan chose strategies to protect them, not to do challenges. They did follow the long-lasting traditions that brought to GDP No.2 position. They hired students from famous universities. Those students obeyed their bosses in the big companies. Or young generations needed to follow such streams. Otherwise, people regarded them as dropouts. So, very few new big companies were born in Japan. Young people became to prefer not to do challenges.
Super! Thanks
Brilliant analysis!