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Countries That Have Boomed the Most the Past 20 Years:
China
India
Thailand
Vietnam
Canada
Australia
Poland
Croatia
Slovenia
Czech Republic
South Korea
Taiwan
UAE
Panama
Countries That Declined the Most the Past 20 Years and Being Most Negatively Stagnant:
Greece
Spain
Portugal
Ireland
Iceland
New Zealand
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
Zimbabwe
Pakistan
ireland outperformed every country in europe from 1995 - 2007 , the last four years have been worse than anywhere in europe with the exception of greece but over a twenty year period , the country has become much wealthier
a disastrous banking guarentee needlesly screwed the country over and generations to come look like having to pay for it , we are a victim of the euro - DM2 project
I would say China, Israel and most of the Eastern European countries (that were formerly under the communist system) have also seen improvement in the past 20 years.
if anything , eastern europe underperformed this past twenty years , they had a property boom in several countries but that was merley a spin off from property booms in western europe
It's sad that China destroyed many 'hutongs' - hundreds year old neighbourhood with quaint alleyways - in the name of 'progress'. They wanted to present a modern China to the world, but can't be too thick to realise that much of the allure of China is not shiny towers you can find anywhere from Dubai to Dallas, but it's history and culture - a lot of which lives, in the bricks and mortar, in the daily rhythm of life and age-old traditions of these historic neighbourhoods. They know how popular places like Xian, historic Beijing, Suzhou, Dali are - and yet that single-minded pursuit of 'progress.'
20 years ago seas of bicycles used to flow through the broad, austerely Communist avenues of a Beijing with, as you say, barely a skyscraper or McDonald's in sight. I was there in 2006 and was wondering where the bicycles went. Commie propaganda still abounds though.
I can't believe the Chinese could possibly so obtuse. But I'm well familiar with Communist regime mind-sets. Modern is good. Old is bad. We must show the world how Modern we are.
They need to preserve some of the hutongs not only for current residents, but they would make great bed-and-breakfast facilities.
It's sad that China destroyed many 'hutongs' - hundreds year old neighbourhood with quaint alleyways - in the name of 'progress'. They wanted to present a modern China to the world, but can't be too thick to realise that much of the allure of China is not shiny towers you can find anywhere from Dubai to Dallas, but it's history and culture - a lot of which lives, in the bricks and mortar, in the daily rhythm of life and age-old traditions of these historic neighbourhoods. They know how popular places like Xian, historic Beijing, Suzhou, Dali are - and yet that single-minded pursuit of 'progress.'
20 years ago seas of bicycles used to flow through the broad, austerely Communist avenues of a Beijing with, as you say, barely a skyscraper or McDonald's in sight. I was there in 2006 and was wondering where the bicycles went. Commie propaganda still abounds though.
I have been there a number of times since 2008 and have lived there for two years and I can say that they ( China ) have done away with a lot of the Hutongs but China has also kept at least one Hutong in every city, they aren't always easy to find but they will be worth finding, they give you that old world feeling, as far as those bicycles have become scooters, and as far as that propaganda goes, it's still there but now a little less pushy.
But China has become one of the most changed nations in the world and it will do a lot more changing before it's done, mostly political I think.
Would you say it's worthwhile for Americans of any background to learn Chinese for anything that could happen in the future?
(Although I am not an American myself, I am asking this just out of my curiosity)
Most Western/Developed nations have experienced some decline..
The UK tends to have frequent booms and busts unfortunately.. we were in the crapper in the 70's/80's, we had a boom in the late 90's/early 00's - at this point, our unemployment rate was in the top 5 lowest in Europe.. then we had a bust.. right now..
Japan is a bit weird. They are definitely declining in my opinion, their debt is massive and their economy shrank by more then 2%.
USA has an ever growing debt that is unsustainable..
NZ economy is quite poor I believe, slow growth, there was even talk of bankruptcy (but I don't think this was ever going to happen) and has lost many people to Australia.
Australia is in a boom, but it'll crash eventually. Those house prices are ridiculous.
I haven't heard talk of bankruptcy regarding NZ at all. The government isn't in any dire situation . Debt is mainly at the private level ,and is mostly related to house mortgages. Oversea earnings are mostly stable, although the recession has had an effect. Unemployment is high by NZ standards, but relatively low by world standards. People go to Australia, because it is effectively an extension of NZ, and does have better wages/ lower cost of living, and a different lifestyle.
Biggest problem for NZ is that no matter how well home grown industries do, it will never be a great place to do business from -what is referred to here as the tyranny of distance. To do really well, a company/individual needs to move away, not just outsourcing, but lock stock and barrel. That is why agriculture and tourism will dominate for the foreseeable future. Overseas investment in NZ is relatively low because the returns are marginal, it's an expensive place to do business. Low population spread out over a big distance, a long way from anywhere.
A small population doesn't help either, and I can't see the country ever embracing mass immigration.
I think it's fair to say that the standard of living has improved in the vast majority of countries. More people are better fed, better educated, living longer. Third world conditions have improved dramatically. The west has continued to prosper, even as emerging economies catch up. I think there will be a limit to growth that all economies will eventually have to face. Until then countries will jostle for poll position . Advances in technology could bring serious changes for everyone in the not too distant future, and even a fundamental change in the nature of economics. No predictions from me though.
Would you say it's worthwhile for Americans of any background to learn Chinese for anything that could happen in the future?
(Although I am not an American myself, I am asking this just out of my curiosity)
Not sure, but i've seen quite an increase in youtube videos of Americans and Australians learning Chinese over the past few years.
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