[TexGrill]

LOL!!! 1984 was a long time ago. Are you making a reference to George Orwell’s book instead?

[imardmd1]

No, I was there in 1984 on business, opening up a new market for our electronic products. The Director of Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST), an old pal and fellow doctoral candidate, explained the economy to me.

Basically, Private companies manufactured what the central government told them to. The idea was to expand their businesses as fast as possible without a lot of domestic competition. Foreign competition was enough in expanding exports. And so forth. My contacts were set up by central planning, and the meetings were intense and effective.

How well central planning worked for them is obvious. Slaughtering of busineesses by the government, as in the US, was not a factor. In Korea, if you want to be well-off you work. Everyone is industrious.