Thread by @royngerng

Taiwan is facing a triple whammy in why birth rates continue to be low: (1) Taiwan's pro-business neoliberal capitalistic agenda necessarily contradicts with fertility goals, since (2) the intent of businesses to depress wages in order to profit highly,

taipeitimes.com/News/editorial…

... necessarily impedes workers from having the financial capital to start families, and (3) the channeling of profits into real estate instead of productive investments increases property prices which impedes on the ability of families from buying new homes for their stability.

While Taiwan has been increasing childcare subsidies, unless @iingwen's government can increase subsidies to the extend that it makes up for the loss wages and high property prices, wanting workers to be willing to give birth is a tall order because they don't have the means.

There's also a fourth whammy and that is Taiwan having one of the longest working hours in the world which is tied to Taiwan's neoliberal approach. And then, there is the question that even as Taiwan thinks it can attract foreign workers to stem the local brain drain,

... again, it is faced with the low wages which therefore cripples Taiwan's ambition. And Taiwan WILL be stuck in a low-value production cycle, rendered to the fate of producing one of the best technical expertise in the world but only good enough for OEMs, because ...

... the unquestioning adoption of the neoliberal approach has limited Taiwan's potential. And Taiwan therefore has to continue thinking of itself as a "small" country (as decision-makers like to think of it), unless they question their underlying assumptions of neoliberalism.

In order for Taiwan to increase birth rates and to move into a higher-value economy would therefore necessitate the re-valuing of the kind of economic model Taiwan needs, and how to move away from neoliberalism. The unbridled unregulated economic approach therefore ...

... needs to be replaced by stronger regulatory enforcement that would require businesses invest profits in productive investments (higher property and wealth tax), share greater profits with workers in order to drive worker-innovation, reduce work hours to drive productivity,...

... so that Taiwan transform its economic and social capabilities, and in so doing, move Taiwan into a move competitive level with other advanced countries. These are things regularly discussed by academics and news articles, it's not new.

But under the 2nd term of @iingwen's leadership and as Taiwan becomes more confident due to Tsai's efforts as well, and there are calls from US and Europe to transform Taiwan's economy in order to facilitate trade relations, the fundamental revisiting of Taiwan's economic model..

... is therefore a timely exercise that can ensure that Taiwan does not once again adopt piecemeal approaches to transform its economy, but to look at how to fundamentally shift its economy to allow workers to tap on Taiwan's new-found confidence to compete with the world.