Lesson from Korea: the economist Ha-Joon Chang recalls growing up in South Korea in the 1960s. In 1963, the per-capita income was $82, compared with $179 in cocoa-producing Ghana, a newly independent W. African country. #Ethiopia #YesWeCan #ItIsPossible -1/5

Chang remembers the redness of the soil in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, where, he said, all the trees had been cut down for firewood. At that time relatively resource-rich North Korea was considered the wealthier half of the peninsula; -a before and after.. -2/5

Now Seoul(+) is a prosperous city of frenetic pace, wall-to-wall neon and street upon street of chic shops, restaurants and nightclubs. People the world over use South Korean smartphones and drive South Korean cars - with just a company to pay ~$11 billion in taxes. -3/5

Since 1960 what is known as the Miracle on the Han River has changed South Korea from a country significantly poorer than Ghana to one as wealthy as most places in Europe. Today South Korea’s per-capita income is approaching $30,000. -4/5

The country has evolved into one of Asia’s most rambunctious democracies, one that in 2017 had the confidence to impeach its president for abuse of office -and firmly doing it as needed ever since. -5/5