South Korea facts of the day
The article discusses the economic history of South Korea, highlighting its unique growth model. Contrary to the common perception of export-led growth, South Korea experienced trade deficits during its rapid economic expansion from 1963 to 1997. The author critiques the oversimplification of South Korea's economic success and emphasizes the complexity of its development.
- ▪South Korea was once poorer than North Korea in the early 1970s.
- ▪The country ran almost nonstop trade deficits during its period of near double-digit growth.
- ▪The author expresses disdain for the term 'export-led growth' as it misrepresents South Korea's economic strategy.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
South Korea facts of the day by Tyler Cowen May 17, 2026 at 12:01 am in Data Source Economics History When I was young, the South Korean model was generally lumped in with places like Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong as a case of “export-led growth”. Even in the early 1970s, South Korea was still poorer than the North. There was no consensus that East Asia would do better than Latin America (or indeed that America would do better than the Soviet Union.) I hate the term “export-led growth”, as on its face it would seem to imply that South Korea got rich by running trade surpluses. But exactly the opposite is true. During the three and a half decades of near double-digit growth (roughly 1963-97), Korea ran almost nonstop trade deficits, apart from a few years in the 1980s.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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