The Asian Tigers and more First World nations

Hendryk

Banned
Er slow down there sport I was thinking mainly along the line of post-WWII,
Aw too bad, I was going to suggest my TL as an example. But with a POD in 1912 it wouldn't qualify.

Beauty is in an eye of beholder, but I don't consider S. Korea or Singapore truly First World. Ask me again in 20 years, though...
South Korea and Singapore are First World by any reasonable definition of the term, whether your criterion is sheer GDP or the Human Development Index. There's nothing subjective about that.

Personally, I've been to both Vancouver and Singapore, and I can tell you that in terms of development, there isn't much to tell the two places apart. Well, maybe Singapore is cleaner.
 
No Cuban revolution might have helped out Latin America a bit in terms of stability, which couldn't hurt their development prospects.

For somewhat but I will say that No 1930 coup in Argentina and Brazil will helped out Latin America in terms of economic stability more. The economic and political instabilities of both countries plunged South America for fifty years only achieved permanent stability in the 1980s.
 

Typo

Banned
1. The KMT defeat the Communists in the Chinese civil war: It isn't that the KMT would be purely honest and noble stewards of China's public finances and economy, but rather that they'll not be closed off to the world for decades, and have an opportunity to get on the growth train much earlier. Regionally, parts of China would thus resemble OTL South Korea and Taiwan, even with much of the country lagging behind. Incidentally, there might well be only one Korea in this TL. A developed and open Chinese economy adds tremendous wealth to the world, offering vastly larger opportunities for trade, investment, and growth elsewhere thanks to the availability of Chinese investment and consumption.
This is basically OTL, also people tend to forget that KMT Taiwan and the PRC started their economic boom around the same period.
Uh-huh, one country in the world not trading with Cuba is the reason for all of Cuba's ills.
It absolutely is for -a lot- of it. Do consider that one country is the world's largest economy and Cuba's natural trading partner and something like 90% of the country's sugar and tobacco were sent to the US for instance. The whole Communism thing doesn't help, but neither does the embargo

Latin America is also huge, venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil all could have done better with more competent governments in charge, and who would have done something other than monetizing the economy as the response to all their problems.
 
1) Elections had been called for '76, and the coup occurred just three months before they were supposed to take place. Considering the disaster that was Isabel's government, she was not going to win the election, even with Peron's name attached to hers. A better POD I think would be to have the coup fail or just have it not even occur, and the elections go ahead as planned; having Balbin win in those elections (or Alfonsin), or even having a conservative elected so as to permanently stifle any coup plot would be better.

I agree on that, Isabel Peron would not made it beyond 1976 and I think she may not run on that election because she's too unpopular and too weak to govern. To save Justicialist Party from futher defeat, they will nominate Italo Luder to appease the conservative voters. I think Ricardo Balbin will be too old to run for presidency and he may give way to Raul Alfonsin. Alvaro Alsogaray also will run to spoil right-wing Peronist votes and may win the election and his election to presidency will stifle any coup plot forever and will liberalize the economy gradually.

2) The junta that toppled Isabel implemented policies nearly identical to hers, in fact, Lopez Rega was Minister of Economics for both governments, so if Isabel's presidency was extended further, the economy would probably have been ravaged in much the same way. I should also point out that the repressive policies of the junta were continuations of policies begun under Isabel as well (at the behest of Lopez Rega, truly one of the greatest bastards our country has ever known).
Ditto

3) If you're supposing Argentina remains democratic, Isabel wouldn't have made it to 1987, even if she'd won the special elections called for 76: the presidential term under the 1853 constitution lasted for 6 without the option of reelection (at least not immediately).
I agree and as I said, she may not run to save Juan Peron's name.

The best POD to make sure that Argentina is a first world nation today is earlier anyway, it would require either someone other than Yrigoyen winning the 1928 election, or the coup in 1930 not happening at all. That, or maybe Argentina joins the Commonwealth as a "Dominion of Honor" and benefits from the Ottawa treaty, instead of losing its largest trading partner...
Exactly, we need to have Leopoldo Melo gets the nomination in 1928 had Yrigoyen never runs or even dies earlier. Melo's presidency will butterfly away the 1930 coup and Peronism altogether.
 
A simple no 1st Word War TL where the 1st Globalisation is maintained accomplishes your goals. Containerisation will get invented at some point in the 30s and the entire off shoring trend will kick off, without the post war protectionism of OTL, bringing many more countries into the the 1st world.

I agree with that. Before WW1 the world trading system was largely dominated by Britain and they favoured open markets and Free trade. Under that system there were winners and losers but some Latin American countries had living standards better than the European average. Malaya, Hong Kong, Shanghai and parts of Southern Africa were developing rapidly.

After WW1 the loss of capital plus US insistence on being repaid war debts and their own protectionist policies damaged the global economy and IMO retarded the development of the 'third world' for generations.
 
Here's an idea the Philippines, if Magsaysay wins reelection. That, or Marcos doesn't do the stupid thing and declare martial law (AFAIC, Marcos as democratically-elected leader was much better at running things than Marcos the dictator). Of course, you'd need a successor government that would also be more willing to agree to liberalization of the economy (no, crony capitalism doesn't count).
 
Here's an idea the Philippines, if Magsaysay wins reelection. That, or Marcos doesn't do the stupid thing and declare martial law (AFAIC, Marcos as democratically-elected leader was much better at running things than Marcos the dictator). Of course, you'd need a successor government that would also be more willing to agree to liberalization of the economy (no, crony capitalism doesn't count).

Better POD is Marcos being killed in WWII then in Ilocos, the Ablans will still control Ilocos but not gaining national prominence. Then in 1965, Macapagal was reelected over Fernando Lopez of NP then Macapagal succeeds of amending the economic provisions of the constitution that allows foreigners to allow land and businesses, after that massive FDI flowed to the Philippines and by 2010, Philippines is a developed country in par with Korean per capita level today.
 
A surviving Ottoman empire would probably be a first world country. Not only that, but it's taking a leadership role in the anticolonial movement would probably lessen the socialist tendencies of newly independant countries- say India for example avoiding the influence of Fabian socialists and therefore avoiding the licensing Raj, in which case India would be more developed then China(though probably not a first world country yet, unless they seriously curtailed their birthrate).

The communist revolution not occurring makes a lot of Eastern Europe if not all of Eastern Europe first world countries.

Iraq was on the verge of being a first world country before Saddam screwed it up by going to war with Iran- say that the Iranian revolution is avoided(either by the Shah being less awful or being replaced by a palace coup) and Saddam would have avoided the Iranian invasion and no financial need for his later invasion of Kuwait. So Iraq would be first world fascist nuclear power:eek:

Iran could probably have been a first world country itself if not for the misrule of the Islamists, the war with Iraq and the hostility of America- they're pretty developed even now(a birthrate around 2, for example). Say that Americans and British refrain from reinstalling the Shah and so Iran remains a democracy under Mosaddegh.

Lebanon would be a first world country if not for it's civil war.
 
Better POD is Marcos being killed in WWII then in Ilocos, the Ablans will still control Ilocos but not gaining national prominence. Then in 1965, Macapagal was reelected over Fernando Lopez of NP then Macapagal succeeds of amending the economic provisions of the constitution that allows foreigners to allow land and businesses, after that massive FDI flowed to the Philippines and by 2010, Philippines is a developed country in par with Korean per capita level today.
Also, actual land reform would be necessary, of the land-to-the-tiller style. It would force more of the peasantry to the cities and essentially create an industrial proletariat, which would eventually evolve partly into a lower-middle class.
 
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