As a Swede who has been to Sri Lanka, I think one part that this video really missed is corruption. You can't understand a country like Sri Lanka without it
@@cfg_gg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajapaksa_family A single family gained the majority of political power in Sri Lanka and was rife with corruption, nepotism, incompetence, mismanagement, etc.
I am an Australian. I remember meeting a highly attractive female who said her husband was in politics in Sri Lanka. A few weeks later I meet an Australian who had been living in Sri Lanka. Straight away, without any hesitation, he said her husband would be corrupt.
What we are seeing global inflation. I saw it in the news that most countries are all competing for parts, products, food etc. Even nations that managed their rates better are seeing major issues. The glut of money was an issue sure, but the surging demand from nation that re-opened from covid lockdowns played a larger role. Add to this pandemic-related staffing issues, Russia-Ukraine Conflict and the intentional global oil supply problems and its a nightmare.
I think we need to stop softening the blow with the word “recession”. This is going to be a depression. 4 top economist agree on this. When the market reached high in mid 1930 it took until mid 1932 to reach the bottom. people can’t buy when they have no food, the trucks don’t have DEF to mix with the diesel to run (in all diesel trucks newer than 2009) No trucks-no food-no fertilizer.
@@hushbash2989 In order to reduce my overall risk profile. I diversify owning stocks from several different industries and risk profiles, as well as other investments such as bonds, commodities, and real estate. These various assets work together to reduce my risk of a permanent loss of capital and portfolio's overall volatility. Credit to my investment advisor Eleanor Annette Eckhaus..
Great share, I curiously web-searched the commended lady and found her exclusive site, she looks grade-A, I think I've come across her on Tv or somewhere before. insightful comments
@@somerelativleyuninterestin4763 I think OP is referring to the Masterworks sponsorships. Not sure about it being a scam but I don't really pay attention to sponsorships to begin with, let alone news about them.
The principal difference is that the loans going into Sri Lanka were *government* rather than private debt. If the debtor organizations had been private enterprises instead of the state, they would not have been able to engage in the massive devaluation which is crushing the country's economy and power to purchase imports. For one thing, much of those government loans were supplied by other governments, not financial experts with a fiduciary stake in the debtor's ability to pay back the money. For another, until the crisis shows up, it's often difficult to evaluate the risk, resliency, and leverage of a state, as compared to a business. And finally, there's a great deal of evidence to suggest that the way the loans were spent was on graft, as opposed to a functioning enterprise which has the possiblity to yield returns. Sri Lanka's current plight certainly presents lessons to developing economies, but I don't think those lessons include "someone always has to be poor". Rather, it appears to be a more prosaic lesson about fiscally responsible governance, something that even huge economies like China and the United States would do well to hearken to.
While I don’t deny that the government debt load caused massive problems *in Sri Lanka*, I don’t think the same rule applies to all major economies. Sri Lanka doesn’t have a floating currency. Instead their currency is managed through reserves of US dollars, which means they don’t have the ability to print their own money to pay their debts. As the US dollar rises, the Sri Lanka Rupee loses value, which makes it harder for them to pay their debts. They definitely overspent in some useless areas, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume that corporations don’t make the same fruitless investments. Thousands of private businesses fail every year, and many of them fail because they get out over their skis with debt. The ones that do manage to succeed do so because they keep their finances in check, but any company with a global market lives with perpetual debt. For example, Apple borrowed billions before the interest rates started rising. They have to do this in order to maintain an edge in a tense global competition for customers. Nobody looks at Apple’s decision and says they’re doomed because they’ve taken on massive leverage. Therefore “keeping your finances in check” simply means spending in ways that allow you to continue paying your debt in the future. It doesn’t mean reducing debt and keeping your business in the black at all times. That’s perfectly fine for a local mom-and-pop store, but you’ll never stand out on the global stage with that idea. You just simply won’t have the operating capital to succeed.
@@TheCommonS3Nse If apple collapses, it only affects apple. If sri lanka government collapses it affects every sri lankan even though they had little to no influence. Government taking loans is horrible. The people who will suffer, average citizens, are not the ones making the decisions. While the people who benefit, are politicians. Its horrible.
@@sharp7j If Apple collapses it would cause massive issues throughout the economy. All the people that Apple employs would be thrust onto government programs, driving up government debt even further. They would lose their houses which would tank the local real estate market. The drop in stock value would cause many other stock portfolios and investment funds to devalue. All of the companies that supply Apple would also go out of business, which would cause the same problems in their spheres of influence. The failure of Apple wouldn't just impact Apple. If you actually look at the stats throughout history, austerity has caused far more human suffering than government debt ever has. The economist Mark Blyth has done a lot of work exploring this issue. I'm not saying that MMT is correct and governments can spend an endless amount of money. They can't. Even the ones with floating currencies still have to contend with inflation. As the Economist Abba Lerner said, "you don't measure spending by it's costs, you measure it by it's effects." In other words, how much money you borrow matters far less than where that money is spent.
Its corrupt & incompetent leaders and corrupted government institutions who probably didn’t listen to actual experts. If not for this fact, what you said wouldn’t may be have been such a huge issue.
Small recommendation - How about adding the year (and maybe also month) with the country on leadership board? Considering that the conditions of economies are changing so quickly this decade.
2023 is going to be a massive year for this channel. Explaining all the batshit crazy economic crises that will occur this year will be crucial to understanding how we got here, what we need to learn from these economic challenges, and what policies can help to improve the strength and stability of regional economies and the global economy at large.
@@EconomicsExplained I’ve been watching your videos for years and I just wanted to thank you for all the content. You provide high quality videos explaining complex topics that economics students are learning free of charge. Thank you for providing this incredible service.
@@EconomicsExplained have you read 10 Megathreats by noriel roubini? I would recommend that you do if you haven’t. If you have, are you planning on making a video about Roubinis analysis?
I think it would have been important to mention, that much of the missmanagement of investment and the economy as a whole stemmed from widespread corruption in the government, because the government (in particular the family of the prime minister who controlled many roles inside it) wanted to directly benefit from investments and growth and therefore mostly invested money in senseless projects for example the 100000th highway so that friends and family could win the contracts from the government and by that make money off the countries and investors back.
Exactly! I think this YTber thinks he "invented" some new concept of economics by claiming "not all cournites can be rich" by completely misunderstanding everything in regards to this economic case. This whole video is jumbled mess of confusion.
@@Metal0sopher he used to have really cool videos but quality has seriously dropped in the past year =/ I think he doesn't spend as much time researching and covering more bases on each topic to make more videos.
These mistakes won't ever be learned. There are some states in India... Like my state, Andhra Pradesh, whose governments just borrow everything like crazy and give free stuff to the people so that they can secure a seat next term. Luckily, or unluckily, the state of Andhra Pradesh is a part of the Indian union so there is some illusion of a safety net for the region's leaders to spend on a whim. But if Andhra Pradesh were a separate country, it would be far far more disastrous than Sri Lanka.. who knows, we might see a video in the future about this and still no one would learn from their mistakes.
Most Indian states are heavily indebted, even Punjab where the Green Revolution occurred. However, the US wants to use India against China the way it used Ukraine against Russia and so the Western press will continue to talk up India and its economy.
@P A India has played the geopolitical chess game very well in Ukraine, but you're missing my point. Why are you so pessimistic about the Eastern Hemisphere?
@@jimbocho660 Because way too many births. 2.1 children per woman made sense before computers but now just means you're unlucky to live in a place where houses are unaffordable. China's forcing because of a past policy. And not saying India should repeat the 80's sterilization, but those two unbalanced age pyramids represent the majority of "the East". Both are horrible.
@pa3465 if that was your first listening of Peter zeihan I recommend you listen more and stop stretching his take on China to reflect the eastern hemisphere as a whole..Indian subcontinent does not suffer the same demographic issues as China.
As a Sri Lankan I can say this is a very well documented analysis without any bias or prejudice. Another thing I want to add that is not covered in here is the political instability and corruption and nepotism which are other big reasons as to why Sri Lanka is suffering
As a Sri Lankan that's lived here my entire life mad appreciation for making this video and explaining things so clearly, never thought I'd see us here!
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. +++..+
Sri Lanka deserves this. 🤣 A racist black short people country. Also poorest country. Bankrupt and beggar. 🤣 🇮🇳We will give them money as donation because we help beggar. 🤣
Please make a video about the loadshedding crisis in South Africa and its economic effects. The whole country is plunged into darkness for 8-12 hours every day, and it's absolutely wreaking havoc on businesses, public utilities, schools, and homes.
I'm currently in my last year of highschool and it's frightening because each time I'm seeing something at school, your videos are on talking about the same thing we're studying, sometimes more in depth, sometimes not. It's really nice because I get study cases/examples for my exams and i grasp around the concepts more easily.
That portion on infrastructure investment/development for developing countries is so true. It's the same thing that has happened to my country, Nigeria. Our president, buhari, and the ruling APC government focuses more on debt financing to build "legacy projects" like roads, bridges, buildings etc without actually improving the systems and economic structure and bolstering the private sector to generate jobs and use this infrastructure well, as our previous right-leaning government did. The result has been increased inflation, reduced living standards, increased debt, poorly funded and incomplete infrastructure projects. Basically my country is experiencing many of the terrible decisions that crippled Sri Lanka.
I am sorry but I disagree. Nigeria have a huge infrastructure challenge and there isn’t any problem with building these infrastructures which could help the economy grow. Nigeria doesn’t have anything to do with Sri Lanka.
I don't think the infrastructure in Nigeria was anywhere near developed like Srilanka. Srilanka could have survived without the added development, not sure Nigeria could, especially considering the population differences.
@@endxofxeternity friend, did you actually read my comment at all? I highlighted how the short-sighted economic policies that Sri Lankan government pursued in hopes of drumming up economic growth (i.e. heavy debt financing of infrastructure projects without proper focus or improving the economic systems and institutions to facilitate economic growth first) are similar to what my country has been doing. Why do you think I said Nigeria and Sri Lanka are the same?
@@jaybee4577 there is a problem if a government only focuses on heavy debt financing and taking on several long-term infrastructure projects at once without considering the impact on inflation, standards of living, capital investment, national debt, and negative impacts on private sector. The governments of Sri Lanka and my country, Nigeria, clearly didn't properly think this through, especially for unforeseen circumstances like COVID and the war in Ukraine.
@@orboakin8074 Which specific infrastructure projects do you have a problem with? Nigeria using debt to build infrastructure is not a problem since it will be beneficial for the economy as a whole. There was debt before Buhari came into power and there was 0 infrastructure to show for it. Nigeria had an oil boom after the return to democracy 1999 and most of the money was looted. We hear about billions of dollars disappearing from government accounts under PDP and poverty was growing. They lied about poverty rate and unemployment figures and refused to allow Dangote to build a refinery that could actually help stabilize the Nigerian economy. Insecurity, sharia laws, BOKO haram all started under pdp. I don’t know why Nigerians act blind to these existing problems. Before PDP left office in 2015, they said the next administration will have many issues to deal with because they know they have messed up. Go do your research and see how mismanaged the economy was under pdp despite the oil booms Nigeria had. You can criticize Buhari and APC all you want but PDP shouldn’t be allowed into Aso rock again. Nigerians are not being rational but emotional when it comes to governance and politics. Go take a look at oil revenues, infrastructure development, poverty rate, total population, hdi increase by states. Compare both administrations and make your final judgement. Note I said total population because Nigeria have added more than 50 million people under Buhari alone.
My previous job definitely used Sri Lanka for outsourcing. Our crew in Colombo was great - was sad to see the country tearing itself apart, hope they all managed to stay safe.
the old Sri Lankan president had good intentions on agriculture. Having your food supply dependent on fertilizers controlled by only a few companies that can produce the fertilizer is a bad long term game plan. Organic is much better, yes it will be hard transition, but is better in the long term. Using pesticides and fertilizers to artificially prop up food production leads to population increase which requires more food, and you eventually back yourself into a corners where these companies have leverage over your food supply then they can control your nation. Fertilizers and pesticides are like a drug, its good while on it, hard to get off, but you cant stay on it for ever.
@@pluto8404 I think a lot of the farmers were pro going organic, but the complaint and failure was to execute it in what seemed to be over night, no one could manage the shock. So you are right, but unfortunately a good idea can have bad execution.
@@pluto8404 Fertilizer is one of the main reasons the world barely have famines anymore. And you want us to go back to those days? lol. Banning fertilizer was a terrible idea period.
We actually can do this for that we have to privatize some SOE s , Reduce the head count of State employees and we really need to give power to another political party as the current main parties are filled with corrupted politicians..
My biggest takeaway from this video is the danger of investing solely in non-tradeable assets. Had SR balanced its real infrastructure dev with some export-heavy businesses, they would have been able to generate funds to repay their debts.
Very well explained than other media which blindly blames Srilanka government on its collapse IT IS PARTLY FAILURE OF PEOPLE TOO... Industries are the backbone for a country to develop... It can be private or public. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE MORE PRIVATE INDUSTRIES THAN PUBLIC. Srilanka people are never business minded and just rely on government for jobs. Then who will build industries and give Jobs to people? They think government should give jobs too... That's where the problem comes from
God I love this channel, no BS, no click bait, no exaggerations to generate "clicks". Just real, honest, relatable, understandable information. THANK YOU!
@@jimbocho660 I liked when he ended the WEF video by saying "anyway don't worry about it, they're just harmless billionaires and state leaders passing the time by having a book club haha"
It's so cool to see the material I learned last semester in International Finance be applied to yet another Financial Crisis. Props to EE for boiling it down to the basics 🙌
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. ++.+++.++.
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. +.+.+.+.
In the chapter "Limits To Development" - I find it a bold leap from the case study of Sri Lanka to declaring the world simply doesn't have enough resources to allow all economies to become advanced. While that may be true given the current definition of those terms, we cannot predict what future economic activities, and definitions of economic success, may become. Certainly in recent years all the basic tenets of capitalism have been subject to re-evaluation, with respect to the well-being of individual agents in an economy.
It’s obviously unsupported and contrary to all we know about economics. If this were true then the earth population would have capped during the Middle Ages when all the wealth was held by a few kings and rulers and the vast majority of the population were serfs, slaves and desperate poors. Weird to see such an economic myth being pushed on economics explained.
23 But what does mankind want to prove to God? What do evangelical churches want to prove to God? That the woman that God minimizes is capable of many things? That woman is as efficient and intelligent as man? That a woman as priest, evangelist, apostle, pastor or song leader could have achieved her mission better than any man? She certainly can! But we, children of God, we oppose that, not by contempt or that she would be incapable in the eyes of men but because God did not give her to do it. [Ed: The congregation says, “Amen!”]. Let’s read 1 Timothy 2:11-12 after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: "... Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection; but I do not suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over man, but to be in quietness;" You see? If God has to enter in a church led by a woman, that woman must be thrown out, the pulpit must be thrown out and the church must be washed. Why? Because it is a cursed church. [Ed: The congregation says, “Amen!”]. God has never given to a woman to be a priest and no man of God can give this place to a woman. Philippekacou.org
I’ve been watching your videos for years and seeing my country in the context of your videos actually put things in perspective. We are at rock bottom but will rebuild stronger and in a more resilient way. 💪
Thank you for sharing another great video. As a Sri Lankan, I am thankful to you for making this video. I am sharing this to every Sri Lankan I know to educate them on what went wrong.One more thing I would like to point out that was not highlighted in your video is that the huge amount of money poured in to maintaining the welfare system in Sri Lanka. Politicians used this to gain and maintain their political power and majority of the public approved that. As a result, Now we all are suffering as the government cannot supply that no longer and people are so used to that they cannot sustain their life style without that. What happened to Sri Lanka is a good example to other countries that are heading in the same direction.
Glad to hear the things you talk about in the intro. I don't trust any economist who's unwilling or incapable of recognizing that. If you think there's a sure formula to development, you're saying that poor countries are necesssarily to blame, which is objectively wrong. This is one reason; there are many others.
When the bell tells me you have uploaded, I scroll my homepage until I spot your videos so I can contribute to your click through rate. More people need quality economic information sources. ❤️
Sri Lanka has been an excellent case study of how not to run an economy. The point you made about not every developing country transitioning into a developed one, really opened my eyes. Gotta admit that Sri Lanka is one of them forever underdeveloped countries, unless a miracle happens.
@@chamchamz98 sure the right for tamils to have self determination. at that point you don't have worry about 15% of the population and what they do on their own land and can focus on yours and not controlling us.
@@GrokEight you mean just giving away our land to an ethnic group comprising of only 10% of the country for no reason at all. And that’s supposed to help the economy? What an incredible take right there
@@ashandesilva9455 Not giving lol. that land was always ours. no the acknowledgement of eelam tamil self determination. and it's more closer to 15% then 10%. Give the land back, and your country will grow. plain and simple
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. +.++.
This video was really good and it helped understand situation in Shri Lanka a lot better. It's really crazy how couple mistakes can affect whole country. I also stumbled on a fact that there was terrorist attack last year in Shri Lanka which added to the bad situation about tourism which they heavily dependent on. Would also love to see in future video about Serbia since we are one county in developing and would love to see how far on your scale we would be
great video as always. would love to see a video about some of the counties in the middle east - Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia Algiers, ... to see where they rank in the world leader board.
Honestly surprised that the food shortage sparked by Vadana Shiva barely got a mention. As someone who knows a few people living in Sri Lanka, on the ground this is seen as a much larger issue
@@sojourner99 Yeah that's why I say it "barely got a mention". It was a substantial factor in the daily lives of everyone, and likely one of the largest economic factors, and yet it is merely included as a small aside.
@@funtechu hmm he says the government barely had a choice as they couldn't afford the fertilizers they needed, so they masked it as recommending 'organic' food instead
>be me >starts watching this channel a while back >"man I wish my country would be featured here one day" >my country's economy collapse : ( >economics explained finally feature my country in a video on how some countries will never become developed advance economies >pain ಥ‿ಥ
To be honest. I believe the opposite. All countries can become advanced economies. It just cannot be quick and easy, it cannot depend on debt. And it cannot be done blindly copying others. What I do believe though is that economic hardships are inescapable for economies that are growing fast. Japan, Ireland, ASEAN states, Sri Lanka, Turkey and many others come to mind. Up until now, there has been absolutely no economy that grew fast forever.
I think it is very interesting that chronic and consistent governmental corruption at the highest levels has failed to be mentioned…it’s a huge exacerbating factor
Please do South Africa?? It would be perfect timing seeing as we're just about start going insane due to the absolute economic catastrophe that is going on
Nothing about this seems inevitable. Seems like dumb luck meets mismanagement. You didn't really support your central idea that "there's only so much room at the top". You brought up loans vs. investment, but not why no further countries can get foreign investment to escape the middle-income trap. Actually, I don't think you even brought up the middle-income trap which would be a much better argument to support your thesis.
There are a number of countries that will have to rebuild their economies from the ground up. Sri Lanka joins Venezuela and Cuba in this club. Unfortunately the leadership in all of them is awful so step one would be a new government.
Why are economies so fragile ? Things going great , a few mistakes and suddenly the whole thing collapses. Perhaps larger economies grow slowly but are far more robust.
Just ask yourself how easy it is to smash ceramic vase to peaces vs the hours put into making it. Same goes for economies, its hard to create, easy to destroy.
Economics is like the weather: even the experts don't know how it actually works. They might know how it has worked, but every prediction is at best to a leap of faith. So, if not even the experts can get it right most of the time, imagine all the other people who _aren't_ experts at all and then think of all that other people that, simply being more numerous, end up in charge of entire countries and enterprises...
The notion of that not all of developing countries can prosper and come on par with the developed world is interesting. This is something that Robert Lucas talked about in the 90s. Basically he said that "that capital does not flow from developed countries to developing countries despite the fact that developing countries have lower levels of capital per worker". Hence we call it a Lucas Paradox
I would like to point out an editing mistake at 4:23 , the title of the chart says 'Oil reserves by country', but is showing the literacy rates instead, The title is wrong.
@EconomicsExplained can you please add a few more seconds to the end of your videos, or bring up the leaderboard a bit earlier, they mostly get blocked on the screen by the suggested videos.
I hope you talk about the egypt currency crisis ,it is very similar to the situation sri lanke going through ,especially in infrastructure projects financed with debt i hope it will not lead to the same fate as sri lanka
Sri Lanka can be excused for wanting to RAPIDLY install modern infrastructure two decades ago. I was there in 1980 and everything was in decay. Shortly afterwards, civil war broke out. Maybe they tried to do too much, too quickly. I think they will recover and, hopefully, become a prosperous nation.
Would like to point out countries in the West increased their wealth by Looting and Exploiting their colonies which also in turn funded their Industrialization.
The admission that not every individual can get rich is at the heart of what I see as a problem in our economic systems. If only a few CAN achieve the top, then it's not equitable to allow any to hold that position. The fact that it must be a pyramid built on the lower levels in an admission that it is exploitative.
EE made a good point about foreign aid being mostly food & goods instead of money because governments often waste it. However I think it would be an amazing video to look at direct cash transfers to people in the poorest countries versus the governments of those countries. Guaranteed income is looking (take GiveDirectly for example) to be a finally more cost-effective way to help people get what they need. Oftentimes current aid damages local food production and is not particularly effective.
@@Doo_Doo_Patrol I feel compelled to let you know that cash transfer experiments to date have led to more & better employment on average. The only people that work less are students and new mothers. Also, consider homeless people. I have a few friends who are homeless who would love to work, but can't because jobs require housing addresses, clean clothes, and it's difficult to work when you're forced to sleep on the streets. Money, UBI or not, would empower them to get back on their feet.
@@Croz89 It's possible, but every experiment so far has caused no noticable inflation. It's also possible that having more cash would empower consumers to seek lower prices (cook at home vs get fast food, or have more time to shop around for example). UBI most certainly would have inflationary & deflationary effects, but no comprehensive studies have been done yet.
@@michae1simm It's a question of available supply. In an economy with poor industry, infrastructure and supply chains, giving the locals a bunch of cash will just make prices rise. The money in that case would be better spent on industry and infrastructure, roads, electrical grids, water supplies etc, which would lower the price of goods by making them cheaper to produce and transport.
The real problem was predatory lending. The sane thing that’s happened to toys r is you’re profitable but they make ur interest payments near impossible to pay.
To be fair, if Sri Lanka had something similar to what Taiwan (1), then I think they could've had it far better right now. P.S.1 I mean TSMC here, but Sri Lanka's facility doesn't have to be capable of making complex stuff, instead they could be printing Arduino and Raspberry Pi tier stuff as well as 200nm microcontrollers and other "bulk" microelectronics, it's always in high demand, like that's why your car could have Russian-made microchip, situation was so bad that at some point Russia got contract just by bring able to deliver first shipment of microcontrollers twice as fast compared to TSMC (6 months vs full year), it happened in 2020-21-ish. Yes I know Arduino is quite obsolete microcontroller today, but it's easy to manufacture, is quite pricey (2) and extremely popular as "starter kit" for people who want to make their own devices like mp3 players etc. Oh yeah and it's open source architecture, meaning you only need to pay for license, if at all. P.S.2 on AliExpress it's even more expensive than better alternatives like... B32? E32? Something like that, basically a 2-core CPU on a board, super epic stuff compared to *the* "Arduino"
Sri Lanka was once on the right path but because of their government's obsession with race and correcting the "wrongs" of the past, they never made it. They should have recognised the fact that the country is ethnically diverse and made use of that instead of trying to homogenise it.
4:20 - talking about the "greatest natural resource - people" and its well developed education system, while showing a table with heading "Oil reserves"
Good video as always, but as always you failed to address a question that you put in the video. "Can all countries be rich". You didn't really explain that point detail which I would like. I notice that happens in a lot of EE video's where you ask a question, but never answer it. Other than that really impressed with the detail. Would have loved something to be mentioned about the genocide in the country committed by the government.
I find lately the only way for a developing economy to grow is simply investing in media production and tech simply from the amount of leverage you get from the two industries but that's easier said than done
As a Swede who has been to Sri Lanka, I think one part that this video really missed is corruption. You can't understand a country like Sri Lanka without it
Wdym?
@@cfg_gg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajapaksa_family
A single family gained the majority of political power in Sri Lanka and was rife with corruption, nepotism, incompetence, mismanagement, etc.
@@xuvial1391 I know I am a sri lankan 😂, I just asked what did he mean
Yes correct politicians commissions part of debt
I am an Australian. I remember meeting a highly attractive female who said her husband was in politics in Sri Lanka. A few weeks later I meet an Australian who had been living in Sri Lanka. Straight away, without any hesitation, he said her husband would be corrupt.
What we are seeing global inflation. I saw it in the news that most countries are all competing for parts, products, food etc. Even nations that managed their rates better are seeing major issues. The glut of money was an issue sure, but the surging demand from nation that re-opened from covid lockdowns played a larger role. Add to this pandemic-related staffing issues, Russia-Ukraine Conflict and the intentional global oil supply problems and its a nightmare.
I think we need to stop softening the blow with the word “recession”. This is going to be a depression. 4 top economist agree on this. When the market reached high in mid 1930 it took until mid 1932 to reach the bottom. people can’t buy when they have no food, the trucks don’t have DEF to mix with the diesel to run (in all diesel trucks newer than 2009) No trucks-no food-no fertilizer.
@@hushbash2989 In order to reduce my overall risk profile. I diversify owning stocks from several different industries and risk profiles, as well as other investments such as bonds, commodities, and real estate. These various assets work together to reduce my risk of a permanent loss of capital and portfolio's overall volatility. Credit to my investment advisor Eleanor Annette Eckhaus..
Great share, I curiously web-searched the commended lady and found her exclusive site, she looks grade-A, I think I've come across her on Tv or somewhere before. insightful comments
It's not a conflict. It's war.
@@africanboi4542 why do you need fertilizer so much 🤔 i live in the Mediterranean coast, we buy from the farmers
Every video when EE doesn't peddle a fine art scam is a W in my book.
Ayo what
@@somerelativleyuninterestin4763 I think OP is referring to the Masterworks sponsorships. Not sure about it being a scam but I don't really pay attention to sponsorships to begin with, let alone news about them.
Do you really care about what UA-camrs market? It is clear that it is an ad, so you skip it and put no weight in that opinion
Gotta cover expenses. Idk if I would call masterworks a scam any more than most ads
Is it a scam?
The principal difference is that the loans going into Sri Lanka were *government* rather than private debt. If the debtor organizations had been private enterprises instead of the state, they would not have been able to engage in the massive devaluation which is crushing the country's economy and power to purchase imports. For one thing, much of those government loans were supplied by other governments, not financial experts with a fiduciary stake in the debtor's ability to pay back the money. For another, until the crisis shows up, it's often difficult to evaluate the risk, resliency, and leverage of a state, as compared to a business. And finally, there's a great deal of evidence to suggest that the way the loans were spent was on graft, as opposed to a functioning enterprise which has the possiblity to yield returns.
Sri Lanka's current plight certainly presents lessons to developing economies, but I don't think those lessons include "someone always has to be poor". Rather, it appears to be a more prosaic lesson about fiscally responsible governance, something that even huge economies like China and the United States would do well to hearken to.
While I don’t deny that the government debt load caused massive problems *in Sri Lanka*, I don’t think the same rule applies to all major economies. Sri Lanka doesn’t have a floating currency. Instead their currency is managed through reserves of US dollars, which means they don’t have the ability to print their own money to pay their debts. As the US dollar rises, the Sri Lanka Rupee loses value, which makes it harder for them to pay their debts.
They definitely overspent in some useless areas, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume that corporations don’t make the same fruitless investments. Thousands of private businesses fail every year, and many of them fail because they get out over their skis with debt. The ones that do manage to succeed do so because they keep their finances in check, but any company with a global market lives with perpetual debt. For example, Apple borrowed billions before the interest rates started rising. They have to do this in order to maintain an edge in a tense global competition for customers. Nobody looks at Apple’s decision and says they’re doomed because they’ve taken on massive leverage. Therefore “keeping your finances in check” simply means spending in ways that allow you to continue paying your debt in the future. It doesn’t mean reducing debt and keeping your business in the black at all times. That’s perfectly fine for a local mom-and-pop store, but you’ll never stand out on the global stage with that idea. You just simply won’t have the operating capital to succeed.
@@TheCommonS3Nse If apple collapses, it only affects apple. If sri lanka government collapses it affects every sri lankan even though they had little to no influence.
Government taking loans is horrible. The people who will suffer, average citizens, are not the ones making the decisions. While the people who benefit, are politicians. Its horrible.
@@sharp7j
If Apple collapses it would cause massive issues throughout the economy. All the people that Apple employs would be thrust onto government programs, driving up government debt even further. They would lose their houses which would tank the local real estate market. The drop in stock value would cause many other stock portfolios and investment funds to devalue. All of the companies that supply Apple would also go out of business, which would cause the same problems in their spheres of influence. The failure of Apple wouldn't just impact Apple.
If you actually look at the stats throughout history, austerity has caused far more human suffering than government debt ever has. The economist Mark Blyth has done a lot of work exploring this issue.
I'm not saying that MMT is correct and governments can spend an endless amount of money. They can't. Even the ones with floating currencies still have to contend with inflation.
As the Economist Abba Lerner said, "you don't measure spending by it's costs, you measure it by it's effects." In other words, how much money you borrow matters far less than where that money is spent.
Apple has massive cash reserves due to prior profits. This gives them a lot of breathing room.
Its corrupt & incompetent leaders and corrupted government institutions who probably didn’t listen to actual experts. If not for this fact, what you said wouldn’t may be have been such a huge issue.
Small recommendation - How about adding the year (and maybe also month) with the country on leadership board? Considering that the conditions of economies are changing so quickly this decade.
This will also enable shifts in rankings over time, and you ll have opportunity to generate more of such amazing content! :)
Thanks - we'll take it into consideration! ;)
Comparing pre-2020 countries to post-2022 countries is like comparing apples to sneakers.
@@badluck5647Sounds like a good compare and contrast video idea
Good idea
An updated episode is warranted for Sri Lanka as things have seemingly transformed since the crisis in 2021-2023. Looking forward to the update!
2023 is going to be a massive year for this channel. Explaining all the batshit crazy economic crises that will occur this year will be crucial to understanding how we got here, what we need to learn from these economic challenges, and what policies can help to improve the strength and stability of regional economies and the global economy at large.
Definitely!
@@EconomicsExplained I’ve been watching your videos for years and I just wanted to thank you for all the content. You provide high quality videos explaining complex topics that economics students are learning free of charge. Thank you for providing this incredible service.
@@EconomicsExplained have you read 10 Megathreats by noriel roubini? I would recommend that you do if you haven’t. If you have, are you planning on making a video about Roubinis analysis?
How so? How are the 88% of the global human population to suffer?
not too much to talk about really... unlimited money printing & debt as far as the eye can see = bad ending
I think it would have been important to mention, that much of the missmanagement of investment and the economy as a whole stemmed from widespread corruption in the government, because the government (in particular the family of the prime minister who controlled many roles inside it) wanted to directly benefit from investments and growth and therefore mostly invested money in senseless projects for example the 100000th highway so that friends and family could win the contracts from the government and by that make money off the countries and investors back.
Exactly! I think this YTber thinks he "invented" some new concept of economics by claiming "not all cournites can be rich" by completely misunderstanding everything in regards to this economic case. This whole video is jumbled mess of confusion.
Also how they took Cheap Chinese loan only to end up giving them control of their major port for 100yrs
@@Metal0sopher he used to have really cool videos but quality has seriously dropped in the past year =/ I think he doesn't spend as much time researching and covering more bases on each topic to make more videos.
@@Metal0sopher hurt your feelings did it? Hilarious
@johnthompson5333 unless you have the reserve currency. Then print all you want. Tanking the rest of the world at the same time
Sri Lanka and Brazil have the most literate oil reserves I've ever seen.
I'm just pointing out a mistake on the graph at that time in the video in a snarky way.
@@golf7078 Nah bro he proved his point by not reading the full sentence.
We don't have oil
had to do a double take when I saw that just now
🙄Most claimed literacy rates of above 80% to 85% have a substantial oleaginous component, supported by an oleaginously serpentine methodology.
These mistakes won't ever be learned. There are some states in India... Like my state, Andhra Pradesh, whose governments just borrow everything like crazy and give free stuff to the people so that they can secure a seat next term.
Luckily, or unluckily, the state of Andhra Pradesh is a part of the Indian union so there is some illusion of a safety net for the region's leaders to spend on a whim. But if Andhra Pradesh were a separate country, it would be far far more disastrous than Sri Lanka.. who knows, we might see a video in the future about this and still no one would learn from their mistakes.
Most Indian states are heavily indebted, even Punjab where the Green Revolution occurred. However, the US wants to use India against China the way it used Ukraine against Russia and so the Western press will continue to talk up India and its economy.
@P A India has played the geopolitical chess game very well in Ukraine, but you're missing my point. Why are you so pessimistic about the Eastern Hemisphere?
@@jimbocho660 Because way too many births. 2.1 children per woman made sense before computers but now just means you're unlucky to live in a place where houses are unaffordable. China's forcing because of a past policy. And not saying India should repeat the 80's sterilization, but those two unbalanced age pyramids represent the majority of "the East". Both are horrible.
Same here in the UK.
@pa3465 if that was your first listening of Peter zeihan I recommend you listen more and stop stretching his take on China to reflect the eastern hemisphere as a whole..Indian subcontinent does not suffer the same demographic issues as China.
As a Sri Lankan I can say this is a
very well documented analysis without any bias or prejudice. Another thing I want to add that is not covered in here is the political instability and corruption and nepotism which are other big reasons as to why Sri Lanka is suffering
As a Sri Lankan that's lived here my entire life mad appreciation for making this video and explaining things so clearly, never thought I'd see us here!
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. +++..+
Sri Lanka deserves this. 🤣 A racist black short people country. Also poorest country. Bankrupt and beggar. 🤣 🇮🇳We will give them money as donation because we help beggar. 🤣
Should probably take all the assets of the ruling family and their cohorts since they cause this all.
How do you survive??
Sri Lankans are very nice people and very resilient. I'm sure with the learnings, they will only grow. Love from India 🇮🇳
They betrayed India number of times. I don't think they will ever learn.
Stop loving them .they are golddiggers
#deathtostinkyIndia. India will never be a rich country.
They are not nice . They kill alot of Indian people.
Hi
Please make a video about the loadshedding crisis in South Africa and its economic effects. The whole country is plunged into darkness for 8-12 hours every day, and it's absolutely wreaking havoc on businesses, public utilities, schools, and homes.
Same here in Sri Lanka man.
surprised that no one pointed out 4:26 titled "'Oil reserves by country""
Oil: The only metric that matters
Of course it is needed to look at oil rich nations when talking about education. 4:27
The human body does technically contain oils. Drill baby drill!
You did 😛
@@mranthem that is why oil is called fossil fuels
I'm currently in my last year of highschool and it's frightening because each time I'm seeing something at school, your videos are on talking about the same thing we're studying, sometimes more in depth, sometimes not. It's really nice because I get study cases/examples for my exams and i grasp around the concepts more easily.
Obviously EE is one of your classmates.
@@paradoxicallyexcellent5138 or maybe he's EE, with split personality ;)
That portion on infrastructure investment/development for developing countries is so true. It's the same thing that has happened to my country, Nigeria. Our president, buhari, and the ruling APC government focuses more on debt financing to build "legacy projects" like roads, bridges, buildings etc without actually improving the systems and economic structure and bolstering the private sector to generate jobs and use this infrastructure well, as our previous right-leaning government did. The result has been increased inflation, reduced living standards, increased debt, poorly funded and incomplete infrastructure projects. Basically my country is experiencing many of the terrible decisions that crippled Sri Lanka.
I am sorry but I disagree. Nigeria have a huge infrastructure challenge and there isn’t any problem with building these infrastructures which could help the economy grow. Nigeria doesn’t have anything to do with Sri Lanka.
I don't think the infrastructure in Nigeria was anywhere near developed like Srilanka. Srilanka could have survived without the added development, not sure Nigeria could, especially considering the population differences.
@@endxofxeternity friend, did you actually read my comment at all? I highlighted how the short-sighted economic policies that Sri Lankan government pursued in hopes of drumming up economic growth (i.e. heavy debt financing of infrastructure projects without proper focus or improving the economic systems and institutions to facilitate economic growth first) are similar to what my country has been doing. Why do you think I said Nigeria and Sri Lanka are the same?
@@jaybee4577 there is a problem if a government only focuses on heavy debt financing and taking on several long-term infrastructure projects at once without considering the impact on inflation, standards of living, capital investment, national debt, and negative impacts on private sector. The governments of Sri Lanka and my country, Nigeria, clearly didn't properly think this through, especially for unforeseen circumstances like COVID and the war in Ukraine.
@@orboakin8074 Which specific infrastructure projects do you have a problem with? Nigeria using debt to build infrastructure is not a problem since it will be beneficial for the economy as a whole. There was debt before Buhari came into power and there was 0 infrastructure to show for it. Nigeria had an oil boom after the return to democracy 1999 and most of the money was looted. We hear about billions of dollars disappearing from government accounts under PDP and poverty was growing. They lied about poverty rate and unemployment figures and refused to allow Dangote to build a refinery that could actually help stabilize the Nigerian economy. Insecurity, sharia laws, BOKO haram all started under pdp.
I don’t know why Nigerians act blind to these existing problems. Before PDP left office in 2015, they said the next administration will have many issues to deal with because they know they have messed up. Go do your research and see how mismanaged the economy was under pdp despite the oil booms Nigeria had. You can criticize Buhari and APC all you want but PDP shouldn’t be allowed into Aso rock again. Nigerians are not being rational but emotional when it comes to governance and politics. Go take a look at oil revenues, infrastructure development, poverty rate, total population, hdi increase by states. Compare both administrations and make your final judgement. Note I said total population because Nigeria have added more than 50 million people under Buhari alone.
My previous job definitely used Sri Lanka for outsourcing. Our crew in Colombo was great - was sad to see the country tearing itself apart, hope they all managed to stay safe.
Lies again? Serie A Leader Fly Emirates
In the first and also from Sri Lanka! Thank you for making this! WE ARE FINALLY ON A LEADERBOARD!
Machan, i felt the same way. I thought we'd get a 1, lol
that doesn't have anything to do with cricket.
the old Sri Lankan president had good intentions on agriculture. Having your food supply dependent on fertilizers controlled by only a few companies that can produce the fertilizer is a bad long term game plan. Organic is much better, yes it will be hard transition, but is better in the long term. Using pesticides and fertilizers to artificially prop up food production leads to population increase which requires more food, and you eventually back yourself into a corners where these companies have leverage over your food supply then they can control your nation. Fertilizers and pesticides are like a drug, its good while on it, hard to get off, but you cant stay on it for ever.
@@pluto8404 I think a lot of the farmers were pro going organic, but the complaint and failure was to execute it in what seemed to be over night, no one could manage the shock. So you are right, but unfortunately a good idea can have bad execution.
@@pluto8404 Fertilizer is one of the main reasons the world barely have famines anymore. And you want us to go back to those days? lol. Banning fertilizer was a terrible idea period.
Idk why i think Sri Lanka will make a turn around in Future and will be an inspirational comeback story 🤞
We actually can do this for that we have to privatize some SOE s , Reduce the head count of State employees and we really need to give power to another political party as the current main parties are filled with corrupted politicians..
@@mayr9215 we need to become more capitalist and follow strict anti corruption policies
@@mayr9215you guys got this. The fact that you still have a lot of natural resources to utilise to turn this back around cements it. All the best.
@@Randomdude835and dissanayake, the candidate who's leading in the polls won't let that happen if he wins.
My biggest takeaway from this video is the danger of investing solely in non-tradeable assets. Had SR balanced its real infrastructure dev with some export-heavy businesses, they would have been able to generate funds to repay their debts.
Very well explained than other media which blindly blames Srilanka government on its collapse
IT IS PARTLY FAILURE OF PEOPLE TOO...
Industries are the backbone for a country to develop... It can be private or public. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE MORE PRIVATE INDUSTRIES THAN PUBLIC.
Srilanka people are never business minded and just rely on government for jobs. Then who will build industries and give Jobs to people? They think government should give jobs too... That's where the problem comes from
Yea people here are too dependent on the government
God I love this channel, no BS, no click bait, no exaggerations to generate "clicks". Just real, honest, relatable, understandable information. THANK YOU!
You are very gullible.
@@jimbocho660 doesn’t know what gullible means. The videos aren’t perfect, and often oversimplified, but they are true. Also easily digestible
@@ReekyCheeks Propaganda is always easily digestible.
@Jim Bocho Right!!
In the video he blames everything but corruption. Corruption is the reason they are failing.
@@jimbocho660 I liked when he ended the WEF video by saying "anyway don't worry about it, they're just harmless billionaires and state leaders passing the time by having a book club haha"
You know what, this is exactly what we're studying in my economics class and this video helps put the theory in context so thank you!
It's so cool to see the material I learned last semester in International Finance be applied to yet another Financial Crisis. Props to EE for boiling it down to the basics 🙌
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. ++.+++.++.
This is a topic and channel I never thought would be among my favorites - it’s just a testament of how well this is done.
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. +.+.+.+.
I think you should include a column with the year on the Economics Explained leaderboard
In the chapter "Limits To Development" - I find it a bold leap from the case study of Sri Lanka to declaring the world simply doesn't have enough resources to allow all economies to become advanced. While that may be true given the current definition of those terms, we cannot predict what future economic activities, and definitions of economic success, may become. Certainly in recent years all the basic tenets of capitalism have been subject to re-evaluation, with respect to the well-being of individual agents in an economy.
It’s obviously unsupported and contrary to all we know about economics. If this were true then the earth population would have capped during the Middle Ages when all the wealth was held by a few kings and rulers and the vast majority of the population were serfs, slaves and desperate poors.
Weird to see such an economic myth being pushed on economics explained.
23 But what does mankind want to prove to God? What do evangelical churches want to prove to God? That the woman that God minimizes is capable of many things? That woman is as efficient and intelligent as man? That a woman as priest, evangelist, apostle, pastor or song leader could have achieved her mission better than any man? She certainly can! But we, children of God, we oppose that, not by contempt or that she would be incapable in the eyes of men but because God did not give her to do it. [Ed: The congregation says, “Amen!”]. Let’s read 1 Timothy 2:11-12 after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: "... Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection; but I do not suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over man, but to be in quietness;" You see? If God has to enter in a church led by a woman, that woman must be thrown out, the pulpit must be thrown out and the church must be washed. Why? Because it is a cursed church. [Ed: The congregation says, “Amen!”]. God has never given to a woman to be a priest and no man of God can give this place to a woman.
Philippekacou.org
I’ve been watching your videos for years and seeing my country in the context of your videos actually put things in perspective. We are at rock bottom but will rebuild stronger and in a more resilient way. 💪
My friend is a Sri Lankan and he's one of the best person I've ever met. My heart goes to his people and hoping for the best.
SAMEE. Was so surprised to see this video nevertheless happy that he covered us!
Congratulations EE, the best video you guys have ever made.
I really don't understand how we came from an example of a big economy missmanagment to the conclusion that not all countries can get rich.
From the way the video was presented, it seems like everything was going well until global lockdowns. That's when the system cracked.
All countries can get rich , problem is everyone in charge is greedy asf and don’t care. What they want is to stay in power and become rich themselves
I liked how you kept your content from an economic standpoint rather than talking about geo-political issues like the Chinese debt trap.
I haven’t even started the video yet and I’m already upset about what I’ll find out. (I’m a Sri Lankan living abroad)
Thank you for sharing another great video. As a Sri Lankan, I am thankful to you for making this video. I am sharing this to every Sri Lankan I know to educate them on what went wrong.One more thing I would like to point out that was not highlighted in your video is that the huge amount of money poured in to maintaining the welfare system in Sri Lanka. Politicians used this to gain and maintain their political power and majority of the public approved that. As a result, Now we all are suffering as the government cannot supply that no longer and people are so used to that they cannot sustain their life style without that. What happened to Sri Lanka is a good example to other countries that are heading in the same direction.
I don't care what you are
The animations in this video were insanely good. Well done.
this video barely had animations...
Except the part where the table of literacy rates were labeled "oil reserves by country".
Most of the animations are just stock footage you can buy on the Internet
@@mirzaahmed6589 And the part where pandemic remittances and tourism graphs were the 2022 ones and not the 2020 ones.
... and the word 'Investment' was spelled wrong. Hmm.
Glad to hear the things you talk about in the intro. I don't trust any economist who's unwilling or incapable of recognizing that. If you think there's a sure formula to development, you're saying that poor countries are necesssarily to blame, which is objectively wrong. This is one reason; there are many others.
When the bell tells me you have uploaded, I scroll my homepage until I spot your videos so I can contribute to your click through rate.
More people need quality economic information sources.
❤️
ABSOLUTELY! Excellent reporting. Thank you 👍
Sri Lanka has been an excellent case study of how not to run an economy.
The point you made about not every developing country transitioning into a developed one, really opened my eyes.
Gotta admit that Sri Lanka is one of them forever underdeveloped countries, unless a miracle happens.
The miracle is Sri Lankan Tamil people's right to self determination. Once we get our land back, your country will grow.
@@GrokEight Can you explain how dividing a already small country would help in anyway to the each of the parties?
@@chamchamz98 sure the right for tamils to have self determination. at that point you don't have worry about 15% of the population and what they do on their own land and can focus on yours and not controlling us.
@@GrokEight you mean just giving away our land to an ethnic group comprising of only 10% of the country for no reason at all. And that’s supposed to help the economy? What an incredible take right there
@@ashandesilva9455 Not giving lol. that land was always ours. no the acknowledgement of eelam tamil self determination. and it's more closer to 15% then 10%. Give the land back, and your country will grow. plain and simple
Thank You, Each video is like a free master class on economics. Would love to see how South Africa ranks on the national leader board.
I can assure you, the video is b!ulc!RAP. It's nothing but the corruption by the politicians. You get a loan of 10 billion, and 8 billion is going to politicians, and 2 billion is invested on useless stuff like government education, especially the university education. +.++.
Yes. Finally another country vid. Prefer these far over the other ones.
You are a great teacher. Thank you for making this video!
personally I'm form Sri Lankan descent and I've been there and its crazy in how much time so much can happen
This video was really good and it helped understand situation in Shri Lanka a lot better. It's really crazy how couple mistakes can affect whole country. I also stumbled on a fact that there was terrorist attack last year in Shri Lanka which added to the bad situation about tourism which they heavily dependent on.
Would also love to see in future video about Serbia since we are one county in developing and would love to see how far on your scale we would be
Sad :( one if my favorite counties to visit! I have visited srilanka 6 times! Hope everything goes right for the people
great video as always. would love to see a video about some of the counties in the middle east - Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia Algiers, ... to see where they rank in the world leader board.
Honestly surprised that the food shortage sparked by Vadana Shiva barely got a mention. As someone who knows a few people living in Sri Lanka, on the ground this is seen as a much larger issue
What did she do now?
@@ketankulkarni7938 recommended organic food.
He did mention it at 15:20. Talks about the disaster it was.
@@sojourner99 Yeah that's why I say it "barely got a mention". It was a substantial factor in the daily lives of everyone, and likely one of the largest economic factors, and yet it is merely included as a small aside.
@@funtechu hmm he says the government barely had a choice as they couldn't afford the fertilizers they needed, so they masked it as recommending 'organic' food instead
From Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 ❤ Thanks for your video 😍
- Oil reserves by country...
- Shows literacy rates 😄😄😄
>be me
>starts watching this channel a while back
>"man I wish my country would be featured here one day"
>my country's economy collapse : (
>economics explained finally feature my country in a video on how some countries will never become developed advance economies
>pain ಥ‿ಥ
@P A I don't think as an individual can do much. Maybe vote for someone who'll make it better(which can go horribly wrong)
As an Sri Lankan, true
11:22 - That Sri Lankan working in Greenland must have an interesting job....
To be honest. I believe the opposite. All countries can become advanced economies. It just cannot be quick and easy, it cannot depend on debt. And it cannot be done blindly copying others.
What I do believe though is that economic hardships are inescapable for economies that are growing fast. Japan, Ireland, ASEAN states, Sri Lanka, Turkey and many others come to mind. Up until now, there has been absolutely no economy that grew fast forever.
I think it is very interesting that chronic and consistent governmental corruption at the highest levels has failed to be mentioned…it’s a huge exacerbating factor
Interesting! I also wanted to know the unique economic set up of the Philippines. Hope you can do an in-depth look of the country.
He made a video two years ago.
@@RatedR03 Well that was during pandemic, now the post-pandemic where everyone expected the Philippines to lag behind but is now back on track
Always loved your videos. Thanks for making a video on my country, even though it's hard to stomach; it's the truth.
Please do South Africa?? It would be perfect timing seeing as we're just about start going insane due to the absolute economic catastrophe that is going on
as always amazing content, thank you
Nothing about this seems inevitable. Seems like dumb luck meets mismanagement. You didn't really support your central idea that "there's only so much room at the top".
You brought up loans vs. investment, but not why no further countries can get foreign investment to escape the middle-income trap. Actually, I don't think you even brought up the middle-income trap which would be a much better argument to support your thesis.
Watching this a a Sri Lankan! Agree with all the points you presented!
There are a number of countries that will have to rebuild their economies from the ground up. Sri Lanka joins Venezuela and Cuba in this club. Unfortunately the leadership in all of them is awful so step one would be a new government.
Explained in such detail..wow!
Why are economies so fragile ? Things going great , a few mistakes and suddenly the whole thing collapses. Perhaps larger economies grow slowly but are far more robust.
It's because we expect inflation and growth to grow every year, sooner or later something has to give in
The combination of debt and democracy is absolutely lethal.
Just ask yourself how easy it is to smash ceramic vase to peaces vs the hours put into making it. Same goes for economies, its hard to create, easy to destroy.
Economics is like the weather: even the experts don't know how it actually works. They might know how it has worked, but every prediction is at best to a leap of faith.
So, if not even the experts can get it right most of the time, imagine all the other people who _aren't_ experts at all and then think of all that other people that, simply being more numerous, end up in charge of entire countries and enterprises...
The notion of that not all of developing countries can prosper and come on par with the developed world is interesting. This is something that Robert Lucas talked about in the 90s. Basically he said that "that capital does not flow from developed countries to developing countries despite the fact that developing countries have lower levels of capital per worker". Hence we call it a Lucas Paradox
Perfect way to start the day!
Have a good one!
I too love calculating Net Positive Foreign Investmen at 10:42 😂😁
They dotted their i's but forgot to cross all their t's 😂
I would like to point out an editing mistake at 4:23 , the title of the chart says 'Oil reserves by country', but is showing the literacy rates instead, The title is wrong.
Yeah I was wondering about that as well lol
@EconomicsExplained can you please add a few more seconds to the end of your videos, or bring up the leaderboard a bit earlier, they mostly get blocked on the screen by the suggested videos.
Despite all of these i still believe shrilanka can pull out from this situation
I'd love you to revisit Sri Lanka after the updated economic figures
I hope you talk about the egypt currency crisis ,it is very similar to the situation sri lanke going through ,especially in infrastructure projects financed with debt i hope it will not lead to the same fate as sri lanka
super thought provoking thank you
I think the table of literacy rate rankings mistakenly was titled "oil reserves"
Typo on 10:48 too
Economic stagnation and a lack of opportunities have been an issue for Sri Lanka since the 50s
Excellent explanation of the whole Srilankan economy scenario. Can you kindly make a video on Pakistan?
Oh Sri Lanka finally recovering ❤️🩹
So, sounds like their government made some poor investment decisions. Also, from what I understand, corruption in Sri Lanka is a major issue as well.
Sri Lanka can be excused for wanting to RAPIDLY install modern infrastructure two decades ago. I was there in 1980 and everything was in decay. Shortly afterwards, civil war broke out. Maybe they tried to do too much, too quickly. I think they will recover and, hopefully, become a prosperous nation.
Note the WEF peddled them as a model for the world back in 2017-19
Just found this channel. Excellent.
Fun fact srilanka and Pakistan is above INDIA in hunger index.
Could you make a video highlighting inaccuracies in global rankings .
India is another ticking time bomb, but a much bigger one than Sri Lanka.
That's hilarious 😆
hunger index doesnt count hungry people but nutrition deficit,since we have low meat & sea food consumption we tend to have nutritional deficiencies
@@rajuseth1683 people only do headline huntings
They don't read the report or fact check it , which leads to misinformation
@@rajuseth1683 global hunger index is more like global nutrition index
You had the honesty of saying that, had things gone a slightly different way, we would be celebrating.
Would like to point out countries in the West increased their wealth by Looting and Exploiting their colonies which also in turn funded their Industrialization.
It is because those nations had the guts to do so . Do others have it is the question
The admission that not every individual can get rich is at the heart of what I see as a problem in our economic systems. If only a few CAN achieve the top, then it's not equitable to allow any to hold that position. The fact that it must be a pyramid built on the lower levels in an admission that it is exploitative.
Please do an episode on the economic situation in Egypt
I'd love to see a video on how you would fix a countries economy like Sri Lanka.
EE made a good point about foreign aid being mostly food & goods instead of money because governments often waste it. However I think it would be an amazing video to look at direct cash transfers to people in the poorest countries versus the governments of those countries. Guaranteed income is looking (take GiveDirectly for example) to be a finally more cost-effective way to help people get what they need. Oftentimes current aid damages local food production and is not particularly effective.
It's not a perfect solution. Done incorrectly it can cause rampant inflation.
How about poor people get off their asses and work for a living like the rest of us.
@@Doo_Doo_Patrol I feel compelled to let you know that cash transfer experiments to date have led to more & better employment on average. The only people that work less are students and new mothers.
Also, consider homeless people. I have a few friends who are homeless who would love to work, but can't because jobs require housing addresses, clean clothes, and it's difficult to work when you're forced to sleep on the streets. Money, UBI or not, would empower them to get back on their feet.
@@Croz89 It's possible, but every experiment so far has caused no noticable inflation.
It's also possible that having more cash would empower consumers to seek lower prices (cook at home vs get fast food, or have more time to shop around for example).
UBI most certainly would have inflationary & deflationary effects, but no comprehensive studies have been done yet.
@@michae1simm It's a question of available supply. In an economy with poor industry, infrastructure and supply chains, giving the locals a bunch of cash will just make prices rise. The money in that case would be better spent on industry and infrastructure, roads, electrical grids, water supplies etc, which would lower the price of goods by making them cheaper to produce and transport.
The real problem was predatory lending. The sane thing that’s happened to toys r is you’re profitable but they make ur interest payments near impossible to pay.
I would love an EE video about why Chile is not considered developed yet, or maybe it is and its ranking in the EE Leaderboard
To be fair, if Sri Lanka had something similar to what Taiwan (1), then I think they could've had it far better right now.
P.S.1 I mean TSMC here, but Sri Lanka's facility doesn't have to be capable of making complex stuff, instead they could be printing Arduino and Raspberry Pi tier stuff as well as 200nm microcontrollers and other "bulk" microelectronics, it's always in high demand, like that's why your car could have Russian-made microchip, situation was so bad that at some point Russia got contract just by bring able to deliver first shipment of microcontrollers twice as fast compared to TSMC (6 months vs full year), it happened in 2020-21-ish.
Yes I know Arduino is quite obsolete microcontroller today, but it's easy to manufacture, is quite pricey (2) and extremely popular as "starter kit" for people who want to make their own devices like mp3 players etc. Oh yeah and it's open source architecture, meaning you only need to pay for license, if at all.
P.S.2 on AliExpress it's even more expensive than better alternatives like... B32? E32? Something like that, basically a 2-core CPU on a board, super epic stuff compared to *the* "Arduino"
Esp32 😁
Sri Lanka was once on the right path but because of their government's obsession with race and correcting the "wrongs" of the past, they never made it. They should have recognised the fact that the country is ethnically diverse and made use of that instead of trying to homogenise it.
Egypt is next.
Always fascinating Thank you
I Just noticed you coressed 2 Millions subs congrats. We will join you there in year 2050 lol
Seriously explained 🔥
The debt that nation carries is a terrible vulnerability
To sum up this video- countries are like individuals in the fact that not all of them are going to make it. 💯
"Small island country home to JUST 22.16 milion people" is the most American thing I ever heard.
4:20 - talking about the "greatest natural resource - people" and its well developed education system, while showing a table with heading "Oil reserves"
Good video as always, but as always you failed to address a question that you put in the video. "Can all countries be rich". You didn't really explain that point detail which I would like. I notice that happens in a lot of EE video's where you ask a question, but never answer it. Other than that really impressed with the detail. Would have loved something to be mentioned about the genocide in the country committed by the government.
I find lately the only way for a developing economy to grow is simply investing in media production and tech simply from the amount of leverage you get from the two industries but that's easier said than done