The Economist: Israeli economy is stable but has shaky foundations

[bemildred]

The Economist, arguably the most important economic magazine in the world, has devoted a special section in this week's edition to the Israeli economy in honor of Israel's upcoming 60th birthday - and what is has to say is not all good, to put it mildly.

Israel may have an astonishing economy despite having so many wars, writes the Economist in classic British understatement, but then continues to draw much less complimentary conclusions: The economic miracle and high growth is mostly based on a one-time opportunity in high tech, and the country is not prepared for the future.

It praises the Israeli economy for growing by more than 3% per year over the last four years, well above the average for developed nations, despite the second intifada, the costs of the Gaza disengagement and the Second Lebanon War. But it also calls the engines of economic growth punier than they look. "Beneath its gleaming high-tech skin, the body of Israel's economy is slightly worn. True, the country has some successful industrial giants and does well in a few export niches such as generic drugs, weapons systems and agricultural and water-treatment technology... However, much of the country's traditional industry (e.g., machinery, chemicals, clothing and food), which accounts for more than half of its jobs, is lacklustre. Average industrial productivity is around half that in America. One reason: Israel leads the world in R&D spending as a proportion of GDP, but this is heavily concentrated in high-tech. In more traditional industries the rate is just a quarter of America's," writes the magazine.

It further says "Israel's ability to capitalise on the internet boom was a lucky one-off."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971928.html

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. We are astonishing to others, aren't we?

And yes, we're prepared for the future ... one time? Nonsense. High tech is my career and it's becoming part of everything else we do.

[Dick Dastardly]

3. Seems to me they have a lot going for it

Israeli institutions of Higher learning are world renowned for science such as the Technion and the Weizman Institute.

Technion
From the Lab to the Marketplace
Technion graduates comprise the majority of Israeli-educated scientists and engineers, constituting over 70% of the country's founders and managers of high-tech industries.
Due to the ingenuity of Technion alumni, Israel is now home to the greatest concentration of high-tech start up companies anywhere outside of the Silicon Valley.
High-tech industry now accounts for more than 54% of Israel's industrial exports, and over 26% of the country's exports.
135 out of every 10,000 workers in Israel are scientists and engineers, compared to the USA, in second place with 85 out of every 10,000 workers.
Nine out of every 1,000 workers are engaged in R&D, nearly double the rate of the USA and Japan.
74% of managers in Israel's electronic industries hold Technion degrees.

http://www.technion.ac.il/

* The Technion is often compared to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and has contributed to a large number of successful Israeli technical exports and businesses.

* A group of Technion graduates have created PHP (versions 3 through 5,) a web programming language that is installed on more than 80% of the web servers worldwide. This Wikipedia web site is powered by PHP.

* Beside academic studies and research, the Technion offers many after-school and summer enrichment courses for interested youth. These courses range from introductory electronics and computer programming to aerospace, architecture, biology, chemistry and physics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technion



Weizmann Institute of Science

The Weizmann Institute of Science, located in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions in the world. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the sciences and technology, the Institute gathers together 2,500 scientists, technicians and research students devoted to adventuring into the unknown. In their labs, located in a landscaped campus environment, they share a vision: To better understand nature and our place within it. Inquisitiveness is their predominant trait. It is this curiosity that propelled Homo sapiens up the slope of evolution. It is this driving curiosity that sees man -- and woman -- through their greatest discoveries. It is the force which pushed earliest civilization to develop agriculture, to learn the hows of constructing shelter, to create the written word, to harness electricity to the wagon of industry and commerce, to contemplate far-off galaxies, to find the cure for disease, to form new materials, and to decipher the genetic code stamped on all living things, be they plant or animal. The desire to continue in this forward stride is the force behind every Institute scientist's efforts to penetrate realms formerly incomprehensible to humankind. And what dwells in these domains? The unknown. The only certainty: revelation encountered along their path. We invite you along to view a selection of landmark discoveries established by Weizmann scientists on a number of their scientific excursions. To look over the shoulder of these scientific trailblazers who go that one step more in furthering this, our civilization. The Weizmann Institute of Science: Shaping the future.

The Weizmann Institute of Science has been voted "the best university in the world for life scientists to conduct research." Israeli researchers have:


Discovered the molecular trigger that causes psoriasis.

Developed the Ex-Press shunt to provide relief for glaucoma sufferers.

Unveiled a blood test that diagnoses heart attacks ... by telephone!

Found a combination of electrical stimulation and chemotherapy that makes cancerous metastases disappear – and developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer!

Designed the first flight system to protect passenger and freighter aircraft against missile attack.

Developed the first ingestible video camera – so small it fits inside a pill – used to view the small intestine from the inside, enabling doctors to diagnose cancer and digestive disorders!

Perfected a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with congestive heart failure, synchronizing the heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.


http://www.weizmann.ac.il/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weizman...ute_of_Science




Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can make claim to the following:

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin -109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the US.

Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

With an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s, Israel has the largest fleet of the aircraft outside of the US.

Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups.

Israel has the largest raptor migration in the world, with hundreds of thousands of African birds of prey crossing as they fan out into Asia.

Twenty-four percent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees - ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 percent hold advanced degrees.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews at risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel.

When Gold Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. U.S. officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

Israel's Maccabi basketball team won the European championships in 2001.

Israeli tennis player Anna Smashnova is the 15th ranked female player in the world.

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was produced by Haim Saban, an Israeli whose family fled persecution in Egypt.

In 1991, during the Gulf War, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played a concert wearing gas masks as scud missiles fired by Saddam Hussein fell on Tel Aviv.

Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

Israel has two official languages: Hebrew and Arabic.


cont
Medicine...

Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U.S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, the camera helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with congestive heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Technology...
With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and start-ups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world (apart from the Silicon Valley).

In response to serious water shortages, Israeli engineers and agriculturalists developed a revolutionary drip irrigation system to minimize the amount of water used to grow crops.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.

The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

Most of the Windows NT operating system was developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

The technology for AOL Instant Messenger was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct - all without damaging surroundings skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.




Here is another list of facts

Cool facts about Israel
1. Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology was pioneered in Israel.

2. The Israeli pioneer Check-Point Ltd. is a world leader in the firewall and internet security software markets.

3. Israeli laser technology is powering the latest hair removal devices on the American market.

4. Intel's double-core processor was completely developed at its design facility in Israel, as well as the MMX Chip and Centrino technology.

5. In 2007, Israel was accepted as member at the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)

6. An Israeli doctor headed the Merck team that developed a vaccine against cervical cancer.

7. Prof. Robert Aumann, an economist, is the fourth Israeli in the last four years to win a Nobel Prize.

8. AirTrain JFK - the 8.1-mile light rail labrynthe that connects JFK Airport to New York City's mass transit - is protected by the Israeli-developed Nextiva surveillance system.

9. The Weizmann Institute of Science has been voted the best university in the world for life scientists to conduct research.

10. A 100-member Israeli delegation flew to Kenya in 2006 to rescue survivors of a building collapse.

11. An Israeli system to help dyslexic readers is being used throughout the US and Europe.

12. An Israeli 'super-sensor' has been installed in Sealy mattresses to control snoring problems.

13. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

14. Israel hosts IBM's, Microsoft's, Intel's and Motorola's largest R&D facilities outside the United States.

15. Hawaiian singer Don Ho underwent an Israeli-developed stem cell treatment to strengthen his heart.

16. Israeli company Ultrashape has developed a safe replacement for liposuction - a unique new body-contouring device that "blasts" unwanted fat from the body.

17. The Israeli women's national flag football team won the largest and most important open football tournament in Europe in 2005.

18. Israeli researchers have discovered the molecular trigger that causes psoriasis.

19. Israeli research has shown that dancers display consistent differences from the general population in two key genes.

20. Israeli research shows that we can find out more about what is buried beneath the earth's surface by launching a satellite into the sky.

21. An Israeli company has developed a device that helps nurses locate those hard-to-find veins.

22. An Israeli-made device helps restore the use of paralyzed hands. This device electrically stimulates the hand muscles, providing hope to millions of stroke sufferers and victims of spinal injuries

23. An Israeli company has unveiled a blood test that via the telephone diagnoses heart attacks.

24. The Israeli-developed Ex-Press shunt is providing relief for glaucoma sufferers.

25. An Israeli research team has found that the combination of electrical stimulation and chemotherapy makes cancerous metastases disappear.

26. Israel has designed and manufactured the first flight system to protect passenger and freighter aircraft against missile attack.

27. Jewish and Arab students at Hebrew University participate in the 'Billy Crystal Workshops - Peace Through the Performing Arts' project.

28. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per-capita rates of patents filed.

29. In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel is second only to the U.S. in the total number of startup companies (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

30. Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the US.

31. Israel has the third largest number of companies trading on Wall Street after the U.S. and Canada.

32. More than 85% of solid waste in Israel is treated in an environmentally sound manner

33. On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups.

34. Israel has the largest raptor migration in the world, with hundreds of thousands of African birds of prey crossing as they fan out into Asia.

35. 24% of Israel's workforce holds university degrees - ranking third in the industrialized world, after the U.S. and Holland - and 12% hold advanced degrees.

36. BabySense, an Israeli product aimed at preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), is saving babies' lives around the world.

37. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

38. Israel has the highest number of solar-power water heaters per capita.

39. Israeli actress Hanna Laslo took home the "Best Actress" award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Amos Gitai's "Free Zone."

40. In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews at risk in Ethiopia to safety in Israel.

41. When Mrs. Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

42. When the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble.

43. Israel is one of only 8 countries in the world capable of launching their own satellites into space.

44. When earthquake struck western India and Turkey, Israel sent entire field hospitals, including medical staff and equipment, to help treat injured civilians.

45. Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

46. Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.

47. Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

48. According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. U.S. officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

49. Israel's Maccabi Tel-Aviv basketball team won the European championships in 1977, 1981 and 2001.

50. Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books published per year.

51. Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.

52. Approximately half of the Israelis have access to broadband telecommunication lines, compared to OECD average of 14%.

53. Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

54. Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

55. An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U.S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

56. Israel's Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Using the view of the small intestine from the inside, the camera helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.

57. The Movement Disorder Surgery program at Israel's Hadassah Medical Center has successfully eliminated the physical manifestations of Parkinson's disease in a select group of patients with a deep brain stimulation technique.

58. Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with congestive heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

59. In response to serious water shortages, Israeli engineers and agriculturalists developed a revolutionary drip irrigation system to minimize the amount of water used to grow crops.

60. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

61. Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. Over 25% of the country's work force is employed in technical professions - first in this category as well

62. The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

63. Most of the Windows NT operating system was developed by Microsoft-Israel.

64. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

65. The technology for AOL Instant Messenger (ICQ) was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

66. A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct - all without damaging surroundings skin or tissue.

67. An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.

68. The first PC anti-virus software was developed in Israel in 1979.

69. The late Christopher Reeve called Israel the "world center" for research on paralysis treatment.

70. Israeli researchers are playing an important role in identifying a defective gene that causes a rare and usually fatal disease in Arab infants.

71. An Israeli company has been given a U.S. grant to develop an anti-smallpox first aid treatment kit.

72. An Israeli company M-Systems was the first to patent and introduce key chain storage ("Disk-On-Key").

73. Israeli microbiologists have developed the first passive vaccine against the mosquito-borne West Nile virus.

74. A team of Israeli and US researchers has designed a watermelon-picking robot endowed with artificial vision to do the job of harvesting.

75. Israeli researchers are using video games to investigate future treatments for memory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

76. An Israeli company has developed sensors that pick up signs of stress in plants.

77. Israeli medical researchers have shown that lycopene - the red pigment found in tomatoes - lowers blood pressure.

78. A small Israeli company called Lenslet has developed a revolutionary electro-optic processor which operates one thousand times faster than any known Digital Signal Processor.

79. Israeli stem-cell technology is being used in the U.S. to regenerate heart tissue.

80. An Israeli company has developed a device that could enable millions of American diabetics to painlessly inject themselves with insulin.

81. An Israeli company is providing the technology behind an American all-electric bus for urban use.

82. An Israeli medical delegation from the 'Save a Child's Heart' project recently spent two weeks in China performing open heart surgery on children.

83. Scientists in Israel have used strands of DNA to create tiny transistors that can literally build themselves.

84. A week-old Iraqi infant underwent an emergency operation in Israel to correct a congenital heart defect.

85. Some 500 million birds representing 300 species migrate across Israel's skies twice a year in the autumn and spring along the Great Valley Rift.

86. Israeli research shows that a tonsillectomy could be the key solving sleep apnea in children.

87. An Israeli company has developed a new device for monitoring coronary disease that will be integrated into future generation of cellphones.

88. An Israeli-developed algorithm enabled NASA to transmit images from Mars.

89. An Israeli has invented 'bone glue' that will reduce the need for bone transplants and heal bone defects caused by cancer.

90. A joint Israeli-Palestinian expedition recently scaled a peak in Antarctica in the name of coexistence.

91. Over 50 million Israeli flowers were sent to Europe for sale on Valentine's Day.

92. Israeli researchers have found a connection between sleep apnea and impotence.

93. Israel, American and Canadian researchers are working together to develop nanotech-based solutions to the water shortage in the Middle East.

94. The founder of the Cancer Prevention and Wellness Program at New York's prestigious Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is Israeli.

95. Between 150 to 200 multinational clinical trials are regularly taking place in Israel every year.

96. An Israeli company is the world's leading sleep disorder sensors manufacturer.

97. Israeli researchers are successfully using magnets to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

98. Israeli scientists have created a DNA nano-computer that not only detects cancer, but also releases drugs to treat the disease.

99. Tel Aviv has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

100. The U.S. Marines in Iraq are using an Israel-developed hand-held computer for communication purposes, as well as add-on amour kit for better survivability of combat Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFV's).

101. Israel engineers are behind the development of the largest communications router in the world, launched by Cisco.

102. An Israeli company - Evogene - is developing cotton plants that are resistant to adverse salinity conditions and drought.

103. An Israeli company has developed the world's first jellyfish repellent.

104. Israel has helped farmers in Niger develop a horticultural production system called the African Market Garden (AMG).

105. Jerusalem hosted an international gay rights parade World Pride in 2005.

106. A newly developed Israeli cooking oil is capable of breaking up blood fats such as cholesterol.

107. Israeli scientists have alleviated Parkinson's-like symptoms in rats.

108. Israeli scientists are developing a nose drop that will provide a five-year flu vaccine.

109. Israeli researchers have solved the mystery of Lenin's death.

110. Israeli scientists have discovered how to turn mismatched cells into cancer fighters.

111. Over 20 Israeli companies provided security systems and services for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

112. Israeli scientists have shown that hypnotism doubles the chances of success of in vitro fertilization.

113. An Israeli two-flush lavatory system can save western-world countries billions of gallons of water a year.

114. An Israeli-developed device can painlessly administer medications through microscopic pores in the skin.

115. Israeli researchers have shown that a daily dosage of Vitamin E is effective in helping to regain hearing loss.

116. Israeli researchers have created a 'biological pacemaker' which corrects faulty heart rhythms when injected into the failing hearts of pigs.

117. Two Israelis have won the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their groundbreaking work in cancer research.

118. An Israeli physicist-turned-inventor has developed the world's first air-conditioned motorcycle.

119. Israeli researchers have proven that Prozac can improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

120. An Israeli-developed elderberry extract is one of America's best-selling flu prevention medicines.

121. Children injured in the school siege in Beslan, Russia in 2004 were able to convalesce at an Israeli coastal resort in Ashkelon - at the invitation of that city's mayor.

122. An Israeli company has developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of MS.

123. Israeli scientists have discovered the cause of chronic bad breath and a painless solution.

124. Israeli technology is behind the successful testing of in-flight cell phone use.

125. Israeli research has found that citrus oils may hold the key for asthma treatment.

126. An Israeli company - Patus Ltd. - has donated thousands of its OdorScreen olfactory gel product to counter the crippling odors faced by on-scene Tsunami disaster workers.

127. An Israeli company has developed a nano-lubricant that one day could mean the end of changing your car oil.

128. A young Israeli scientist was among those chosen as an example of carrying on the work of Albert Einstein 100 years later.

129. Intel has sold more than $5 billion worth of the Israeli-developed Centrino chipsets since they were introduced in March 2003.

http://www.israelmyway.co.il/Israel%20Facts.php


more info
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=42677

[oberliner]

4. I'd avoid linking to articles by Pat Boone at World Net Daily

Pretty right-wing.

[Dick Dastardly]

5. I know, thats why I posted just the link, but

it has some interesting facts which is why I posted it.

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. Well, my oldest brother, the MD w/a PhD in physics, studied there

But we were bilingual from infancy.

We enjoy sharing as well, a Bedouin thing I guess ... and the basis of the Abrahamic dynasty. How sad that hostilities isolate us now.

[shaayecanaan]

2. Interesting article

On the whole, the thing you tend to notice about Israel is that while its not poor, its not exactly rich either. The whole ambience reminds you of South Korea or maybe Taiwan in that regard, although not as crowded, of course: there are gleaming tall buildings but 5 minutes down the road you have people living in run down tenement housing. There is a seemingly quite large gap between rich and poor.

The other thing I noticed was the amount of pollution you see. Its not quite as bad as Arab countries but is probably worse than Eastern Europe. There's quite a lot of effluent in waterways and whatnot. I was told by someone that because everyone is so predisposed with security issues in Israel, apparently a lot of environmental issues, poverty and so forth don't get as much attention.

[Fredda Weinberg]

6. Poverty takes on a different meaning in Orthodox communities

You're expected to have as many kids as you can afford and luxuries are frowned upon. But it's a secular society as well, and affluence is evident.

I wish environmental issues weren't seen as a luxury, but of course, that's how I appreciate it. It's one of the things we look forward to with peace ... and as the saying goes, if not tomorrow ... the day after ...

[pelsar]

8. the gap....

just a bit of relevant history:
the gap between the rich and poor in israel is huge (i forget the numbers)..its more representative of a third world country than a developed one. Previous to this period, in general "no one went hungry" or didnt have a roof over their heads. With the introduction of a more capitalistic economy the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.....with the economy being in hands of a limited number of super rich families.....