政策
民間
專題
國發
經濟
名家
current dismal economic situation facing the new government of Tsai Ing-wen
(see Hsiao, 2016), it appears that the government policy of balanced budget and
reducing the government debt may not be the best policy the new government
can take.
While we have pointed out that Taiwan still have fiscal space for increase
(conservatively) in government deficit and public debt, the government should
have sound, careful, and productive economic and social planning for effective
enhancement of social welfare and economic growth (IMF, 2016). No waste or
corruption should be allowed. The government should always be aware of the
fact that, Taiwan is isolated from most of the international organizations like the
IMF, the World Bank, or other international institutes. As pointed out by S. C.
Tsiang and Henry Wan, Jr. in the 1980s, if Taiwan experiences financial crisis,
no international institutes will come to bail Taiwan out, and the "sudden stop" of
foreign capital inflow cannot be ruled out. Thus the size of usable Taiwan's fiscal
space should take this fact into consideration.
How to use the limited extra fiscal space? According to Taiwan's National
Development Council (NDC, 2015), the future planning of the Taiwan government
is "To boost economic vitality and to adjust economic structure, the government
is currently focusing on three aspects of policies: upgrading industries, expanding
exports, and promoting investments." No specific policy measures are given.
For the emerging economies, the World Bank (Didier, et al. 2015, 32)
suggests infrastructure investment like water and sanitation, power facility,
communication network, and railroad infrastructure.
However, these are almost completed since the days of the Japanese
period and updated after the WWII. What Taiwan needs today are social
welfare program reform, reconstructing and streamlining retirement program,
urban renewal and planning, low cost housing project for youth, public nursery
facilities for working women, and nursing homes for elders, natural and man-
107
Taiwan Economic Forum
Volume 14, Number 4
