A spate of recent news articles has highlighted the efforts of everyday North Koreans to earn a living by engaging in market activities. Adam Smith would easily recognize this as the beginnings of a free-market economy and Charles Darwin would point out that this is survival of the fittest. Even though these nascent undertakings show great promise for the North, they also face some serious obstacles. Nonetheless, given the now-obvious entrepreneurial spirit of a few bold individuals, it is possible to have have some hope that capitalism can advance from the tiny toe hold it currently has in North Korea.
THE PROBLEM
A spate of recent news articles has highlighted the efforts of everyday North Koreans to earn a living by engaging in market activities. Adam Smith would easily recognize this as the beginnings of a free-market economy and Charles Darwin would point out that this is survival of the fittest. Even though these nascent undertakings show great promise for the North, they also face some serious obstacles. Nonetheless, given the now-obvious entrepreneurial spirit of a few bold individuals, it is possible to have have some hope that capitalism can advance from the tiny toe hold it currently has in North Korea.
THE PROBLEM
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