[From Kwanghwamoon]Gov`t must end superficial policies

A farmer worried that his barley stalks weren't growing adequately, pulled on them to make them a little longer. Having done so, he was satisfied at the longer stalks and went home. He boasted to his family, "I've sweated and toiled today to make the barley grow." The next day, he went out to the field with his son and discovered all his barley had dried and died.

As I heard the news that President Kim Dae-Jung had apologized last week to the people for the deteriorating economy recently, I was reminded of the parable. Hadn't we celebrated that we had successfully overcome the economic crisis, with a big bash inviting various foreign dignitaries some months ago? I could not beat down the suspicion that perhaps three years ago, when the economic crisis hit Korea, we had merely pulled on the stalks to make them longer and considered it as overcoming the crisis.

In the past, such pull-on-the-stalk type of growth was a fad. The heavy industries in the 1980s, the petrochemical industry in the '90s, and the immense investment into the financial industry are models of such growth. Feeling snug and proud as gigantic factories were built was an everyday occurrence. However, these very companies are now becoming the targets of restructuring. The factories and the companies are being sold to offshore buyers at dirt-cheap prices far below even the investment capital amount, even as laborers are being driven to the streets.

Such pull-on-the-stock type of growth necessarily entails certain favor-giving. There are favors of cutting down on tax burdens for such companies and offering low-interest capital. As such, only those who are close to the powerful and influential persons in government are able to receive the permission for such business.

The financial industry and the venture companies where the restructuring is being pursued in earnest are not exceptions. In the past, whenever a new administration took office, new permits were issued to start integrated financial institutions, insurance companies, and credit institutions. Even those who lacked experience in financial institutions could and did start one made possible by making contacts.

Many of such companies were afflicted with shoddy management. They simply lacked expertise, and some appointed former members of the Financial Supervisory Service as their presidents. Eight out 10 such companies did not have competent management.

The number of banks, which exceeded 30, was reduced to 20, and it looks as though only about 10 can survive in the end. The situation of the insurance and mutual savings and finance companies is the same. The mutual savings and finance companies and the merchant banks might witness foreclosures on their names. Of the 100 or so venture-capital investment companies, which sprouted like weeds, no one seems sure how many will be left standing.

At such time of shakeout, an economic crisis has loomed. Perhaps the viewpoint that the crisis already has hit is more correct. The economy of the United States, which enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, is headed downward. The economic experts have been warning of a long-term recession. The original belief that the economic crisis could not be overcome in a matter of one or two years seems to have been right.

The Central European nations such as Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands, which the Korean government had wanted to use as examples, purpose to control the economic growth rate at 2-3 percent. For Korea to swing back and forth between 10 percent growth and negative growth, it is better to remain at a stable growth rate of 2 percent. However, while doing so, education, the environment and medical fields need to be modernized.

Time now calls for the end of pull-on-the-stalk policy. Although it might take longer, it is time to take one slow step after another. The fear again rises of hurried economic resuscitation driven by hopes of parlaying it into favorable position in the next election.