Closed Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Closed Economy - Essay Example The question here is that why it is not concerned with the threats of United States. Let us not answer this question now and move a little further before answering this question. Official Statistics show that North Korea had an average annual growth rate of around 1.6 percent for the period of 2002-2007 (Walters, pp. 55-57, 2008). However, it shocked the world when it posted a growth rate of more than 3.7 percent in the year 2008 (Library of Congress, pp. 15-19, 2009). Not only had this shock came because this growth is the highest for North Korea for at least the past two decades but also because many neighboring countries of North Korea and even many other countries had either showed negative growth rates for the year 2008 due to the global financial recession. The second question is that what magic lamp North Korea had to show this comparatively unusual and high growth rate during the period of global financial recession and why there was no effect of the recession on its growth. The answers to both these questions lie in the economic structure of North Korea. North Korea is the country, which is the nearest of being called as a closed economy or autarky. It is one of the five remaining socialist states of the world with an entire government planned, state-owned and commands economy where the government intervenes largely. Interestingly, North Korea is a completely nationalized state and the state owns all the assets of the country. Moreover, the citizens do not have to pay any taxes.