Economics 101 and the Singapore Wrench

Ailyn asks all kinds of questions such as, "Why are there no sea gulls in Thailand?" and "Why is everyone staring at me?" (which I think she's figured out is due to her looks, especially her curls). She definitely wants to understand the world around her and what she sees. I say this because while she is definitely getting a lot out of this trip, her questions remain three-year-old questions. One day, when she reads this blog, I don't want her to think she's not important, doesn't capture our hearts or have our adoration. She's amazing. The fact that this post has mostly to do with Sennen is just because he's a little older, not a statement about Ailyn.

Now let's get to it.

Every trip has been involved learning and growth for Sennen – but nothing like this year. At five, Sennen seems to have reached an age where he's asking big questions and taking on even bigger concepts. So much so that we have long talks and need to call lifelines back home – today it was both his grandfathers.

"Why does America have so much more money than Thailand?" Sennen asked out of the blue  yesterday as we were in a sangthaew taxi headed into town. I asked him for a moment to think about my answer – because whatever I said next would be seared into his brain and there are as many perceptions I'd like to avoid propagating as there are lessons I'd like to teach.

I went to the Industrial Revolution – saying that America developed lots of factories and big businesses before Thailand did, and so we started making more money sooner. There were a series of follow-up questions posed to me – but Sennen seemed to grasp that having factories and big companies meant a country earned more money and therefore had more capital to continue starting and building businesses. And that if America – a big country – started before Thailand, a much smaller one – then it made sense we had more money. And then it happened.

"But Daddy, did Singapore start building factories and businesses after America did?"

With a sense of weariness – seeing what was about to come next I said, "Yes, they did, Sennen"

"Then why was Singapore able to catch up to America and Thailand was not? And isn't Singapore much smaller?"

Cannon to the broadside of my simplistic economic explanation.

Not knowing what to explain next that wouldn't create more problems than it could solve, I decided to stall and get help. 

"Sennen, how about we talk to Grandpa Howard about this tomorrow? I think he would have a great way of explaining this."

"Because he knows a lot about history?"

"Yes, that and he understands a lot about another subject called economics which deals with how people trade and value things – and money."

Emily then suggested that Zaide (her father) too might be a good resource – which I agreed.

"So, Sennen should we call Grandpa Howard and Zaide tomorrow to see what they can explain?"

"Yes!"

So it was that over jellied toast and yogurt, Sennen conversed with his grandfathers about history and macroeconomics. And then Emily followed up with some sociologically- related observations of her own.

In short, this was what Sennen learned from 8:30 to 10 am:

• Thailand is a country of hardworking people historically engaged in very successful agriculture. 
• They were later to the industrialization party than America.
• Their familial and banking structures limit their access to capital because loans and support for a new business have largely come from their families – and not banks and other financial institutions.
• A smaller country has less money moving through it, therefore it has a harder time building wealth.
• Thailand has been slower to enter the post-industrial economy because it does not create as much intellectual property and/or innovation as America and a handful of other larger economic powers.
• Healthcare, public health and education are essential to developing a successful economy and Thailand has invested less in these things than most of the wealthier nations.

Obviously these things were explained to him in much simpler terms. But he did well with them and after speaking to his grandfathers, he went through the ideas and examples of each with us.

And this is just one of the many big concepts we've worked on this trip. Others include, multiculturalism; Buddhism – practice and theology; the Thai muslim population and Islam in general; vehicles and the economics of risk taking (i.e. why a family will take a baby on a motorcycle), population density and vertical cities; geography (if we're on the Indian Ocean, how long would it take to get to India and exactly how many countries are on the Indian Ocean? How many countries are on the Mediterranean? Which has more and why?);war; acts of hate; and environmental responsibility. On the last point, Sennen spent a good portion of his beach time two days ago picking up any and all trash he could find and making sure it was disposed of properly. No prompting whatsoever. 

Let me add that I probably missed a few topics.

But of course, a few minutes after any of these, Sennen can be found building sandcastles, begging for a lollipop or having to be told to wipe his tush better before putting on his swimsuit. He is, after all, a silly little boy too.

There are also the surprising moments of comparing and contrasting against previous trips. Why did we take different kind of boat to go to islands around Khao Lak than we did last year at Ko Chang? Why did we have to share sangthaews in Ko Chang, but we have private ones in Khao Lak? His favorite part of Bali (two years ago) was Ku De Ta, a beach club and restaurant in the Seminyak area. He liked the pizza a lot. And the swimming pool. And how did I know our driver, Made? Balinese temples also had flowers and incense like the Buddhist temples in Thailand do. Why do Balinese people carry things on their heads and Thais don't?

So often, without our help at all, he's forming connections and developing a very considered worldview.

In a way, it's the most gratifying part of the trip – because it's what we wanted for our kids going into this. To see it actually start to work in such tangible ways shouldn't be as surprising as it feels. Still, nothing prepared me for explaining wealth disparity between nations in the back of a sangthaew.

After 10 am, it was a fairly normal day. Time with the kids at the nearby beach in the late morning and early afternoon. Drop the kids with Matheus to swim in the backyard while Emily and I went into town to walk around, explore, shop pickup laundry, get massages, view the sunset, dine and relax. No big moments or events beyond a really great two-hour massage and a stunning sunset. But it was very much a sabai sabai (relaxed) Khao Lak vacation day.