Independent writing from Vietnam
Essays by Hoang Nguyen on the forces shaping how we live, build, and grow.
"Rồi từ tối tăm ta đi tìm một ngọn lửa sáng Ngọn lửa sáng ước vọng, bàn tay với xa hơn mặt trời."
For a long time, people have argued that Vietnam’s biggest limitation is its “village culture”—a system shaped by small, tight-knit communities where relationships, familiarity, and informal rules dominate. The criticism is straightforward: this kind of culture does not scale. It creates inefficiencies, encourages favoritism, and makes it
Many countries today face a quiet but profound demographic challenge. Birthrates are falling, often below the level required to maintain a stable population. This trend is visible across East Asia, Europe, and increasingly in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is beginning to experience the same phenomenon, particularly in large urban areas where
In the previous discussion about financialization in Vietnam, the central concern was the growing dominance of financial and speculative activities over real economic production. Closely related to this phenomenon is another structural issue that affects many developing economies, including Vietnam. This issue is the prevalence of rent seeking behavior. Rent
In recent years, Vietnam has experienced rapid economic growth, rising incomes, and increasing integration into the global economy. However, beneath this progress lies a structural concern that is often overlooked the growing financialization of the economy. While financial development is a natural part of modernization, excessive financialization especially in a
Chúng ta không cần thêm lời khuyên. Chúng ta không cần thêm những sự kiện networking nơi các doanh nhân tụ họp, chia sẻ khó khăn, rồi ra về chỉ với vài tấm danh thiếp và những ý định tốt đẹp. Chúng ta cũng không cần thêm một “cộng đồng