I am reading the latest unemployment figures in America as officially hovering beteen 8-9%, depending upon which state you look at.
When I first moved to the Middle East, I couldn’t find any actual figures available, but as close as I could determine, official unemployment was about 20+%. That is worse than the depths of the 1920’s depression in America.
This is one of the major differences between developed first-world countries, and underdeveloped third-world countries. The high rate of endemic unemployment means people will help their family (or tribal) members to get jobs (mostly in family-owned businesses) before they will help someone “outside” even if that person is far more qualified, or does better work. This is one way the “old world” mentality works.
Furthermore, a lot of Americans wonder why, when you go to a third-world country, the person with a job in the family has to share so much of what he earns with the family members who are not working. Much of the reason is that it’s very, very hard to find jobs.
Expat 21
Tags: economics, employment, employment in the Third World, International, meritocracy, Mexico, Middle East, recession, the Depression, Third World, Third World economics, travel, unemployment, unemployment in in the Third World
February 12, 2009 at 3:24 am
Your insight is so true. Having lived in “3rd world country” all my life, these things happen everyday. Even in the city where jobs are supposed to be abundant, it is still hard to find a job for those who have not gone to college OR those who went to lesser known schools. It’s a fact of life.