At the present stage, the people of Taiwan are suffering considerable growth pains. Perhaps too much freedom has been made available to too many too fast. Everyone seems to want everything at once as they come to understand something about democracy. Politicians court the people for votes and the people make demands, appropriately or not, properly or not. The national treasure is being depleted and the central-local governments have to vie for more, or a better distribution, of the limited public resources.
Debts pile up and some banks become shaky.
Still there are more demands and more promises. All told, the democratization of Taiwan is still a success story, in spite of all the growing pains. Like a toddler, the steps are not firm and straight yet, but it is up and walking, It is noisy, costly, and sometimes frustrating, but it works. It is better than the authoritarian system and clearly the choice of the people. Pay attention to the economy During the same period of democratization, Taiwan has come also to learn about the tide of globalization.