le ‘per capita income’ is a good way of assessing a ‘market’ economy, it is poor way of judging a ‘subsistence’ economy. An individual can be quite happy with no money, if he has enough to eat and is surrounded by a loving community.

However, malnutrition is another widespread problem in Indochina. Let us see how Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam compare with the rest of the world on the Global Hunger Index. It rates countries on 3 categories: 1) the mortality rate of children under the age of 5, 2) underweight children under 5, and 3) the proportion of undernourished citizens.

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