Regional Tide Lifts Laotian Boats

September 2006 | Ratings Update

The recent turnover at the top of the Communist Party has not fundamentally altered our structural ratings. This comes as little surprise, considering the notoriously pervicacious Lao political leaders, and the poor structural political ranking we assign the country. The wretched state of Laotian institutions is the main drag, with the country scoring zeroes across the board. Save for a reasonably sound Gini coefficient (most Laotians are equally impoverished), and the absence of significant foreign policy disputes, the structural political rating of 41.7 could be even lower. Still, as with Cambodia, the absence of a feasible opposition begets short-term

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