"Recent protests over gas prices in Burma raise a complex question: Why Is Burma -- which sits atop a massive reserve of natural gas -- such an economic basket case? Look no further than the military government's track record of abysmal economic management. Formally classified as a "least developed" country by the United Nations, Burma is mired in deep poverty. Annual per capita GDP is around $1,800 in terms of purchasing-power parity ($300 at the market exchange rate). That's considerably below the income of the next poorest members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodia and Laos, which boast per capita purchasing-power parity GDPs of $2,700 and $2,100, respectively. Burma's unemployment rate is officially just over 10%, but the real figure may be closer to 30%, with many people in the labor force either underemployed or engaged in activities of very low productivity, such as subsistence farming. Add to that a moribund financial system. At a time when even Vietnam is enjoying a booming stock market, Burma boasts all of about 400 bank branches (most of which are decrepit agencies of state-owned institutions), and only 20% of the population have bank accounts. Inflation is rampant -- averaging between 30% and 40% per year over the past five years (it's currently around 50%) -- thanks to a government that for years has financed extraordinary fiscal deficits by running the printing presses..."