Editing Ne Win (section)

===Economic policies===
[[File:1966-06 1966年刘少奇陈毅夫妇与缅甸奈温夫妇.jpg|thumb|Ne Win with Chinese president [[Liu Shaoqi]] in June 1966]]
Ne Win's government nationalized the [[Economy of Myanmar|economy]] and pursued a policy of [[autarky]], which involved the [[economic]] [[Isolationism|isolation]] of Burma from the world. The ubiquitous [[black market]] and rampant [[smuggling]] supplied the needs of the people, while the central government slid slowly into [[bankruptcy]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Power & Money: Economics and Conflict in Burma|url=http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/power-money-economics-and-conflict-burma|access-date=7 November 2020|website=www.culturalsurvival.org|date=9 April 2010 |language=en|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129020040/https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/power-money-economics-and-conflict-burma|url-status=live}}</ref> Autarky also involved expelling foreigners and restricting visits by foreigners to three days, and after 1972, one week. The Burmanization of the economy included the expulsion of many Chinese (along with Indians).<ref name=":Han">{{Cite book |last=Han |first=Enze |title=The Ripple Effect: China's Complex Presence in Southeast Asia |date=2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-769659-0 |location=New York, NY}}</ref>{{Rp|page=141}} Ne Win's government prohibited foreigners from owning land and practicing certain professions.<ref name=":Han" />{{Rp|page=141}} Even foreign aid organizations were banned; the only [[humanitarian aid]] permitted was on an intergovernmental basis. Furthermore, heavy-handed [[Political repression|political oppression]] caused many in the educated workforce to emigrate.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Myanmar – Since independence|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar|access-date=7 November 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504062055/https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ne Win also took drastic steps regarding the [[Myanmar kyat|currency]]. In 1985, he issued a decree that 25, 35, and 75 kyat notes would cease to be legal tender, alleging that they were subject to hoarding by [[Black marketeer|black-marketeers]] and were also used to finance the various insurgencies. Though limited compensation was offered, this wiped out people's savings overnight. At least one insurgency, that of the ethnic [[Kayan people (Myanmar)|Kayan]], was triggered by this act.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 July 1988 |title=Burma: Prospects for Reform of Ne Win's 'No Win' Economic Policies" [censored word(s)#93; |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP89G01321R000500010005-2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721205732/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP89G01321R000500010005-2.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2021 |access-date=21 July 2021 |publisher=CIA}}</ref>

In 1987, reportedly on the recommendation of an [[Astrology|astrologer]] that [[Numerology|the number nine was auspicious]], Ne Win ordered the withdrawal of several large-denomination kyat notes while issuing new denominations of 45 and 90 kyats. Both 45 and 90 are divisible by nine, and their numerals add up to nine. Again, millions of [[Burmese people|Burmese]] lost their life savings, and the demonetization also rendered about 75% of the entire kyat reserves completely useless.<ref name="drowning">George Packer, [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/25/080825fa_fact_packer?currentPage=all "Drowning"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130132658/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/25/080825fa_fact_packer?currentPage=all |date=30 November 2012 }}, ''The New Yorker'', 25 August 2008</ref> This crippled the Burmese economy further still.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Selochan|first1=Viberto|url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/military-and-democracy-asia-and-pacific|title=The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific|last2=May|first2=Ron|year=2004|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=978-1-920942-00-7|language=en|access-date=17 November 2020|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305033013/http://press.anu.edu.au//mdap/mobile_devices/ch03s05.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ne Win was well known for his penchant for ''[[yadaya]]'' (traditional Burmese rituals performed in order to ward off misfortune).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bruinskeptics.org/2008/05/26/how-astrology-ruined-myanmars-economy/ |title=Bruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists » How Astrology Ruined Myanmar's Economy |access-date=2 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803225416/http://bruinskeptics.org/2008/05/26/how-astrology-ruined-myanmars-economy/ |archive-date=3 August 2010 }}</ref> When his soothsayer warned him that there might be a bloodbath, he would stand in front of a mirror and trample on meat to simulate the blood, then shoot his reflection to avert the possibility of an [[assassination attempt]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dgmoen.net/video_trans/014.html |title=Inside Burma :: DGMoen.net :: Promoting Social Justice, Human Rights, and Peace |access-date=13 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430010209/http://www.dgmoen.net/video_trans/014.html |archive-date=30 April 2011 }}</ref>

Ne Win resigned as chairman of the ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party on 23 July 1988 at the height of the [[8888 Uprising|uprising against his regime]], and roughly one year after the United Nations declared Burma a "[[Developing country|Least Developed Country]]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Martin|date=6 December 2002|title=Obituary: General Ne Win|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/06/guardianobituaries|access-date=7 November 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118073618/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/06/guardianobituaries|url-status=live}}</ref>