Advising Burma?s generals on how to run the country?s economy is a risky business... "During a rare economic forum held [in Rangoon?] in cooperation with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in December, U Myint, a retired economics professor at the Rangoon Institute of Economics, unveiled a few economic reform proposals. Two Rangoon farmers chat in their feld after harvesting rice. About half of Burma?s GDP comes from agriculture. (Photo: AFP) In a follow-up to this gathering, which was attended by former World Bank chief economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, U Myint, who has also served as an economic adviser to ESCAP, held a press briefing at the Myanmar Egress Capacity Development Center in Rangoon on Jan. 9. In a press statement, U Myint recalled that someone at the earlier conference expressed the view that the only people worth talking to in Burma are the generals, but the generals are poor listeners, so it was a waste of time talking to them because nothing useful will result..."