So, the financial panic in Vietnam is irrelevant?

Well, supreme moderators, we shall see! :-)

Did you read this part of the link?

Edward Teather, UBS economist, said that if Vietnam were to unravel, investor sentiment and financial markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia could all take a knock.

...could all take a knockAnd if hell freezes over we could all claim that the threat of global warming has declined. If the Chinese stop using so much oil, petrol prices in the US could decline

As I see it the real problem for many of us is the UK & US taking a knock from years of borrowing, importing, living way beyond our means & consuming too much oil (especially the US, for the latter).

If this carries on at home, we'll almost need financial shocks in Thailand to preserve the imbalance which keeps the cost of Thai holidays down.

Just another angle on things.

As I see it the real problem for many of us is the UK & US taking a knock from years of borrowing, importing, living way beyond our means & consuming too much oil (especially the US, for the latter).

If this carries on at home, we'll almost need financial shocks in Thailand to preserve the imbalance which keeps the cost of Thai holidays down.

Just another angle on things.

The difference being though the West can deal with it, whilst the West are in a rut at the moment, their economy is basically sound and should recover. Whereas, we can't really say that when the Asian crisis appeared in 1997, it knocked the whole region for six and they couldn't handle it effectively. If it the TimesOnline is accurate in saying Vietnam is in a worse state that the 1997 Asian crisis, which if I remember right started off in Korea, when debt etc got out of control and the Korean Won went haywire, along with other local currencies, then the Asian countries could on this occasion be in for a rough ride - and they have learnt nothing from the last crisis. Although having said that it's not "other" countries' fault that Vietnam or previously Korea have problems, the downside being the whole region falls apart. Lets see what happens over the next few weeks.

[Smiles]

" ... if I remember right started off in Korea, when debt etc got out of control and the Korean Won went haywire ... "
A lot closer to home I'm afraid. It started in Thailand ... snowballed from there:


"The crisis started in Thailand with the financial collapse of the Thai baht caused by the decision of the Thai government to float the baht, cutting its peg to the USD, after exhaustive efforts to support it in the face of a severe financial overextension that was in part real estate driven. At the time, Thailand had acquired a burden of foreign debt that made the country effectively bankrupt even before the collapse of its currency. As the crisis spread, most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies, devalued stock markets and other asset prices, and a precipitous rise in private debt ... " ( MORE at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_financial_crisis )

Cheers ...

[Bob]

A few of the asian countries actually learned something from the financial collapse in the 1990's. Japan, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, and even China ought to be okay as they actualy instituted some reasonable capital controls in their banking systems.
When one reads about selling bank assets for 10% of book value or reads about the very questionable capital of the Thai Military Bank, one wonders if the banks in Thailand learned anything. I'll put money (a little) in them but I sure as hell wouldn't buy their stock.

[cottmann]

Well, supreme moderators, we shall see! :-)

Did you read this part of the link?

Edward Teather, UBS economist, said that if Vietnam were to unravel, investor sentiment and financial markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia could all take a knock.

I would have thought you might be more interested in "Der Spiegel's" report, noted in several other newspapers such as Australia's "The Age," that the IMF is going to investigate the US financial system.

"Under its bylaws, the IMF is charged with the supervision of the international monetary system. Roughly two-thirds of IMF members -- but never the United States -- have already endured this painful procedure.
For seven years, US President George W. Bush refused to allow the IMF to conduct its assessment. Even now, he has only given the IMF board his consent under one important condition. The review can begin in Bush's last year in office, but it may not be completed until he has left the White House. This is bad news for the Fed chairman.
When the final report on the risks of the US financial system is released in 2010 -- and it is likely to cause a stir internationally -- only one of the people in positions of responsiblity today will still be in office: Ben Bernanke.

See http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 91,00.html (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,562291,00.html)

So what? Is this some sort of respected economic journal? Or just something you can reach to for a citation?

Der Spiegel -- don't make me laugh. Try The Economist.

Or is pure anti-Americanism getting in your way?

อิจฉาตาร้อน

What can ever be done about that?

[cottmann]

So what? Is this some sort of respected economic journal? Or just something you can reach to for a citation?

Der Spiegel -- don't make me laugh. Try The Economist.

Or is pure anti-Americanism getting in your way?

อิจฉาตาร้อน

What can ever be done about that?

I see, you can quote from Timesonline but I can't quote from Der Spiegel? You can quote hypothetical situations but I can't quote a factual report, picked up by other news sources. And you accuse me of bias? Can it be that you are anti-German?

I think it's kind of funny when a German accuses an American of being "anti-German."

NO, CHILDREN, WE WON'T TALK ABOUT THAT. Namely, European anti-Americanism, which has now become virulent.

WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT THAT ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. THAT WOULD BE RUDE.

But we CAN accuse Americans of being ANTI-GERMAN, simply because some dumb American thinks Der Spiegel is a piece of trash. Why, if that self-same American had DARED to criticise News of the World -- why, he's just some anti-English [not-to-be-mentioned].

Isn't it nice when we all get along so well? :-)

[TrongpaiExpat]

อิจฉาตาร้อน


Henry is calling you envious or jealous in Thai.

เมตตา แล้วก็ สุภาพ Henry try

[cottmann]

I think it's kind of funny when a German accuses an American of being "anti-German."

NO, CHILDREN, WE WON'T TALK ABOUT THAT. Namely, European anti-Americanism, which has now become virulent.

WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT THAT ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. THAT WOULD BE RUDE.

But we CAN accuse Americans of being ANTI-GERMAN, simply because some dumb American thinks Der Spiegel is a piece of trash. Why, if that self-same American had DARED to criticise News of the World -- why, he's just some anti-English [not-to-be-mentioned].

Isn't it nice when we all get along so well? :-)

It's even funnier - I'm not German!!

Why don't you Google "American anti-Europeanism" (in quotes) and read some of the 500 plus hits that it identifies, including the one that begins "Like the proverbial elephant in the room, American anti-Europeanism has loomed large for so long that few trouble to notice it." The quote is from Linda Colley's article "With Europe and America, the feeling is always mutual," from The Guardian, Thursday April 27, 2006. Then maybe some american knees will jerk less often at what was originally a perfectly innocent posting without any anti-Americanism intended. As it said in the original posting, I though you might be more interested in that report than one of the Viet Namese dong.

cr├бic

[cottmann]

อิจฉาตาร้อน


Henry is calling you envious or jealous in Thai.

เมตตา แล้วก็ สุภาพ Henry try

Envious of whom?

私は嫉妬深くないです

[Aunty]

So Dung's Dong is down, is it?