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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zeev Hed who wrote (8055)	2/22/1999 6:23:00 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 9980

I agree on the role of Japan, but I also can't help thinking back a decade, to the time when Southeast Asian countries were being urged to adopt policies of "wage restraint" to increase the competitiveness of their exports. The elites in these countries, most of whom are employers, adopted the policy eagerly; exports soared, but domestic populations were reduced to non-consuming beggary. A little more effort toward distribution of the profits generated by the boom that was might have boosted domestic demand very considerably in these countries. If Japan is having trouble persuading the Japanese to consume, maybe they should consider buying up heaps of rupiah, baht, and pesos and giving out coupons for purchase of Japanese-made goods to residents of other Asian countries. They would most certainly buy.

To: Zeev Hed who wrote (8055)	2/22/1999 8:19:00 AM
From: Liatris Spicata	Respond to of 9980

Zeev- My wife just returned from a two-week stay in South Korea. Even though she grew up there, she admits her observations are somewhat perfunctory. But her sense was that the "IMF austerity" (that's how Koreans look at, unfortunately) is over as far as the mind-set of S. Koreans is concerned. Kimpo airport was mobbed with Koreans leaving the country- the vast majority of whom she supposes are returning shortly :). This is in marked contrast to the situation of one year ago. She had some won to exchange into $$US before she left, and went to a bank to make the exchange. She had to wait in line a little over an hour, behind other people wanting to make the same exchange. Koreans may be fooling themselves that things are significantly better than they were six months ago, but perception is part of the equation. And while much hardship remains, unlike what I hear about Japan, people in SK who have money are willing to spend it. Larry