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2003-05-05 Southeast Asia

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Posted by Steve White 2003-05-05 12:12 am|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Singapore up, Chile down. See how it works?

But come on, most of us probably still associate the place with this.

Posted by someone 2003-05-05 00:21:28|| 2003-05-05 00:21:28|| Front Page Top

#2 ``Winning over Muslim hearts and minds is very important,'' especially in the wake of the Iraq war,''

Grab 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.

Posted by mojo 2003-05-05 01:59:10|| 2003-05-05 01:59:10|| Front Page Top

#3 I think it's a mistake to be holding back free trade over a spat with Iraq; there are other ways to make the Chileans pay than to limit free trade which has tangible benefits for the United States.

Posted by Brian 2003-05-05 06:40:17|| 2003-05-05 06:40:17|| Front Page Top

#4 Meanwhile... Dr Mahatir has laid plans for Malaysia to remonetise gold as a settlement currency between Muslim nations...

it is an attempt to create their own trading block and give a big F* You to the US$.

They see the weakness inherent in the US paper money. They see the disproportionately huge supply of US dollars coupled with an enormous Current Account Deficit and a massive new bond issue.

They see the rising Euro and realise the gold market is a threat to the US dollar, and they realise they can in one fell swoop damage the US economy and create an Islamic trading block based on traditional Islamic monetary principles: the Gold Islamic Dinar.

Posted by Anon1 2003-05-05 08:05:23|| 2003-05-05 08:05:23|| Front Page Top

#5 Fish-hooks have more intrinsic value than gold and make a better currency.

Posted by Shipman 2003-05-05 08:39:24|| 2003-05-05 08:39:24|| Front Page Top

#6 "Dr." Mahathir of Malaysia sees himself as an economist. He sees a future in mercantilism as opposed to free trade. That is his prerogative. The interesting aspect of the region's economic history is that Malaysia and Singapore were at parity at independence from British rule about 40 years ago. (Singapore seceded from Malaysia after contentious ethnic disputes, but shared with Malaysia the excellent administrative and physical infrastructure left behind by British colonial administrators). Today, Singapore's GDP per capita is about triple Malaysia's. The difference in economic policies is stark - Malaysia adopted a mercantilistic import substitution policy, whereas Singapore adopted a free trade policy.

The loopy economic ideas espoused by Mahathir and his predecessors have contributed to Malaysian underperformance except with respect to its Muslim counterparts. It would be a good thing if he actually goes through with this - another weak Muslim country is not necessarily a bad thing. The funny thing is, Malaysia's claim to fame in the world financial markets is the inept gambling of its central bank on the currency markets, during which its Bank Negara lost billions of dollars betting the wrong way.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-05-05 10:22:00|| 2003-05-05 10:22:00|| Front Page Top

#7 For an interesting essay on currency issues, read this article at the Dilacerator blog: http://qsi.cc/mt/mt-tb.cgi?__mode=view&entry_id=335

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-05-05 10:33:09|| 2003-05-05 10:33:09|| Front Page Top

#8 Question. Singapore is one of the largest trade hubs in the world. Would all of the trade going through Singapore be counted in this free-trade deal, or just trade initiated in Singapore?

Posted by ruprecht 2003-05-05 17:23:38|| [www.ruprechtschwarz.com] 2003-05-05 17:23:38|| Front Page Top

#9 Bilateral trade agreements can become paperwork nightmares, just identifying country of origin of goods and controlling the value added components of product. Singapore has no natural resources (other than labor)and so imports many primary products of assembly. Whether it is the chips for the circuit board, or the board in the computer, or the computer in the microwave oven, only the Singapore value added would apply under trade rules.

Posted by john 2003-05-05 19:57:39|| 2003-05-05 19:57:39|| Front Page Top

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