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rffrydr
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rffrydr
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 Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:27 am Post subject: |
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Berkshire is one of the very few investments you can make here where you KNOW you're not making a bet on the next quarter....or, even, the next cycle.
Koreans put brakes on hot money FDI with tax on Kimchi bonds that have proven to be more than they were intended.
South Korea: kimchi bonds
| Quote: | Search for “kimchi” on the internet, and there are ever more references to South Korea’s market for foreign currency-denominated bonds, not just fermented cabbage. But now Seoul is cracking down on the bonds. It plans to levy a 14 per cent tax on income from bonds held by foreigners. Locals already pay that much.
This technical move should be regarded as the latest gambit in the currency wars. Compared with Switzerland’s blunt defence of the franc, a small tax hike from one of the most experienced currency warriors seems barely a speed bump in the path of capital inflows. But the two are at different stages in the wars. The Swiss are worried about simple economics; a painfully strong currency chokes growth. Seoul, like other large emerging markets, now partially accepts currency strength. They are instead focusing on how to develop markets while limiting destabilising “hot” inflows.
Kimchi bond sales are a potential source of outflows and leave dollar borrowers with significant currency risk – good reasons to clamp down. As of June, nearly four-fifths of the bonds were held by local units of foreign banks and most were not, as originally intended, to settle dollar receipts. Most borrowers switched the proceeds back into won until this was banned in July. This is all too reminiscent of cunning, apparently safe plays on strong emerging market currencies that have sparked crises in the past. Only three years ago, Korea suffered a wave of bankruptcies thanks to “kikos” (knock-in, knockout currency options). Opponents of investment taxes claim they hurt market development. The counter is simple; they don’t hurt half as much as a sudden sharp outflow of funds. Asian currency warriors now know that in the long term, throwing some sand in the wheels of international speculation is the best they can do. Expect more of this as the war rumbles on. |
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HenryTo
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Seth Godin on "short-term capitalism"--you know, the laissez faire kind that was common in the 19th century (and those peddling imitation soy sauce in China today). Ironically, the "robber barons" such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan were the long-term capitalists--ones that were focused on building long-term, sustainable institutions. The short-term ones were the complainers focused on making short-term profits.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/08/short-term-capitalism.html |
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rffrydr
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| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:04 am Post subject: |
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This Harvard BR piece, being promulgated by old Clinton apparently taking Davos by storm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xj0r4
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rffrydr
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| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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Not even free markets like free markets: Oligopoly is the natural tendency.
| Quote: | | One irony of the Comcast-NBC deal is that it's barreling through in the name of media deregulation just as we've lost perhaps the smartest deregulator we've ever had: Alfred E. Kahn, who died two days after Christmas, oversaw the deregulation of the airline industry in the late 1970s, a policy that has saved Americans billions of dollars in fares. |
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20110101,0,7852608.column
http://www.johnkay.com/2010/11/24/radical-innovation-rarely-comes-from-within
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How much competition is enough? Many important markets are dominated by a few large companies. The big four accountancy firms undertake the audits of almost all large corporations. Most current accounts are held at a small number of retail banks. You have a choice of perhaps three or four mobile phone networks. The list of similar oligopolies can easily be extended.
In all these industries, established businesses will tell you that they welcome competition. But, these companies will often explain, enough is enough. Users already have a wide choice of products and suppliers. Measures to encourage new entry, or to prevent incumbents from making mergers and acquisitions, or – worst of all – to give others access to the facilities these incumbents have expensively constructed, are certainly inappropriate and probably harmful. |
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rffrydr
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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Time and Capitalism, always an uncomfortable relationship--when there's a relationship at all. We'll probably not live to see the day when Wall St. finances another nuclear reactor without piggybacking on government (which is probably the way it should be). But two equal and opposite industries, one the star of the 90's, the other this last decade show the fundamental problem. Now, along with banks, Big Pharma and Big Oil, are both becoming utilities. Both are undermined by the fundamental effeminization of our culture--all the benefits of risky new ventures with none of the risk.
At the same time, we see in both a new entrepreneurial spirit. Time to bring back the german model when it comes to accounting. "Transparency" is not the friend we think it is.
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio/worldbiz/worldbiz_20101209-2030a.mp3
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/
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rffrydr
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rffrydr
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Bob
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| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:04 am Post subject: |
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| Well that is a refreshing change! |
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rffrydr
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