Economic War: Trade wars, currency wars and intellectual property wars.
Friday, 08 March 2013 | 1:24 pm
When the pie shrinks, people are less likely to share. It was clear back in early 2011 that with successive rounds or quantitative easing and debt monetization rotating through the world’s central banks, that eventually a trade war would develop. With the consumer demoralized, businesses cautious and governments broke, exports would be the last
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A China Debt Obligation
Friday, 08 March 2013 | 3:45 am
In November 2011 I counseled caution on the Chinese economy, expecting a serious slowdown in growth. At the same time, I was concerned about the poorly policed financial system, a concern which has not gone away, despite the recovery in other parts of the Chinese economy. While the Chinese economy has recovered, it remains at
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Singapore Car Loans. Imprudent Banking Practices
Tuesday, 05 March 2013 | 12:06 am
Until a week ago it was possible to buy a car in Singapore with a 10% down payment and a 10 year loan. Cars are acutely expensive a shortage of land (Singapore is a tiny island at the foot of Malaysia) has necessitated the rationing of cars through a quota system. The rationing requires car
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The Singapore Housing Market. Contingency Plans.
Sunday, 03 March 2013 | 10:13 am
Singapore’s property market has surged since 2008 when it had previously halved from the highs of 2007. Low interest rates, easy credit and an influx of foreigners and foreign capital have propelled housing prices in the past 4 years. Money printing in desperate developed markets have also overflowed into capital attractors like Singapore fueling general
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Pension Model
Saturday, 16 February 2013 | 7:43 am
The ideal pension would be a defined benefit scheme whereby workers would be required to contribute a minimum portion of their earnings into a pension scheme. The assets of this pension scheme would be held in custody on behalf of the worker.
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