Korean Job Discussion Forums

[TECO]

Now I'm sure glad I didn't go to Korea.

[Tobias]

[nuthatch]

though Wall Street was a little up on Friday with the Treasury Secretary announcement (maybe Korean market will be better a little on Monday - but prepare for it to drop again the next day),

the longterm is grimness

[nuthatch]

additionally, regarding the confidence around the markets:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/geithner-said-to-be-named-treasury-secretary/?hp

[mack the knife]

All signs point towards this scenario:

2008:
The U.S. stock market will drop significantly (or crash, depending on how optimistic one is).

The Korean won will drop with it.

2009:
The Koeran housing bubble will collapse.

The won will depreciate further.

[sojourner1]

Dam Mack, that sounds like a crapola turd way to have to go. I sure hope not. Time will only tell just how craptastic it will be next year or how fair it is. Fair as in 1000 Won to the USD; not 1100, not 1200, not 1300, not 2000, not 2100, but 1000 baby. We'll need everything we can get since it takes time to repatriate and takes time to find a job and the job market in the West is horrible for the foreseeable future especially if you've been gone a few years and have no contacts that can get you in the door. This is one expensive day and age we live in with decreasing rewards for career and work due to an economy changing in a negative way that only benefits the rich to get richer. It's shit samwich for sure for many years to come, but try is all we can do and is our instinct.

[mack the knife]

ZURICH (Reuters) - The financial crisis that has engulfed many top banks is
spiraling into a broader economic crisis that has yet to peak, International
Monetary Fund's top economist Olivier Blanchard told a Swiss newspaper on
Saturday.

Blanchard said the crisis would continue for another year and called on
governments to promote fiscal expansion and on central banks to cut rates
toward zero.

"The worst is yet to come," he was quoted as saying in Finanz und Wirtschaft
as he noted how the banking sector's woes had started to spill over into the
real economy by hitting the carmaking industry.

"This is only the beginning," he added. "The risk exists that the data will
get worse and worse, which would then lead to more pessimistic expectations
and accelerate a fall in demand."

"It will take a long time before we go back to normal conditions."

Blanchard said the crisis should last for another year, but normal growth
would return only in 2011.

"For 2009 we (the IMF) forecast negative growth on average in the
industrialized nations," he said. "In 2010 there should be a recovery and we
should go back to normal in 2011."

Blanchard said governments have up until now not done enough to address the
crisis and called for fiscal stimulus both in the United States and Europe.

"In normal times the IMF would argue that budget deficits must be reduced
... But we are not living in normal times. Demand has collapsed. This is why
a broad fiscal expansion is needed," he said.

Blanchard said central banks should cut rates as much as possible to avert
the risk of a "Great Depression" scenario.

"They have to lower interest rates and bring them as close to zero as
possible," he said.

"We have to use all the ammunition that we have in order to limit the
collapse of demand."

[Alyssa]

[Tobias]

Not only do some believe it's a minor bump, but some also believe it's a random-events scenario.

This crisis has been manufactured by your real rulers. Get ready for 12-15 months of lean times. It's not going to be over until your real masters say it's over. In the meantime, batten down the hatches, get into a solid year-long here if you can, and wait it out. If you're leaving, head to someplace like Thailand and wait it out there on a warm beach.

Good luck to all. We're all going to need luck for getting through this decline.

[seosan08]

I've been telling people I know for the last 2 years to buy gold. In bad times, it's what people have been going back to for the last 6000 years. Gold is still cheap, but there's not a lot of time left before it goes back to $1k then on to $2k. Buy some gold if you have any spare money laying around!

[seoul101]

Seosan, where and how in Korea is a good place to buy gold? I've been considering the possibility for a while now, but don't know the best way to go about it.

[seosan08]

[RJjr]

This article mentions the Korean won:

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/laird112008.html

[JFuller317]

I don't think most people believe this is just a random occurrence. But the way it is happening just seems so illogical. If the won really hits a rate of 2000 next year, that would be a 50% loss of value in one year. I've never heard of a currency losing 50% of its value without some massive inflation to go along with it, and there hasn't been that much inflation.

Is all this really caused by bankers frantically trying to buy dollars?

[DCJames]