Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yaya]

And experts say the won will keep appreciating versus the dollar, possibly to around 1,000 next year.

I'm sure this will make a lot of people on this board happy.

[AsiaESLbound]

[pkang0202]

My severance and bonuses don't kick in unti March. I hope the Won doesn't crash before that happens.

[geldedgoat]

I'm just praying it gets back to the 2006 levels before I leave here for good. It sure was nice getting over $1000 for just W900k.

[rooster_2006]

Here's the article about what the US is doing, economically-speaking, in the Korea Times:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2010/11/202_75768.html

This pumping of 600 billion dollars to devalue the dollar is a really good idea, something that I've been advocating for years, as an American citizen. The USD has been grossly overvalued for some time now. It has been hurting our exports and job market.

We can't manufacture anything anymore because American workers are just too darned expensive because of our overvalued currency. All the manufacturing jobs go out to China and other developing countries, as a result.

All the decent IT jobs are going out to India. Why pay an American college grad $50,000 a year when an Indian college grad will do exactly the same work for $7,000 a year?

For far too long, the US has been pushing on China to change the value of the RMB. This is a flawed approach. It's like telling your neighbor to make his lawn brown and ugly so that yours will look greener. Even if China agrees and values their currency, another developing country will simply take its place. India. Bangladesh. Pakistan. Vietnam. Ghana. The list of whack-a-moles that will pop up as soon as China values the RMB is easily 100+ countries long.

The solution is to devalue the US dollar and make the American worker cheaper without seriously compromising quality of life within the US. Use the same principle that China, India, etc. have been using for years. If we can't get other countries to value their currencies more highly, we should adapt to their economic tactics and use their tactics, as well. In other words, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Sure, a few problems will ensue. Gasoline and other imports will become more expensive. Traveling abroad will become more expensive. However, these problems are absolutely insignificant compared to 9.6% unemployment, massive outflow of jobs, and a country that doesn't manufacture anything anymore.

Jobs will fly back into the US at an incredible rate if we devalue our currency enough. Professions that, for the most part, left the country long ago -- programmer, Web designer, tech support worker, assembly line worker, customer service rep, software engineer -- maybe these jobs will COME BACK to the US and reduce the 9.6% unemployment rate!

And not only that, Americans working abroad will save more money in USD. That is what is happening with the won.

Of course China, Brazil, and Germany don't like this. Why should they? American workers will become more competitive internationally. However, in the cases of China and Brazil, they have long undervalued their currencies to gain an advantage, so for them to reprimand the US for doing exactly the same thing -- "Pot. Kettle. Black."

[Globutron]

Converts the same as it did months ago for the Pound...

[Poker]

I'm glad I exchanged my savings out of USD last month May the Asian currencies get stronger! If I had to convert back the cash, it would be an extra $2000 now, simply from the exchange rate.

[johnnyrook]

Good for the Americans I guess... when I came here a year ago it was about cheon won for one Aussie dollar. Now it's up to 1120 won.

[markhan]

Sorry to say it, but majority of economists would laugh at your reasoning.
Just a simple math would indicate how fallible your argument is.
The last time I checked, GNP per capita for the US was over 30,000 dollars compared to only around 1,000 dollars for China (even less for India). http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_gro_nat_inc_percap-gross-national-income-per-capita In this background, do you think small (even large) devaluation of dollar will have impact as you claim? Even you assert that it will be hard to employ an American who makes $50,000 as opposed to an Asian Indian who makes $7,000 in IT industry. And now, with the simple devaluation, �programmer, Web designer, tech support worker, assembly line worker, customer service rep, software engineer� will come back to the US? Man, that has got to be a major, all-time astronomical devaluation!!!!

For further reading, here is the quote from http://reason.com/archives/2010/10/26/china-bashing-is-for-losers

�Think about the IPod, for instance. It is designed in America and its 451 parts are made in dozens of different countries. But just because it is finally assembled in China, it officially counts as a Chinese import and therefore a contributor to America�s trade deficit�never mind that the Chinese add only $4 to the IPod�s $150 final value. Imposing duties on IPods to slash the deficit, then, won�t just cost Chinese jobs in Beijing assembly plants, but American jobs in Cupertino (Apple�s headquarters) computer labs.

[rooster_2006]