Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gatsby]

The KOSPI falls for one day, and the Korea Times is forecasting Armageddon.

[JCISML]

Barclays in talks to acquire Lehman business, so not everything is lost yet


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/barclays-talks-buy-lehmans-core/story.aspx?guid=%7BE27A45D6%2D4A76%2D4CB3%2D952E%2D41FE73F9BC80%7D

AIG is said to be too big to be allowed to fail.

[Gatsby]

Good point, JCISML. But I believe Barclays is only interested in the British operations.

So, will any Korean businesses (or another Asian country?) make an offer to purchase Lehman Bros.' Korean offices?

[wylies99]

This would be terrible for the US and South Korea-


AIG downgraded as it struggles to shore up books
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_bi_ge/aig

[Gatsby]

Actually, I am feeling sorry for Korea that it is getting dragged down by the gross regulatory mismanagement of these investment banks by the U.S. government, as well as the housing crisis.

It's not just Korea affected. If you do a google news search, many countries are writing similar stories about their exposure to losses from Lehman Bros. And the potential international exposure to a failure of AIG seems to be even greater.

It is not completely surprising that American firms could be this stupid. But it is surprising that so many countries got sucked into investments related to home mortgages in the U.S. they had little or no expertise in, or at least less than the average resident of the U.S.

But if Korean investors panic, the KOSPI could see greater declines than the NYSE. And the Korea Times articles seem intent on stoking panic. We will soon see how sophisticated they are.

There is an important lesson here, but one that is likely to be learned too late. Korea is affected by the American economy, as is much of the rest of the world, far more than most foreigners seem to have realized.

This lesson is important because it is Korea that has tried to kick American business in the balls. It is like two chain gang prisoners chained together, with one trying to drown the other. While emotionally gratifying, the pleasure is bound to be short lived.

[skeeterses]

So who is this "sociology" expert the OP is talking about? Most likely someone who knows all too well the herd mentality and the stupidity of people who "invest." For over 15 years, investing in America has less to do with economic fundementals and more to do with gambling on lottery tickets. When people invest in Wall Street, they don't do so with the expectation of Ford or GM selling more cars. No; they do so with the expectation of profits and stock prices magically going up without the company actually selling anything. Just look at the size of America's trade deficit, that alone ought to tell people something.

The real bubble is not the housing bubble even, although that's quite a big bubble in itself. The real bubble is the equities bubble that basically makes up most of the US Financial Industry. When Bill Clinton took office in 1992, the DOW Jones Industrial Average went from a measly 1000 points to over 8000 points by the time Clinton left office. And when George W. Bush took over, the DOW went to over 14,000 points. Now, in 15 years, did any of us see our incomes go up by a factor of 14? Did America sell 14 times as many products and actually fix that trade deficit that started under Ronald Reagan's time?

[komerican]

I know! Let's blame the whole credit meltdown on confucianism! Quick find out if there were any confucianists spotted on Wall Street in the last few days. (typical herd-mentality bias you see on these pages)

[bassexpander]

[Juregen]

The initial function of the stock market is to provide capital to companies.


It has turned into a gambling game.

[Kiarell]

When the American economy sneezes the whole world catches a cold. It's only to get much, much worse.

[Yaya]

[Gollywog]

But in Korea, don't they believe germs are good for you?

Here, Korea, have some of America's germs.

[spliff]

Lax regulation has let the stock market to turn into a ponzi scheme. It was only a matter of time those in the know would take their mega profits. I think it also has a lot to do w/ the fear that a liberal might be elected as well. Things will settle down after the election.

[blaseblasphemener]

[skeeterses]

Well you all know the difference between the Democrats and Conservatives;
One party is a bunch of tax and spend liberals and the other party is a bunch of tax and spend conservatives.