IHT reported on the South-East Asian economies amidst the global economic slowdown. The article acknowleged that while the contagion that radiates from the West is affecting the region's financial markets and real economies, news of the financial turmoil is greeted "like news of a plague several valleys away."
I will take the analogy further: the patients several valleys away are the major consumers of the regional produces, from commodities, such as paim oil and rubber, to manufactured goods, such as IT products and sports shoes, to the service industries, such as tourism and banking. Who are to support these industries when the patients are being administered heavy dosage of austerity? The situation are especially acute when the plague is spreading across Grand Canyon, Alps and Fuji faster than Ebola virus.
Hopefully, the villagers from Yangtze ang Ganges could acquire the taste of consumerism in double quick fashion, but I won't be holding my breath.
I will take the analogy further: the patients several valleys away are the major consumers of the regional produces, from commodities, such as paim oil and rubber, to manufactured goods, such as IT products and sports shoes, to the service industries, such as tourism and banking. Who are to support these industries when the patients are being administered heavy dosage of austerity? The situation are especially acute when the plague is spreading across Grand Canyon, Alps and Fuji faster than Ebola virus.
Hopefully, the villagers from Yangtze ang Ganges could acquire the taste of consumerism in double quick fashion, but I won't be holding my breath.
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