Asia

Copper And Gold Flowing From Turquoise Hill – Part I With Harris Kupperman

"The whole country is basically a boomtown. It’s one of these funny places where you really need to be on the ground to understand it. So you have a country that five, ten years ago didn’t have that much in the way of wealth, and the average citizen wasn’t making that much money. And suddenly they’ve gotten really high paying jobs in the mining sector, and they’re making a few thousand U.S. dollars a month. Prior to this mining project, some of them weren’t making that much in a whole year. All of this newfound wealth is entering the economy. It’s creating a middle class. It’s creating a booming economy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCopper And Gold Flowing From Turquoise Hill – Part I With Harris Kupperman

Official refuses to resign after saying Japan should follow Nazis’ constitution overhaul

"'The German Weimar constitution changed, without being noticed, to the Nazi German constitution. Why don’t we learn from their tactics?' Days later, Aso insisted he had been misunderstood and that he was not praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s political prowess, but rather saying constitutional reform should be not be influenced by media criticism or animosity from Japan’s neighbours. Aso is known for his sometimes clumsy and uncomfortable remarks, including saying earlier this year that elderly people should 'hurry up and die' to avoid taxing the country’s medical system." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial refuses to resign after saying Japan should follow Nazis’ constitution overhaul

Brawl breaks out in Taiwanese legislature over planned nuclear plant

"Taiwanese lawmakers hurled water and wrestled each other to the floor of the island’s parliament Friday in a brawl which broke out during a debate on the fate of a controversial nuclear plant. Dozens of lawmakers from opposing camps clashed as they tried to seize the chamber’s podium and splashed water from cups and plastic bottles at each other. Two scuffling lawmakers from opposing parties fell onto the floor before they were pulled apart by others in footage broadcast live on television. The fourth nuclear plant is about 90 percent complete and due to come online in 2015, according to its operator the state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrawl breaks out in Taiwanese legislature over planned nuclear plant

Bitcoin is NOT illegal in Thailand?

"'I can confirm that Bitcoin is not illegal [in Thailand],' says BTCXpert and former Bank of Thailand employee Frankie Bishop. An official announcement on Bitcoin has yet to be made by the Bank of Thailand, and none of the Thai media channels report any such announcement. The Bank of Thailand does not decide the legality of Bitcoin. Any regulations on crypto-currencies in Thailand will need to go through its formal process like Bitcoin does in other countries. None of the 'Roles and Responsbilities' listed by the Bank of Thailand give it authority to determine the legal status of any currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin is NOT illegal in Thailand?

“Hurry Up and Die”: The Inescapable Outcome of Socialized Medicine

"Since the old generally require more — and more expensive — medical treatment than the young, the increasingly aged population is putting a severe strain on Tokyo’s health care budget. One Japanese politician, however, has come up with a solution: Just let the elderly die, instead of treating them. That is, in fact, what is already happening in Great Britain, a country that has suffered under socialized medicine for 65 years. There, under a program of sedation and dehydration called the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), National Health Service (NHS) hospitals euthanize about 130,000 people a year." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“Hurry Up and Die”: The Inescapable Outcome of Socialized Medicine

Who Really Started the Korean War?

"We were fighting on behalf of Syngman Rhee, the US-educated-and-sponsored dictator of South Korea, whose vibrancy was demonstrated by the large-scale slaughter of his leftist political opponents. For 22 years, Rhee’s word was law, and many thousands of his political opponents were murdered: tens of thousands were jailed or driven into exile. Whatever measure of liberality has reigned on the Korean peninsula was in spite of Washington’s military presence. When the country finally rebelled against Rhee, and threw him out in the so-called April Revolution of 1960, he was ferried to safety in a CIA helicopter as crowds converged on the presidential palace." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho Really Started the Korean War?

India’s falling GDP growth, financial inclusion and likely impact on Gold

"Governments have urged public sector banks to take up financial inclusion as a top priority and several initiatives have been taken to take banking to the door steps of the rural households. The lack of a well-developed banking system with sufficient penetration in rural areas could be a major reason for people to invest their savings in gold coins and jewellery. But the introduction of Aadhaar (universal identification system), and linking payment of subsidies through Aadhaar linked bank accounts could in course of time force people to think of alternatives to investing in gold, if they are found to be providing risk free returns." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia’s falling GDP growth, financial inclusion and likely impact on Gold

5,000 Chinese factory workers strike over Indian takeover of American firm

"Cooper Tire and Rubber announced last month that it would be taken over by Apollo Tyres of India, making the combined group the seventh-largest such firm in the world. But thousands of staff at Cooper Chengshan, a joint venture in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, have walked out in protest, the Xinhua news agency said late Tuesday. It is the latest incident to hit a foreign joint venture after Chinese workers held an American factory executive hostage for nearly a week in late June over a plan by his US-based medical supply company to lay off 30 workers." Continue reading →

Continue Reading5,000 Chinese factory workers strike over Indian takeover of American firm

Countering rupee devaluation: Pakistani govt slaps temporary ban on gold imports

"In an attempt to address steep devaluation of the rupee against the dollar, Pakistan on Tuesday temporarily banned import of gold to save the precious foreign currency reserves. The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, took the decision to ban the import of the yellow metal for one month with immediate effect. After the Indian government’s decision to discourage gold import by imposing 8% duties, the buyers had shifted to Pakistan where the commodity was allowed to be imported duty free since 2001." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCountering rupee devaluation: Pakistani govt slaps temporary ban on gold imports

Japan now reconsidering sales-tax hike

"Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may ditch a long-planned hike in the national sales tax, a senior official said Sunday, according to Kyodo News. Abe had intended to help shore up Japan's finances by raising the 5% national consumption tax to 10% in two steps, slated for April 2014 and October 2015. But Kyodo quoted Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as saying in a television interview that Abe would reconsider the issue 'after revised data are released in September on preliminary figures for April-June gross domestic product, and before a fall extraordinary Diet session.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan now reconsidering sales-tax hike