Wednesday 12 November 2008


THIS TIME, SOUTHEAST ASIA IS NOT AT CENTER OF THE CRISIS

Thomas Fuller

The New York Times, November 12, 2008

BANGKOK — The remnants of the last financial crisis are still arrayed across this sprawling city, half-finished buildings covered with mold and rust stains, reminders of a real estate bubble a decade ago that burst with a loud bang.

The crisis of 1997 was breathtaking for its suddenness and ferocity. Banks collapsed, companies went under and erstwhile millionaires, desperate for cash, sold their belongings at what became known as the market of the formerly rich.
Now as another global financial crisis unfolds, the signs of distress in Southeast Asia are much more subtle.

Traffic has thinned by 6 percent on Bangkok’s expressways. Indonesian farmers who harvest the red fruit from oil palm trees are having trouble finding buyers. House prices in Vietnam, a relative newcomer to capitalism, have come down 30 percent in recent months, following years of steep rises.

Stock markets in Southeast Asia have slid downward almost in lockstep with those in New York, London and Tokyo. But outside of trading rooms, there is none of the palpable panic of a decade ago when the region was ground zero in what the Thais called the “tom yam crisis,” after the famous spicy soup that can burn one’s tongue.

(...) [artículo aquí]

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