Dinged Dong, Vietnam gets the gong
If this doesn’t sound familiar your name’s been in the obits.
Markdown of dong, the Vietnamese currency, seen as act of desperation
Vietnam lurched closer to a currency crisis yesterday as the Government cut the official exchange rate to a record low. UBS analysts said that the country’s economic profile was more extreme than that of Thailand on the eve of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
As well as severe concerns over prospects for the dong, some observers see signs that Vietnam faces the growing risk of a banking crisis. They say that investors should be aware of a potentially drastic blow to sentiment when views on the entire region are fragile.
Edward Teather, UBS economist, said that if Vietnam were to unravel, investor sentiment and financial markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia could all take a knock. [snip]
Analysts said that the rising risk of a sudden and crippling depreciation comes as the cracks in Vietnam’s vaunted “economic miracle” have grown too large to ignore. Only 18 months since Vietnam entered the World Trade Organisation, inflation is running above 26 per cent and the country is facing a swollen trade deficit that dwarfs those of its SouthEast Asian neighbours. [snip]
Investors have deserted Vietnamese shares, sending the benchmark index down more than 60 per cent since January and giving it the status of the world’s worst performer in the past year. Soaring commodity inflation, particularly in food and fuel prices, has hit Vietnam many times more fiercely than it has the rest of Asia. Now, Vietnamese lured from villages by the promise of work in booming new factories are finding the pay inadequate and are striking for better salaries.
In the above para, change Vietnam to the United States. Sometime, from August to next April the food and fuel inflation will hit hard. If the GOP keeps control of the Senate it’s going to be bad, if the Democrats win it will be ruinous.
Archived in: 2008 Election, Deficit, Deflation, Democrats, Economics, Economy, Republicans, VietnamJune 29, 2008 at 8:15 am | Trackback
5 comments
I brought a few Dong home, and some piastres too. Now they’re worthless. Imagine. Vietnamization here in the US.
I can see a President Obama expropriating all those rich people’s (anyone making over 50k working in the dreaded private, for profit sector) 401k’s, real estate, and other investments to pay for necessary (in his mind) relief payments for the idle class..err.. I mean the blessed poor and perpetually indignant…err…I mean those poor bruthas and sistahs on welfare.
I’d expect the Dope from Change to try that, along with a few other choice mechanisms to “fix” our problems, such as energy and foot rationing, travel restrictions and of course, limits on information exchange in order to prevent hoarders and other kapitalist running dogs to trade goods outside of fedgov’s control, as well as keep the opposition to Hussein’s rule fractured and unable to organize the needed march on Washington to dispatch all those fools with condign severity and water the Tree of Liberty.
If Juan McCain should manage to win, I don’t see any sign that he’d be much better, except in the fact that he may choose not to have the fedgov go on a wild power binge and expropriate the private economy. This, combined with say a 20 year moratorium on all Federal labor, economic, health, safety and environmental regs might result in a rebirth of the American Economy, and the recognition that we don’t need all these damn wastes of space known as bureaucrats.
Rhod, given the way their economy is going, the Minister of Finance Ng Uh Ao, will be looking for you to pay interest on that “liberated” currency. Me too!
Bryan, the DC megillah is clueless when it comes to business, finance and anything economic.
McCain admits it at least. Obama doesn’t know a dividend from a derivative. Congress is a bunch of drunks in a whorehouse, spending money and getting nothing but the clap. Then they steal more from the taxpayers, go back and spread the disease.
It is going to take a bloody revolt to get these bozos out of there.
VW, I agree, but given the Obamassiah’s tendencies, I’d suspect that he would make things far worse for Normal America than Juan McCain would.