China Builds Underground “Great Wall” to Hide Nukes

I’ve said all along that this crisis is not just an economic one.

Americans don’t seem to realize (or only a few realize) that it is a free market that drives military innovation, not vice versa, thus they may have to live with consequences.

From FTO:

The Chinese Army is one of the strongest and biggest in the world and they recently finished their underground "Great Wall of China". The underground tunnel is around 5500km long and starts in Northern China in the Hebei region.

http://fto.co.za/news/china-builds-5500km-underground-tunnel-hide-nukes-2009121416025.html

"The people asked him, “What should we do?”

He replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share with those who are hungry.”

Even public officials came to be forgiven and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”

He replied, “Collect no more than the law requires, do not engage in graft and corruption.'

And What should we do?” asked some soldiers.

John replied, “Do not extort money or make false accusations. Be content with your just wages.”

Luke 3:10-14

IMF Provides Funds for Dubious Green Investments

Another bubble forming? What was the role of the IMF to begin with?

From Bloomberg:

Billionaire George Soros asked the richest nations to use $100 billion of foreign-exchange reserves to finance emissions-reducing projects in poor countries.

The reserves, from the International Monetary Fund, would go into a green fund to “jump start” investments in rain forests, agriculture and land use that would lower carbon- dioxide emissions, the financier said today at climate negotiations involving more than 190 nations in Copenhagen.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&sid=azLkakf3nQu0

Foreign Official Questions Sovereign Debt Default by the U.S.

It’s not just people in the U.S. blogosphere who are concerned about sovereign debt default by the U.S. A Minister of the Australian Parliament has questioned whether the U.S. will default on its debt.

From the Age:

Senior government figures have taken aim at Barnaby Joyce's dire warning about a global financial meltdown if the United States government defaults on its debt. Mr Joyce also came under fire for comments about the financial health of Australian states.

Senator Joyce is concerned that demand for Australia's resources would ''go through the floor'' if the US was not able to pay off its burgeoning foreign debt.

Senator Joyce told Fairfax Media he did not mean to alarm the public but there needed to be a debate about Australia's ''contingency plan'' for a sovereign debt default by the US or even by a local state government.

''How would Australia go forward in a position where the dynamics of the global economy are all changed,'' he said on ABC Radio today.

http://www.theage.com.au/business/joyce-blasted-for-extremist-views-on-debt-20091211-kn3d.html

Thoughts on Writing Posts on the Blog

I started writing on the blog mainly because I wanted to put up some of my drafts I’ve been working on to get some inputs from people around the globe. Then the global financial crisis has gotten worse since the Lehman collapse, so I started writing a blog post on the current matters as they evolve. Of course, the ongoing affairs are closely interrelated with the books I’ve been working on.

I’m careful when I put up my comment on the U.S.’s sites and blogs regarding innovation and economics because despite my good intention (I spent a good portion of my life in the U.S., so I do understand its system and culture, but still), being a non-American I may come across rather condescending and offensive. It would be like how I feel when I see someone other than a Korean criticize the Korean policies and corporate strategies and practices from their perspective. The same holds true for a Korean who write stuff on Korea, but his view is rather Western-centric (frequently U.S.-funded). It’s our history, our policy, our predicament, and our mistake.

Now I’m posting my analysis and thoughts on the innovation strategies of Korea, their relation to economic/social/political progress, comparison to other countries mainly in the hope that next generations (especially leaders) would learn from our experiences and would not commit the same moral corruption. I’ll continue to write about various current issues as the global economy is unfolding since they’re relevant to all of us.

I am afraid that the path the U.S., Japan and some other countries are taking is in the wrong direction. Many predicaments the U.S. faces are not limited to the U.S. We are in this debacle together.(A lot of countries out there and a lot of trouble brewing.) The Dubai incident is just one of them. If the U.S goes down, many other countries could go down with it (e.g., many countries are in a dollar trap). We may be witnessing historical shifts in the global economy. We seem to live in remarkable times.

We all know that the global economic crisis is far from being over and it’s not just the economic one. I know that despite all our earnest efforts, we may not be able to change the current course of affairs, but I feel we still have to do what we can.

Knowing but Not Acting Upon vs. Not Knowing until Cardiac Arrest

Some bloggers and people who follow the real news in the U.S. know that the U.S. economy is in such bad shape (e.g., huge debt overhangs, market manipulation, entitlement liabilities, derivative liabilities, states’ economies collapsing, and so on). They seem to realize how the U.S. has got here (e.g., bad policies, greedy, and stupidity). And yet, the bottom line is: they keep ranting on, but don’t seem to act upon the causes of the problem.

In the meanwhile, many in Asia don’t seem to look at their countries’ books until cardiac arrest.

Which is worse?

Meredith Whitney’s Latest Calls

I respect her macro calls by and large. She has been bearish on the fundamentals like consumer credit collapsing and lack of industrial growth.

The video of Whiney is below:

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&brand=money&vid=d3a2502e-3e9a-45f1-97dc-3c7321dff45d