Today's Reserve Currency Is Tomorrow's Wallpaper

The trend is clear.  One has to see the structure and participation of the global capital markets.

From Zero Hedge:

Somehow, like it or not, the world turns. Today's hegemon becomes tomorrow's also-ran. Today's reserve currency becomes tomorrow's wallpaper. Today's cock o' the walk becomes tomorrow's dinner. Hey, we didn't create this system. We don't even especially like it. But that's just the way it is. Whether you already have made a fortune, or are trying to build one, you need to be very careful about what currency... or currencies...  your wealth in denominated in. From an economic point of view, the system (established by Richard Nixon in 1971) is loopy. The Chinese pretend they have good customers. Americans pretend they have good credit. And everyone pretends to get richer … based on promises to settle up sometime in the future. Instead of edging toward a reckoning, all major governments seem to want to make the situation worse.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-10/todays-reserve-currency-tomorrows-wallpaper

Korea Gov't Debt Rising at Worrisome Pace

Again, Korea is in the danger zone in terms of the government debt.

From Yonhap:

South Korea's level of national debt is lower than other major economies, but its pace of increase over the past 10 years is a source of concern, finance and budget officials said Sunday.

An estimate based on the 2014 budget puts the year's government debt at 514.8 trillion won (US$487.96 billion), up 50.1 trillion won from 2013.

The projected ratio of debt to gross domestic product is 36.4 percent, well below the 108.8 percent average of member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2012, but the pace of its rise has quickened in recent years, officials said. Between 2000 and 2012, South Korean debt increased an average of 12.3 percent per year, higher than Southern European nations suffering from fiscal crisis including Spain, Greece and Italy. For 2008-14, the annual increase measured 8.9 percent.

South Korea ranked seventh in terms of its debt increase among the 34 OECD nations.

The country's government liabilities had spiked in the late 1990s from the Asian financial crisis and its aftermath as the government had to inject massive public funds to prop up the economy, and again in 2008 from the global downturn originating from Wall Street.

Officials say the trend is somewhat alarming considering South Korea's fast-aging population and the debt level of public entities.

The rise in non-asset based debts is also alarming, surpassing half of the total debt last year for the first time at 245.4 trillion won. These kinds of debts fall directly on the taxpayers.

The government put the debt-to-GDP ratio at 35.6 percent for 2017, hoping to bring it down from the current level to maintain fiscal soundness.

But economy watchers say expenditure demands from health care and other social welfare programs are bound to spike, squeezing the budget.

"State debts are determined by government revenue and spending," a state budget planning official, who declined to be named, pointed out. "The only way to adequately manage the debts is to increase the revenue sources by adjusting tax cuts and exemptions, and improving the effectiveness of government spending."


http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2014/01/05/65/0502000000AEN20140105000500320F.html

3D 프린터의 진화…버튼 누르면 과자·케이크 등 먹거리가 '쑥'

I hope that the Korean small business would take advantage of this awesome technology advancement.

한국경제로부터:

구두 디자인을 컴퓨터에 입력하고 프린트 버튼을 누른다. 한참 뒤 날렵한 모양의 빨간색 구두 한 짝이 나온다. 미리 정한 235㎜ 사이즈로 발에 딱 맞다. 옆에선 달콤한 과자와 케이크가 만들어지고 있다. 오븐이 아닌 프린터에서 나오는 먹거리다. 원하는 모양을 선택하고 설탕과 초콜릿 분말을 넣으면 끝이다. 바닐라나 민트향을 넣거나 사과와 체리를 첨가해 다른 맛을 낼 수도 있다. 이때 음악 소리. 밴드가 연주하는 전자기타와 드럼의 본체는 모두 프린터로 ‘제조’했다.

3D(3차원) 프린팅 업체들은 미국 라스베이거스에서 열리고 있는 세계 최대 가전쇼 ‘CES 2014’에서 이 같은 ‘마법’을 눈앞에서 펼쳐보였다. 8일(현지시간) 찾은 ‘3D 프린팅 테크존’은 부스마다 관람객들로 발디딜 틈이 없었다. 선두주자들인 3D시스템즈와 메이커봇인더스트리, 스컬프테오, 스트라타시스 등은 저마다의 기술력을 뽐내며 관람객들의 탄성을 자아냈다. 올해 3D 프린팅 독립전시관을 처음 마련한 CES 주최 측은 참여 업체가 많아 당초 계획보다 부스 규모를 3배나 키웠다고 밝혔다.

3D 프린팅은 입체 형상을 실물로 재현해내는 기술이다. 액체 형태의 소재를 분사해 층층이 쌓아올리는 방식으로 물건을 만들고 레이저로 굳힌다. 스트라타시스가 부스 입구에 내건 “이것은 그냥 프린터가 아닙니다. 아이디어 엔진입니다”라는 문구는 3D 프린팅 기술의 혁신을 단적으로 보여준다.

3D 프린터는 지난해 CES에도 전시됐지만, 올해는 훨씬 편리하고 현실화된 모습으로 발전했다. 상용화 속도도 빨라지는 모습이다. 가격을 499달러(53만원)까지 낮춘 제품이 등장했을 뿐 아니라 복잡한 절차없이 전원코드만 꽂으면 쉽게 사용할 수 있도록 만든 제품이 늘었다.

시장조사업체 가트너는 10만달러 미만의 3D 프린터 시장이 지난해 5만6507대에서 올해 9만6500대, 내년엔 19만4642대로 급성장할 것으로 내다봤다. CES 현장에서 만난 컨설팅업체 엑센추어 관계자는 “조만간 자동차 부품과 휴대폰 케이스뿐 아니라 항공우주, 의료 산업 등에도 본격적으로 3D 프린터가 도입될 것으로 본다”고 말했다.

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2014010951481&intype=1

"Put on, as God’s chosen ones, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing and forgiving one another; if one has a grievance against another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ rule your hearts, the peace into which you were also called. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you, as in wisdom you teach one another, with gladness in your hearts."
Colossians 3:12-20

Samsung Plans Aggressive Investments in 2014

Samsung is a well-known IT giant. It is making an aggressive move in healthcare areas like pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

From Yonhap:

Samsung Group, South Korea's top conglomerate, is expected to make aggressive investments in its mainstay businesses this year, industry sources said Sunday, with their focus on whether its annual investment will top 50 trillion won (US$47.4 billion).

The group has steadily increased its annual investment in facilities and research and development to some 49 trillion won last year from 42 trillion won in 2011.

According to the sources, Samsung Electronics Co, the world's largest smartphone maker, and Samsung Everland Inc., the de facto holding company of the group, will each spend 84.7 billion won to buy new shares issued by Samsung Biologics Co. next month.

Late last month, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Everland said they will invest a total of 600 billion won in the group's biopharmaceutical manufacturing unit by August.

Samsung Biologics was established in April 2011 as part of Samsung's plan to seek a new growth engine by diversifying its businesses outside its mainstay consumer electronics and mobile devices.

Half of the total investment will be spent on the second plant of Samsung Biologics, currently under construction. The second plant, to be equipped with 10 bioreactors with 15,000-liter working volumes, is scheduled to be completed by 2015. The company's first plant has two bioreactors with volumes of 15,000 liters.

A bioreactor is a device or system that supports a biologically active environment and are used to grow cells.

"We have expedited the groundbreaking date for the second plant from the initial 2015 as market demand for biologics has been growing at a faster pace," said an official at Samsung Biologics.

Last year, Samsung Biologics signed deals with Basel-based Swiss Loch Group and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) of the U.S.


http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2014/01/05/78/0501000000AEN20140105000600320F.html

2014년 중소기업 정책자금 3.82조원 공급

The Park administration seems to provide institutional support to nurture the Korean SMEs. I commented that this is necessary for Korea to spur innovation and sustain its economy. Let's see how it would work.

정책브리핑으로부터:

중소기업청(청장 한정화)은 중소기업의 설비투자 및 운영자금 융자지원을 위한 2014년도 중소기업 정책자금 운용계획을 발표하였다.

2014년도 정책자금 예산규모(안)*은 ‘13년도 당초 예산규모(3.85조원)와 유사한 3.82조원 규모로 편성되었다.

특히 ‘14년도 정책자금은 일자리 창출기업에 대한 우대를 확대하여,

지원업체 중 추가 고용 1인당 0.1%p 정책자금 대출금리를 인하(최대 1%p → 2%p)하고,

10인 이상 고용창출 기업에 대한 개별기업 융자한도(45억원)의 예외를 적용하여 70억원까지 대출이 가능하도록 하였다.

중소기업의 성장사다리 구축을 위해서 기술․사업성 우수기업의 장기․시설투자 지원 전용자금 신설하고,

* 중진공의 기업평가 우수기업에게 만기 15년 이내의 장기대출, 기업이 고정금리 또는 변동금리 선택 가능

중기청 소관 R&D사업 성공기업 전용자금(500억원)을 운용하여 R&D 기업의 성공률을 제고하고, R&D사업과 융자사업의 시너지 효과를 제고한다.

‘13년 하반기 시범운용 결과(19개 업체, 50억원)를 바탕으로, ’14년에는 150억원 규모의 특허담보대출을 실시(개발기술사업화자금 활용)한다.

* 대출자금의 용도 : (’13 하반기) 운전자금 → (’14) 운전자금, 시설자금

또한, ‘지식재산경영인증기업’을 혁신형 기업*에 포함하고, 개발기술사업화자금 신청대상에도 추가한다.

* 신성장기반자금 지원 시 시설자금(45억원 → 70억원) 및 시운전자금(시설자금의 30% → 50%) 한도 우대

글로벌 성장사다리 선정기업*에 대한 수출금융지원자금 대출한도를 10억원에서 30억원까지 확대한다.

* 중소·중견기업을 연간 수출액에 따라 차별화된 맞춤형 무역보험 서비스 제공으로 글로벌 수출 강소기업으로 육성(한국무역보험공사 선정)

제3자의 도움 없이도 손쉽게 자금을 이용할 수 있도록 신청서류를 간소화하고, 정책자금 접수기관인 중소기업진흥공단 각 지역본(지부)에 융자신청 도우미를 배치하여 자금 신청 시 활용토록 한다.

http://www.korea.kr/policy/pressReleaseView.do?newsId=155936786

Let's Talk with Google's Eric Schmidt: How To Prepare What's Next 구글 슈미트 회장과의 대화

I don’t necessarily agree with everything Dr. Schmidt says, and yet he raises some valid points.  The interview was conducted in English at Seoul National University.  You can watch the entire interview by clinking the link below.

Happy New Year. Welcome back.

http://www.ebs.co.kr/replay/show?prodId=6785&lectId=10165784