Taoyuan Nights

The Economist talks about ‘underground’ Chinese banks. This opens the possibility that black market banking is allowing China’s economy to rage, even as the Chinese government tries to rein it back in.
More Asian economics over at toshou…

While walking around a buxiban area near Taipei Main Station, I came across what I think was a school, which had a giant map on the wall of the English-speaking countries of the world. As you can see, it’s quite interesting and unusual.

Map of the UK.
Today’s Lesson: The capital cities of the United Kingdom!
London, the [...]

From the Taipei Times, July 31 2007:

New report paints mixed picture for housing market
By Jessie Ho and Amber Chung, Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007, Page 12
The housing market continued to boom in the second quarter as both the value and quantity of properties for sale increased, but whether the supply would be absorbed [...]

“Happy Corner is then performed along with a song parodying Happy Birthday to You, with the lyrics changed to “Happy Corner to You”.
Happy Corner. It’s not what you might think. More here at the Taipei Times.

Other blogs:
Michael Turton on insider trading in Taiwan.
DoubtingToShou on the joys of the recent stockmarket drops + a story about [...]

Here are some thoughts I’ve been musing over for many months, since I first arrived in this country.
Point 1: Old people are screwed. Can’t get a good return from the bank on their lifelong savings, because of low interest rates. Can’t effectively invest in assets like housing and stocks (prices are sky high, since people [...]

I recently came across this interesting collection of photos of unusual protests in South Korea.
http://www.who-sucks.com/people/the-exciting-world-of-south-korean-protests
I wonder, has anyone ever compiled a compendium of unusual Taiwanese protests?

Sometimes, when you’re talking about investing, you use the word ‘friction‘ to describe the costs that are associated with using stockmarkets. For example, if you’re investing in the US, Taiwan, or anywhere else, you must pay a stockbroker money to buy or sell shares, and move money and share ownership around on your behalf. Additionally, [...]