I note here that, as of Q1 2024, South Korea had the highest household credit to GDP ratio among all countries tracked by BIS (at 92% of GDP). In 2023, household debt was 186.5% of net disposable income, according to OECD.

Michael Pettis@michaelpettis.bsky.social · 2y ago

8/9 I don't know the South Korean banking system well enough to know if a cut in interest rates is more likely to benefit households or manufacturers (the latter, I suspect), but a depreciation of the won will certainly benefit manufacturers at the expense of households.

China observers are basically catchers working with knuckleball pitchers in economic research world. Weekends and Tuesday evening wine and dine with friends are always in the crosshairs of unexpected announcements. Quite a few developments today in Beijing. A quick summary:

I personally find GDR's (East Germany) history quite interesting, especially its desperate semiconductor initiatives before it began to collapse in the late 1980s. Another episode that is rather amusing in hindsight: its role in Vietnam's rise as a global coffee powerhouse.

A quiet thinking session alone on a Saturday night.