Global Financial Crisis-Asian View

I was just browsing through several articles at Business standard thinking what to present to you guys (I was afraid I would run out of topics soon!) when I came across this article by Prof. Shankar Acharya, Honorary Professor at ICRIER Delhi, and Chief economic advisor to the Government of India.

In his article, Prof. Acharya describes about a lecture conducted at ICRIER by noted economist Mr. Andrew Sheng. As rightly explained by Prof. Acharya, the market now is full of articles on the crisis, most of them being works of western economists. But there is few literature available on its affect on the Asian markets. Mr. Sheng's lecture describes about the very historical facts that led to build up the atmosphere for this crisis (Yes, according to Mr. Sheng, it had started as the fires of the previous downturn of 1929 was cleared up).


Click the Link below to read the whole article-

Global Financial Crisis-Asian Perspective

And needless to say, constructive criticism is invited on the article. Do post your comments.

When business falls in love

The legend has it that a clergyman from ancient Rome, St. Valentine, was executed by the Emperor for marrying off runaway couples. To this day, February 14th is remembered with as much fervour and joy in memory of this kind-hearted Saint. And when it comes to business, Valentines day has much to offer. The following data could be useful to young entrepreneurs who have a lot of opportunities during the festival of love. The statistics are from the US. But I am showing this with the belief that Consumer behaviour should be the same everywhere.

Top Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day

Household participation rates

Greeting Cards	65%	Plush	21%
Date Night	44%	Other Gifts	17%
Candy	38%	Perfume/Cologne	12%
Flowers	32%	Jewelry	11%
Gift Cards	29%

Sources: Hallmark/Retail Industry Leaders Association/NRF

Valentine’s Cards
180 million
Number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) (Source: Hallmark research)

Nearly 50 percent
Typically, the proportion of all Valentine’s Day cards purchased in the six days prior to the observance, making Valentine’s Day a procrastinator’s delight. (Source: Hallmark research)

About 40%
Proportion of all Valentine card purchases which parents account for. (Source: Hallmark research.)

Candy is Dandy

1,271
Number of locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2003. These establishments employed 43,379 people. California led the nation in the number of such establishments (with 146) followed by Pennsylvania (with 120). <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

519
Number of locations that produced nonchocolate confectionary products in 2003. These establishments employed 23,343 people. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

$13.5 billion
Total value of shipments in 2003 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa products. Nonchocolate confectionery product manufacturing, meanwhile, was a $5.5 billion industry. <http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/am0331gs1.pdf>

3,523
Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in 2003. Often referred to as candy stores, they are among the best sources of sweets for Valentine’s Day. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

24.7 pounds
Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2004. Candy consumption has actually declined over the last few years; in 1997, each American gobbled or savored more than 27 pounds of candy a year. <http://www.census.gov/industry/1/ma311d04.pdf>

Flowers
$422 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers in 2004 for all flower-producing businesses in 36 states with $100,000 or more in sales. Among states, California was the leading producer, alone accounting for nearly three-quarters of this amount ($304 million). <http://www.nass.usda.gov>

$43 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2004 for all businesses in 36 states with $100,000 or more in sales. Among all types of cut flowers, roses were second in receipts to lilies ($78 million). <http://www.nass.usda.gov>

22,022
The number of florists nationwide in 2003. These businesses employed 113,270 people. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

Jewelry
28,527
Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2003. Jewelry stores offer engagement, wedding and other rings to lovers of all ages. In February 2005, these stores sold $2.4 billion worth of merchandise. (This figure has not been adjusted for seasonal variation, holiday or trading day differences or price changes.) <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html> <http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html>

The merchandise at these locations could well have been produced at one of the nation’s 1,892 jewelry manufacturing establishments. The manufacture of jewelry was an $8.6 billion industry in 2003. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html> <http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/am0331gs1.pdf>

Thats how Mao's cookie crumbled!!!

You pick up your favourite toy you used while you were a kid when you notice that familiar yet unwanted tag- 'Made in China'.

One of the reasons why Chinese goods are preferred lies behind the way the Chinese currency Renminbi or more popularly called 'Yuan' is evaluated.

You see, currencies like Indian Rupee, American Dollar, GBP (Great British Pound) are traded openly in a separate market (also called as forex). This trading happens as long as each unit of currency holds a certain value against some other currency and this value keeps on changing.

I remember when I changed my Binocular with my brother for his geometry box (which I badly needed!). For my bro (who was 7 years old), Binoculars were like heaven. So he gave in.

That's whats happening with currencies. They trade when they hold value.

Now, in the last decade, for 1$ you could get 8.28 Yuan of work done! So as a company in US, I send more $'s into China. But later, in 2005, China valued Yuan to 8.11 Yuan/$. Now I am only able to get 8.11 Yuan of work done by my Chinese friends for my precious 1 $. It is at this point that I start focusing more on quality. I now start looking at countries which offer more quality goods.