(March 25, 2008) – My friend Rich Karlgaard at Forbes–a staunch defender of freedom and growth and a very nice man to boot–wrote about Korea’s new President is taking to energize small businesses. You can read Rich’s blog entry by clicking here, Forbes.com: Digital Rules By Rich Karlgaard.
Rich and I normally appear together on the Forbes on Fox show, which airs Saturday mornings. I missed last week’s show and will miss the next one. Am home after a minor surgery to get 2 basal cell skin cancers removed. (Thank you Maui sunshine. Be smarter than me. Wear your sun screen!) Bandages off now; down to 2 bandaids. (Today it is Mickey Mouse.) Will be back on the air in a week. Be there or be square.
Rich mentions investing in Korean growth. I have owned the South Korea exchange traded fund (EWY) for some time as a bet on China growth. China’s capital markets are still too risky for most investors. But when China grows it needs to buy all sorts of things from other countries where the securities law, contract law, court system and financial reporting is more understandable for American investors. They buy raw materials from South Asia (especially Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia). They get equity capital in Singapore and Hong Kong. And they get technology from Korea, Taiwan and Japan. I like the Korea story better than Taiwan because Korea is focused on communications technology (think Samsung), the heart of China’s new economic growth program. I expect to own the Korea shares for a long time. Korea’s new president makes me even happier to own them.
JR
Wouldn’t it be cool if America elected a president in November who said things like this:
“Business is the foundation of the economy, and the economy will recover only when business activities are re-energized,” Mr. Lee said in a wide-ranging interview over the weekend. “And business here means big and small companies–and the workers and management of the companies.”
Unfortunately, this guy is not available. He is South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak, the former CEO of Hyundai Construction…
