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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Response to comment James at The Grand Narrative posted a comment. I went to comment on his site but I object to his pictures so I will respond here. Sadly, I won't be in Busan so there can be no beer drinking opportunities. Perhaps my objection to the pictures changed your mind on the offer anyway. I have not finished Bad Samaritans yet but I am enjoying it very much. While I'm sure proponents of free trade can argue some of the points he does make, he expresses himself well, makes good arguments and the book is very readable. I personally agree with much of what he says but not 100%. I read the post that you had made with the Economist review and I think they missed his argument (or misconstrued it?) in some instances. For example, he does not deny that some bad economic episodes happened during the period of protectionism (ie: during world war I and II) but he does show well that good things DID happen during periods of protectionism and bad things DID happen in times of free trade. Thereby making a very relevant argument that international financial institutions (the Bad Samaritans) should not be adopting a 'protection bad; free trade good' view of the world and forcing it on countries where that strategy is clearly not making helping long-term economic development. I heard Chang Ha-Joon speak at Chatham House a few months ago and heard a little of his 'lets not bag protectionism' talk. He is not the only Korean (or Westerner for that matter) who has pointed out the role of protectionism and government intervention in Korea's economic success and I think it is good to be reminded of it.
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How is the weather over there?
I am heading over to to Japan and the land of the morning calm as of next week. This would be exciting except the anticipated cold weather is making it less so. It has been about 3 years since I've been to Korea and I've missed a lot of things in that time. I still haven't seen Cheongyecheon yet or the finished Seoul Station! But all that is about to change. The newly destroyed Namdaemun will also be worth a gander. Although I would've preferred to see it as I remember.
It was really on a matter of time - The London tube is trying to kill me
As I have noted earlier, I hate the London tube. It makes me nauseous and gives me a headache. This morning I fainted on the way into work. After several delays of being stopped inside the tunnels between stations, I started to feel nauseous and ver quickly became dizzy. Then it all went dark. I woke up on the platform with a kindly staffer helping me away from the crowd. I feel fine now but how on earth am I supposed to get to work if I keep getting sick on the public transport?
Apology
Australia apologised yesterday. You can watch the momentous event. It is a tear-jerker so be warned. It is one of the best speeches I've ever heard, not to mention long overdue. There is some speculation about how long the goodwill will last in the face of reality and the scale of the problems that need addressing. But you can't get anywhere until you take the first step.