Posts by Jim Cathcart
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Sacha,
Well, I think that NZ needs a well-functioning stock exchange if we want a dynamic economy. Restricting access to foreigners is not going to do us any good and NZers don't seem to have problem with bidding up house prices with foreign capital,. If it's important to protect nationally strategic assets, regulatory options do exist.
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Sacha,
Sacha, why would you pay for my opportunity? I may be missing something but given that I am a net saver, I would think that my "savings" would pay for the opportunity. Think of it as an old-fashioned approach to generating wealth.
CGT exists in Australia and other Western countries. It hasn't prevented property bubbles. I would go as far as to say to that it is easy credit that has driven the property bubble in NZ, but that's too just damn obvious and distasteful for most people. -
OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Matthew, what it might do is encourage some people to take ownership of some assets besides rental properties. Would you agree that our biases towards rental property have indebted us in the first place? Would you disagree that living within your means, as an individual and as a nation, is something that we should all be facing up to? Privatization of strategic public assets gives some of us who have forgone debt for saving an opportunity to invest in potentially valuable assets. Is that such a terrible thing?
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Matthew Poole,
What do you mean it's not about debt levels? It's all about debt levels, particularly private debt levels. One of the major issues with a high private sector debt burden is that it reduces the private sectors ability to invest and therefore contribute to an increase in the productive capacity of the economy. If the debt associated with non-productive investments (such as bidding up house prices) grows, then the productivity of the economy will decline as the capital available for productive investment diminishes. NZ is reliant on Australian banks procuring wholesale money markets to fund our addiction to debt. However, you cannot simply take on debt with no reciprocal improvements in productivity.
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Starbucks is booming in Japan and its matcha latte is renowned all over the country. The company was the first coffee chain to be smoke-free in Japan. The cafes are often used by mobile businesspeople and students. The cafes are also popular places to meet, particularly for groups of young women. Furthermore, they were the first coffee chain that lets you pay with a smartphone.
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I'd also like to point out that the traditional approach to doing business in Japan is changing. The interview offers the traditional approach to dealing with large institutional partners. For example, you're more likely to find smaller food distributors sourcing their own products from abroad as opposed to being "sold" by foreigners into the local market. Secondly, the interview fails to address the internet as a marketplace and this is where the real growth has occurred. Japan is very price sensitive now because of deflation so the idea of selling at a premium means that you need to have a solid retail strategy.
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The interview was interesting in that it highlights the importance of introductions for building business in Japan. While that may hold true, I know of one NZ distributor who cold-called a Japanese manufacturer and secured a contract to distribute products in NZ. While I'm sure the interview was focused on exports, it's best to consider all angles and I'm not convinced that the govt-sponsored trade organizations are necessarily the best vehicles to open doors.
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Field Theory: Japan Stories: Part One, in reply to recordari,
I wasn't in Japan in 1991 but I doubt that were busloads of mainland Chinese floating around urban Japan. Tourism is now one of Osaka's only lights on the horizon and the uyokou dantai have been more strident than in any of my 15 years here. The world has much to learn from Japan about the dangers of debt-driven bubbles but I don't think many people are taking notice. It's easier to explain why your debt situation is different to another country's.
I'm interested in the reggae "underworld"! Is that like a yakuza take on Audio Active?
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Japan is actually a country in a spiritual crisis and flux. For all the fawning and adoration, this is a country lost and straitjacketed by its own isolation. New Japan sauna is a representation of a jaded era. For the reality, witness the right wing bozos rally every weekend while the Chinese tourists indulge two blocks over.
Osaka is still the punk rock center of the world.
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Bernard Hickey had been posting links regarding the fragility of the Australasian banking system well before GFC I. The most notable was from analyst Christopher Wood of CLSA in Hong Kong. Wood suggested that the "Big Four's" loan book is still overweight in mortgage lending and that a collapse in NZ residential property could be the trigger to send the banks into crisis mode. Regardless of the crisis, the banks are still reliant on a steady stream of first home buyers taking on truckloads of debt.