As I quickly walked away, I did not want to look back at its towers, battered and bearing the scars of its evil attackers. I do not want to remember the WTC burning or falling, for that was not its essence.
Andrew West
Andrew West is a Contributing Economics Editor for Capitalism Magazine. In 1997 he received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the Association for Investment Management and Research.
Stock “Manipulation” and “Inflated” Prices
Q: Under capitalism, can’t a group of a few wealthy individuals acting as a fund “manipulate” a stock, causing unaware investors to buy the stocks at inflated prices, where then wealthy individuals would dump the stocks, causing prices to collapse?...
Country Analysis: China Inches Toward Capitalism
The constitutional protection of property in China is a continuation of reforms I’ve observed following China’s investment environment over the past ten years. Currently, the Chinese economy is a mixture of heavily regulated or government controlled...
In Favor of a War Against Saddam’s Iraq
I’m in favor of war on Iraq because I don’t want to be killed by terrorists who get access to weapons it’s trying to develop. The World Trade Center attack dramatically alerted Americans to the fact that there are some people in the world who want us...
Less Government Regulation and More Laissez-faire Required to Prevent Further ‘Enron’ Scandals
An unregulated free market provides the environment in which auditors who differentiate on a reputation for quality and useful disclosures could add value to their business, and their customers’.
Modern Keynesian Macroeconomics — An Assault on the Human Mind
Nearly half a century ago the popular economist John Maynard Keynes wrote, “Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air,...
Economics of Investing: Hypothesizing about the Efficient Markets Hypothesis
Over the past couple of years, events like the Internet and more recently, the Enron and Global Crossing debacles, have spurred people to reconsider the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, “EMH.” For those unfamiliar with EMH, here’s a brief textbook...
Some Patriotic Economic Advice: Save
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve seen financiers and economists give a lot of misguided advice about what people need to do to help the nation and themselves overcome the terrorist attacks on America. I’m a very patriotic person myself, I don’t...
A New Yorker Remembers the World Trade Center
“That particular sense of sacred rapture men say they experience in contemplating nature- I’ve never received it from nature, only from. Buildings, Skyscrapers. I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York’s skyline. The...
Devaluation is Not the Answer
In the past few months, I’ve noticed a disturbing shift in attitude towards currency devaluation. An increasing number of economists and journalists are making comments approving currency devaluation as a way to boost economies and “gain...
Richard Li: Hong Kong’s Destructive Prince of Political Pull
One of Hong Kong’s largest, and most enduring business institutions has been laid low by a reckless brat from one of Hong Kong’s most powerful families. About a year ago, Richard Li acquired Hong Kong Telecom, and proceeded to destroy over US$20 billion of...
Conference Report: NYU’s “ASIA: Restructuring in Action”
Last week I attended a full-day business conference “ASIA: Restructuring in Action,” at NYU’s Stern School of Business. There, professors and industry experts met to discuss how post-crisis Asia was progressing. We discussed macroeconomic trends, the...
The Australian Dollar is Down Under
The Australian Dollar, while recently sinking to 19-year lows, doesn’t seem to have gotten a lot of attention. In fact, the currency has never had the sort of impact on global currency markets as the Yen, the Euro, or the Pound, and even currencies like...
A Reason for Hope in Argentina
On Sunday, March 4, Argentina’s President De la Rua named Ricardo López Murphy as his new finance minister. This was a significant move, duly rewarded by an 8% surge in Argentina’s stock market. Could he trigger a recovery after several lackluster years...
Big or Small Government in the U.S. and India? The Debate Isn’t Over
“Year after year in Washington, budget debates seem to come down to an old, tired argument: on one side, those who want more government, regardless of the cost; on the other, those who want less government, regardless of the need. We should leave those arguments...
George Bush Misses the Point on Cutting Taxes
George Bush looks like he’ll try to stick to his promise about cutting income tax rates, but his team’s recent justifications, while politically expedient, are obscuring the real case for tax cuts. Given that the U.S. economy is showing signs of slowing,...
The Price of Shinawatra Winning The Thai Election: Short Term Gain, Long Term Pain?
During elections last weekend, Thai billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra won a landslide victory, and barring certain legal challenges, will become Thailand’s next prime minister. As owner of Thailand’s largest wireless wireless communications...
Excellent Company or Excellent Stock?
“Buy the stock – it’s a good company.” This oft-repeated platitude is one that’s very popular on Wall Street, but it’s also one that I’m sick of hearing it because it’s not necessarily a useful guide for investors. A...
Is Microsoft a Hypocrite?
I was saddened to see the lead article in last Tuesday’s (12/5/00) Wall St. Journal “Microsoft Tries to Lob Monkey Wrench Into AOL-Time Warner Deal.” In the story, reporters alleged Microsoft might be cooperating with the Federal Trade Commission to...
Singapore Should Not Be Condemned By Its Neighbors, Rather Its Economic Practices Should Be Copied By Them
While Americans were home enjoying our Thanksgiving bounty of political controversy, Indonesia’s President Wahid Abdurrahman decided to raise a political ruckus of his own in Asia. At a recent meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Wahid...
Anecdotal Economics: Leave Crane Hunting in China To Bird Watchers
Crane hunting is the craze for foreign investors traveling in China. Seemingly every morning an American wakes up bright and early in his five star hotel built in the coastal cities expressly for the purpose of pampering foreign investors with expense accounts. He...
International Markets Handle American Political Risk
There is an old saying that when the U.S. market sneezes, international markets catch a cold. This week, the election seems to have contributed to a big sneeze in the U.S. markets, but foreign markets handled it with little more than a sniffle. A number of foreign...
“Blood In The Streets” in Asia — Again.
While the eyes of the world have been focused on the spectacular rise and fall of the NASDAQ over the past 12 months, Asian stocks have had an even more spectacular ride, declining to levels not seen since the depths of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The Asian...
Time to De-Cycle?
Last week, while going through a pile of international research, I saw a report that shocked me: it was an analysis of defensive stocks with low valuations in Hong Kong. I hadn’t seen defensive-value-themed research of that sort for at least two years, as...
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