Financial Crisis in South Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Financial Crisis in South Korea - Essay Example Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the Asian economic recession. The economic growth of Indonesia slowed down from an average rate of between 5% and 7% to 4.7% in 1997. Forecasts for 1998 and 1998 showed a negative 12% growth, and inflation rate was predicted to soar to 66%. In 1998 rupiah's value declined by 80%. As a consequence of the devaluation, the country's foreign debt multiplied.. Simple economic theories would explain how the devaluation of baht affected other economies. A devaluation of any local currency implied an increase in the cost of imports. Crane stated that in Thailand, such devaluation meant inflation in fuel and food. Reports said that overall prices soared 4.9 percent in July 1997 from the previous year. The surge in rice and flour prices was even higher, at 42%. In the Philippines, interest rates reached 33.5 percent in September 1997 from the previous week's 12 percent. This was for the peso to sustain its value or at least slow down its decline. Inevitably, interest rates on credit cards, mortgages and personal loans would also increase. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad blamed the IMF for the economic decline. He believed bracing the stock market with public pension money would resolve the issue. Martin Hart-Landsberg and Paul Burkett's "Economic Crisis and Restructuring in South Korea Beyond the Free Market-Statist Debate" offers an analysis of the causes, nature and consequences of the restructuring process of post- Asian crisis South Korea. In the process of identifying the causes, the authors discussed the various aspects of restructuring and reform. The article studied the cause of the country's monetary decline from two standpoints: the... Researchers proposed financial-crisis models as long-term solutions for South Korea and as tools to forecast economic conditions. There were two models: the weak-fundamentals view and the financial-panic view. Based on the weak-fundamentals perspective, a country’s weakness in macroeconomic or financial fundamental triggers the abrupt backflow of capital. This called for radical reforms and support to see things through. On the other hand, the weak-fundamentals view predicted a slow recovery because it took a while before creditors and other financial institutions were able to complete the auditing and accounting process and recognition of losses was not made instantly. However, economists claimed that neither of the two views above proved helpful in the Asian-crisis recovery. The fast recovery of Korea since the economic recession misrepresents the observed social and political developments. The election of Kim Dae Jung to power symbolized the bureaucracy’s adoption of a politically neutral institution. The state has manifested social maturity by valuing loyalty to the institutions of governance as opposed to loyalty to the institutions of the few privileged groups.

Exam 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Exam 1 - Essay Example Did Don have duty of care? Absolutely, if a person gets into an automobile as a passenger it is entirely reasonable to assert that they expect and the driver accepts the responsibility of safely conveying them to their destination. In this case, if anything, Don had a greater than normal duty of care as, by the time of the crash, Paula was a virtual prisoner in the vehicle. She ‘repeatedly asked Don to stop and let her out of the car†¦. Don ignored her requests.’ Arguably, Don was a kidnapper at this pint with Paula confined by his refusal to let her out. Regardless of this tangent, Don was responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle and the safety of Paula, his passenger. He breeched that care when he drove, insistently, until exhausted and dozed off. A Techbyte employee had driven Paula to the conference and asked Don to return her home as he, the president, was staying at the convention for another day. Approached by the president, Don, ‘a trusted employee’ agreed. He was not doing a friend a favour he was acceding to his superior’s request. Further, during the trip they were to ‘discuss Techbyte’s future computer needs on the way.’ Ultimately, in this scenario, Don was ‘at work’ when the accident occurred and acting as an employee of Techbyte and not as an individual. This, then, gives rise to a second question: Could Techbyte be held liable for the injuries Paula sustained in the car accident that resulted from Don’s negligent driving? Yes, they could. It is difficult to defend against the claim that Don was acting as an employee when he agreed to drive Paula home. As a ‘trusted employee’, presumably a man the president had known for some time, he was a reasonable and responsible choice. At that point Techbyte’s duty of care was fulfilled and the duty of care passed to Don, the driver. This is not a strong claim, but there is a significant mitigating factor here. Don did not injure Paula in