Cycle

Sometimes I felt that life is a couple of cycles repeating itself again and again. Take 25 years as a cycle,I feel like I have experienced a full one and started expecting another one.
I've saw children walking in their schools' uniforms on the streets like I did before,I've saw stores closed and opened in the same place,and I've saw ups and downs of stock markets and witnessed them retreating to where they began to rise.

Could I seize a cycle to make a fortune in my life? By using the experiences I've learned from the past?

On low interest rate policy

Another interesting piece of news: The longterm low interest rate policy keeps the cash in banks always at high levels. Thus drives banks to lend money in a reckless way but vulnerable to a volatile market. Consumer banking,credit cards and house loans,were the main fields banks flocked to prosper,though those sectors had been too crowded with providers.

Newly emerging businesses need capital,but due to the low interest rate environment,banks cannot afford to risk lending money to those venturing enterprises and ideas,which may bear bigger possibilities of default,and may probably be tomorrow's competative edges.

Banks barely profit from a sheer difference between the lending rate and depositing rate in Taiwan,causing them fear to lend money to corporations venturing to develope new technologies. And that has harmed the island,making local industries incapable of adjusting to the R&D-led knowledge economy,and has been threw behind by other nations elsewhere,like Korea.

To be or not to be,it is a question. To abandon a low interest rate policy and instead implement a relative high interest rate one is something we can think about and will be a topic expected to be hotly debated.

Activated

Sometimes I recall the places I've been to,especially for the places abroad.

I spent only short terms of time there,many of them are far away from Taiwan,and I can't help but think of them from time to time.

I thought of Frankfurt today.There were a few images poping out in my brain which featured Frankfurt's street sights.

It was vivid,I can still recall how I got lost in the night in Frankfurt and how I got out of it.

There's a Chinese saying goes"Read tens of thounds of books and travel tens of thounds of miles." You travel to prove what you've learned and improve what you haven't known. You read to know what you haven't know and travel to prove it.

That's the beauty of learning. You assume you have got the idea,you don't until you are actually got involved in it. When you're invoved,you dig more to find out what have confused you and afterwards answer yourself.

If I have never been to Frankfurt,I wouldn't know the difference between Paris and it,and I wouldn't try to figurt out the reason and thus lose an opportunity to get a closer tight with that city.

So it's activated. Amazingly lured by the machanism of learning and human curiosity. So is the beauty of learning! 

Yummy!

Here in Taiwan,we have lots of Chinese cuisines. Deep in roots,many people inherit great skills in making tasty foods from their families. Noodles are several delicious Chinese foods worth talking about.

I like noodles,especialy for Beef Noodle and Wonton Noodle. Since Beef Noodle is kind of expensive to try (the price per bowl is between 2 to 4 US dollars,normally),I would instead order Wonton Noodle.

Wonton,looking like another kind of dumling,is great to eat when you have it with noodles. With the smell of meat inside it and the steam coming out from the soup,it's very enjoyable to have it. It's the essence of Chinese food.

Alas! Good Wontons are less seen these days among eateries along streets. Good Wontons are often hand-made,and they're gradually replaced with cheap ones made by machines. So it's common that one may order and have a bowl of Wonton Noodle which is without "soul". And thus having it with a pity.

Euro and Germany

The Euro has been plagued with sovereign debt problems. It is said that only few countries have the deep pockets to save the Euro. France and Germany are among the list,especially Germany.

Germen economy was weak a decade ago,it was once called an european patient. Now it looks like Germany is the key nation which can keep the european monetary union function well.

But the central european economic hub is reluctant to bail out other states,the Merkel administration acted very carefully about the funding issue. Some high-ranking officials even spoke against any bailout plans for Greece,including Kanzlerin Merkel herself.

Is Germany overreacted and too careful about the crisis? And thus causing the deprecition of Euro?

I have no idea about the scoop. But according to german research institutes,Greece might have held something back,that is the Greek government deficit might be bigger than what is known by the public.

In this crisis,the world is informed again about the european monetary integration and has reviewed the role Germany plays in it.

Last week's economist had a special report on Germany,it unveiled many reforms Germans had been thruogh,and what were left after them.

Take a look at the picture below.(Courtesy:Economist.com)

















I'm surprised by the GDP per person are so high in some areas .
Although Germany has problems to fusion the east and west parts of it,overall its economy is healthier than elsewhere in Europe.

Germany enjoys a trade surplus,it has the second or third largest common account surplus in the world mostly by exporting their products to the neighboring countries. Even in this european financial crisis,Germany might have beneficted more than others - by depreciation of Euro,it will have a bigger margin.

It's time for Germans to think about the future of Europe,and that's their future,too.

Japan,a long way to recovery

I saw an artical featuring the fall of Japan's economy. It was a brilliant cover story by a local news magazine here in Taiwan.

In that artical,the main reason that caused the fall of Japan's once powerful economic strength was the sharp appreciation of its currency.
With the appreciation,the export power had been hurt. The prosperities in stock market and real estate were soon broken.

Not long ago,there was another local news magazine putting out articals about Taiwan's currency policy. They argued Taiwanese central banker shall let the New Taiwan Dollar increase its value,rather than constant depreciation,given the alteration of international economics and local industry outlook.

That is an issue we can keep an eye on for many decades. Monetary policy is not just about economics,it's also related to politics.

Right now,I think we're lucky to have a wise central banker,who has done his job beautifully for many years.

Paris

Ernest Hemingway said that if you stay in Paris for a while when you're young,Paris would be a moveable feast for you. Is that true?

Yes,I think that's true! And he was probably damn right to comment that.

I stayed in Paris for six days during the Chinese New Year holidays. There,in Paris,I saw a different world I had never experienced before.
Everything was big in Paris. The Louvre,the Invalidee,the Versailles and the
river Seine. I should have used the phrase for the U.S.,'cause that's how people depict America. "Even the ants are bigger in America."

But I rather gave that kind of phrases to Paris. Having been so ignorant to Paris,France and Europe,I only had few images in my mind about the city and the nation. When I was near the end of my trip,I realized that France,letting us take Paris as a projection of its national wealth and power,was quite a highly civilized country with high-end technology and uniqe appreciation of art. France has far more than coffee and wine.

People there were nice. Not arrogant at all. Though they barely spoke English,they were willing to help me.

I came to know on the last day that there were so many celebrities,artists,statesmen,etc. shared this city one time or the other in their lives. As a tourist,a traveler,I had my footprints set in Paris as well,and I might some day proudly say that I was there when someone great was there too.

Biennvenu a Paris!