August 2008 Archives

Recent Capitalist Investments in North Korea:

1 - A French construction company (LaFarge S.A.) bought an Egyptian cement company which had recently purchased 1/2 of a North Korean cement company

WSJ's prediction: That sometime in the next 10 years, General Electric, Siemens and Hyundai will all be touting the "North Korean opportunity."

2- Chosun Development & Investment Fund has been created to invest in North Korea;

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=297877&rel_no=1

http://www.bankresearch.org/economicpolicyblog/2006/06/the_first_fund_.html

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They have several experienced partners on board, e.g. Lynn Turk, a former U.S. diplomat with expertise in North Korean affairs, Robert Fox, a fomer group vice chairman of investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. See the list of the investment team members.

There are certainly a lot of risks. But as Colin McAskill (the fund's exclusive investment advisor) said: ''They have gold, silver, zinc, masses of iron ore, all that the rest of the world, particularly China, needs right now'''

In England, there are still clubs that care more about your title than your wallet;
In the US, there are clubs that care more about the number of times you are mentioned on vh1

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/when-money-cant-get-past-the-velvet-rope/
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=ah.H2xr8CZ.4&refer=dbk

Being landlocked has historically been bad for a number of reasons, and now there is a new one: hostile countries can cut off your internet connections

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/civilge-the-geo.html

Also, see how easy it is: http://www.slate.com/id/2197514/