For all the talk about Syria for the moment, let's zoom onto something local. For those who don't quite follow financial news of this particular region, South-East Asian currencies have taken a beating of late, bringing up shades of the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis. Very interesting indeed. Zerohedge has reported that the Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit have all taken huge losses; I know for a fact that the ringgit - traditionally at about 2 to the Singapore dollar - is now about 2.5 now.
The Singaporean dollar has remained quite stable, even during the 1997 crisis, so it means stuff just got quite a bit cheaper both to the north and south of the country, whether it be across the Causeway or on a ferry ride to Batam. It's certainly interesting, considering how most things I follow seem comfortably away on the other half of the planet...until ripples start trickling down here.
Wonder when the ripples will turn into genuine aftershocks.
Frankly, I've been amazed at how well Mr. Bernanke and the rest of the major central banks have been able to hold the Keynsian ship together.
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