If you want on or off the ping list send me a FReepMail.
OK bitt, here is the BCU I promised. As I said in a recent post, we have "stepped on a Lego in the dark" type problems. West Taiwan has the "ten plagues on Egypt" type problems. I will try to cover things that are not generally reported in the MSM or even the West Taiwan specific news.
Item One:
The weather - I think the Chinese originated the phrase, "Everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it." The weather has historically been the major factor bringing down ruling dynasties.
The weather in WT this summer has been nothing short if terrible. It has flipped back and forth between 104° drought and flooding rain.
Normally, either north or south China is severely affected by one or the other. This year it is both for both. Two weeks ago there were 312 rivers in WT ABOVE flood stage somewhere along their watercourse. This has caused dams to release massive amounts of water just to protect their structures. This has flooded both cities and farmland. I saw one report that said there was a "stench of death" in Beijing from unburied dead from the flooding. Imagine the reporting if anything remotely resembling this happened in the United States.
Crops already weakened by drought get swept away with the least bit of flooding. I estimate that WT has lost about half its annual agricultural production for the year.
The full extent of this disaster won't be known for 2-3 months. (CYA Notice - This is NOT investment advise.) If you have any spare cash, you should consider investing in companies that sell food to West Taiwan.
Item Two:
The Economy - West Taiwan seems to have forgotten the First Rule of Holes - When you find yourself in one, stop digging.
Companies in WT, of all sizes, are caught in a three way squeeze between falling foreign sales, government action, and fleeing workers. Interestingly, the foreign sales collapse, the most reported in the US, is probably the least of the bosses (owners/managers) problems. That will eventually turn around.
The CCP is pushing the bosses to involuntarily collect "Social Insurance" payments directly from worker's wages as a condition of employment. This payment is between a quarter and a third of the employee's gross pay. When workers find out this will be enforced, they leave
Wages in WT, already artificially constrained by a glut of workers, are barely enough for people to eat and pay rent. That's it. The number of homeless sleeping on the street or in roadway tunnels is exploding. Our British cousins refer to this as "sleeping rough". These people subsist on sub $3 meals when they eat at all.
So what is the response from the bosses? They are truly between a rock and a hard place. Some operate at a loss just to keep experienced workers from fleeing. Some close the business on no notice and flee with whatever funds are on hand. Over the past week the CEOs of four national companies have exited stage left from tall buildings. This is not uncommon at smaller businesses. If they aren't careful, open windows could become a real danger to the lives of Chinese businessmen.
Item Three:
There is an increasing number of fires and explosions nationwide. These seem to be mostly from three groups, smart wrist devices, cell phones, and electric vehicles. This does NOT include all the cars, phones, and devices lost in the flooding.
The problem seems to be in shoddy manufacturing/ quality control in WT battery production. You know just how bed the problem is by how ruthlessly the CCP has been disappearing any news reporting on the subject. And yet the reports and videos are making their way out of WT.
As the problems seem to be mostly limited to inside WT, I think there might be a bit of two tiered quality control going on. The best production is reserved for export, which brings in foreign currency. The more questionable stuff is reserved for the locals knowing that the government will likely protect them.
I think this is enough for now. These posts tend to end up as a wall of text that I see as woefully superficial. If anyone has specific questions, I will try to answer them as best as I can.
WWG1WGA
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)