Readings: Irving Kahn, Chinese export bust, India (Pune) auto woes
Mr Kahn warns against drawing close parallels between what the US went through then (1930s) and the present financial problems. The nature of the trouble in the credit markets is, as he sees it, far more concentrated: “It’s a very narrow crisis because it involves people who borrowed too much money,” he says.
With the industry restructuring he thinks there may be opportunities for boutique investment banks. Whatever happens next, in the form that it’s existed for decades, Wall Street is gone, and with taxpayers’ money now involved, the institutions that survive will do so, for now, under the supervision of the government.
103 years old! Does value investing lead to a longer lifespan? 
China Export Plunge
- Seeking Alpha: India Unraveling: Stay Short Emerging Markets
. . . it is the 4,500 small-scale ancillary factories which are telling the story of the impact of the global recession on India. “If matters don’t improve quickly, the nexus of our industry will be destroyed,” a senior city official said Tuesday. “Any recovery then will be years away.” More than 35,000 people have lost their jobs in the second half of 2008; if the overwhelming numbers of small-scale outfits continue to operate well below maximum capacity, another 75,000-plus jobs will be at risk in the first half of 2009.
To make matters worse, 25% of unemployed workers have left Pimpri-Chinchwad. About 200 factories have closed altogether, thus far; the city official estimated that owners of more than 1,000 small-scale manufacturing units could declare bankruptcy in forthcoming months and move out of Pimpri-Chinchwad for good.
This is kinda grim given I’m in the midst of relocating to Pune.
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