Last posts on economy

Asia Weekly Focus

2008-10-10T18:23:00+02:00

This week has been all about the markets starting to factor in the prospect of a global recession, it's not just the banking crisis in the northern hemisphere, which has been driving a lot of volatility in the markets in the past year or so but now the prospect is very real of a global downturn. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he's more concerned about the stability of Australia's banks than its competitiveness. The Commonwealth Bank has launched a bid to buy Bankwest, while Westpac is trying to takeover St George Bank. Australia's opposition says the global economic crisis is an opportunity for the big banks, and will reduce competition in the market.

But Mr Rudd has brushed aside those concerns. "Competition questions can be resolved over time," he said. "The stability of the system is of fundamental importance, not just to businesses, but to every working family in the country, every pensioner and carer wants to know the banking system is stable, that's our first responsibility and I don't back away from it." Australian shares closed down 8.3 percent as the global financial crisis drove a fresh round of losses on world stock markets. The Japanese Nikkei index is still down by more than 10 per cent after shedding a massive 11-point-four per cent earlier in the day. The selling frenzy has been repeated all around Asiatic continent, although not with the same intensity. Share prices in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea have all dropped by about seven per cent. In the meanwhyle Singapore's government has released figures showing the economy has slipped into recession. The ASX 200 has dropped 297-points to four-thousand-and-24. The Australian dollar has also been hit hard, falling more than six cents from its overnight peak to 65-point-six-six US cents.

China's top negotiator on Taiwan will meet the island's president for the first time, a Taipei official said on Thursday, in what would be a further sign of improved relations between the diplomatic rivals. Ma's Nationalist Party (KMT) ruled all of China until Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek fled with the KMT to Taiwan. Taiwan is recognised by just 23 countries around the world compared to about 170 that recognise China. China has claimed sovereignty over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary. But relations have improved since Ma came to office in May with pledges to boost the local economy by forging new trade and transit links with Beijing.

The two sides will also sign deals on regular flights and direct cargo shipments, PK Chiang, Taiwan's top negotiator on China policy. Chen Yunlin, head of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, would meet President Ma Ying-jeou in Taiwan at the end of October or at the beginning of November. At a landmark meeting in Beijing in June, China and Taiwan agreed to begin direct charter flights Friday through Monday and let as many as 3,000 Chinese tourists visit the island per day. Before direct flights, previously banned for security reasons, travellers would make time-consuming plane changes in Hong Kong or Macau.

China and Taiwan are in talks to add six more Chinese cities to the five that handle Friday-through-Monday flights, and to shorten some of the flight paths. Trade and transit links with fast-growing economic powerhouse China should help lift Taiwan out of a seven-year economic slump aggravated by the global financial crisis. Taiwan is in last place among emerging Asian markets, and these direct flights can add business opportunities. At a round of talks expected in mid-2009, negotiators will discuss investment guarantees, financial relations and double taxation.

The head of the Solomon Islands Leadership Code Commission Emanuel Kouhota has told members of parliament that it is illegal to borrow money from individuals, while in office. The commission is investigating members of the Sikua government for possible misconduct. Local media have reported 18 ministers and backbenchers secretly obtained so-called loans from a prominent Honiara businessman.

The Speaker of the Solomon Islands Parliament, Sir Peter Kenilorea, has told the allegations are serious. "If it is true that such a situation occurred, then all I could say is that I would concur with the view of chairman of the Leadership Code Commission that it would be improper, and that it could be considered as misconduct in office."

Security forces are patrolling the streets of Thailand's capital, Bangkok, in an effort to maintain calm a day after deadly clashes. The leaders of mounting protests in Thailand have been granted bail after turning themselves in on charges related to their campaign to topple the government. A senior People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul says the police have granted him - and six others - bail unconditionally. Sondhi said he was heading directly to the protest camp at the prime minister's Government House offices, which the PAD have occupied since late August. No details were immediately released about the amount of bail. All seven protest leaders had turned themselves in on outstanding arrest warrants on charges of inciting unrest and illegal assembly. The move comes after PAD supporters and police clashed on the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday, with two people killed and hundreds injured. Leaders of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy say they will continue their rallies until the elected administration steps down.

A new report shows middle income earners and younger New Zealanders are at risk of debt stress by Christmas. The New Zealand Herald reports Dun & Bradstreet's latest survey of consumer credit expectations shows a debt divide emerging in New Zealand as the global credit crisis impacts spending behaviours. One third of middle income earners and younger people expect to be forced to use their credit card to make ends meet, while one third of high income earners expect to lower their debt levels in the coming three months. The survey conducted last month shows younger New Zealanders and middle income earners face the greatest risk of debt troubles.

Written: by LuisB

U.S. Economy was fake after all!

2008-10-06T15:26:00+02:00

The U.S economy has been known as largest in the world.

But just recently it collapsed dramatically. Well, the time has come.

Most of the U.S. GDP, which is largest in the world comes from consumption, not production.

They buy many things from abroad. How come that is possible for people who don't produce so much buy goods from abroad?

It is because foreign countries lend them money buying U.S. treasury bonds. The biggest owner today is China.

They just print dollar bills if they have to pay the debts back because the U.S. dollar has been the world's key currency. Every country in the world uses that.

But the dollar value is just depreciating. And then this subprime loan crisis hit the economy. No one can rely on the U.S. economy.

Now the world is reconsidering how to deal with the U.S.

The U.S. is no longer supepower of the world. No country can be like that any more.

The U.S. is softlanding to be one of big countries in the world. President Obama would be the symbol of non-superpower America.

Maybe that is normalization of the world.

That may be the beginning of interesting era of human history.

All's Grand on the Naked Avenue....distinguishing Money from Markets..Golden Eagle's Opinion

2008-10-04T02:44:00+02:00

'Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring
back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is
what keeps him out of the abyss.'

Lou to Bud in 'Wall Street'

'The main thing about money, Bud, is that it makes you do
things you don't want to do.'

Lou in 'Wall Street'

"There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them."

ABC TV series 'Naked City'

Trees from the forests....Money from the Markets.

We are now 30 days out from the pivotal 2008 US congressional and Presidential elections.Our theme of 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' with regard to Barack's Odyssey steps up pace in dramatic fashions.Economy, stupid.The Economy.Since our last TigerHawk post a week ago, we've had our predicted plunge in the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones Industrials fell 777 points last Monday, September 29,2008.The largest ever one-day drop.Any numerologists in the house? Who writes this script?Even more than at 9/11, 2001.The immediate cause was the break-down of the 'Bail-out' agreement in the US House of Representatives.Remember that sell-off melt-down after the $85 Billion 'seizure' of AIG, and Wall Street's panic frenzy were only tamed with Hank Paulson's promise of a 'Bail-out' for the misbehaving financial industry.We, the collective citizenry are now responsible to assuage their fear of collapse by assuming purchase of their 'toxic' paper formerly called mortgage-backed securities or collateralized debt obligations.However, we called it here last week. The impolite topic of ideology arose in the US Congress. While Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi corralled her side of the aisle's votes, the Republicans splintered with an outbreak of Reaganism and challenged the Bush Treasury's plans.Remember no government,free enterprise etc? Well these elected officials, bombarded by antsy constituents back home, ready to vote for ALL 435 Congressional seats, felt it was time to renew their Reagonomics membership cards.The White House was not amused. A revolt and disrespect to an obvious lame duck Republican Administration by laissez faire purists.The White House had abandoned the 'Free Market' religion. The romper room crowd did not grasp the gravity and sophistication of the crisis. The matter was no longer about Wall Street and the Financial Industry, but was now 'bleeding' over to Main Street.The panic in banking circles has created a drying up of credit . Small businesses, corporations, municipalities and States are all credit starved facing operational contraction and shutdown,which means unemployment increases.Less money in the wallets and purses.The highway to

Obama Country.

Yesterday on the eve of the Vice-Presidential debate, the wires relayed McCain's pulling campaign resources out of Michigan. Apparently the management on the ground assessed the effort to be futile, as the economic hardship in the Auto state had smashed the Palin personality/McCain maverick hopeful game plan.In fact, five diverse polls all show Obama opening his lead in six of seven swing states.107 Electoral College votes of the winning 270 reside in these places. Last night's debate , while having no faux pas by the Alaska governor Sarah Palin, took nothing away from Senator Joe Biden, Obama's running mate.The worse the economic news, the greater Obama's poll numbers rise.A fascinating dynamic as a few months ago we were sure that Obama's experience and race would define the campaign. Arizona Senator McCain was of similar reasoning, bringing in a white young female to challenge and undermine Obama's 'rock star' charisma. Unfortunately, the Katie Couric interview was a bit disjointed at the very moment McCain need a boost deflecting away from the Wall Sreet crisi,s and its Main Street fall-out.California is now asking the Federal government for $7 Billion to bridge a budget short fall.. The September unemployment figures were a 5 year high,Guaranteed to compound the cosumers and investors' anxiety and fear.

'One thing's for sure: The next administration's economic team had better be ready to hit the ground running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.'

Paul Krugman,New York Times

October 3,2008

Paul Krugman sounded the alarm today warning in his New York Times opinion piece that we're at the Abyss.What was an obscure Wall Street contagion has bled into all our lives.Main Street and Side Street.Our money, and money prospects are under attack and we all face converging challenges.Our collective Abyss. That is why McCain's diversionary tactics and' don't trust the 'exotic' guy's talk' strategy, is not making traction. The populace is poorer , skeptical and fearful.We need hope or a visionary leadership tonavigate away from from the abyss. We here at TigerHawk are not impressed with the details or thoroughness of Obama economic policy, However, we agree with many Americans that he seems to have a better grasp of the urgency, and the macro-economic complexity beyond tax breaks and budget balancing.Ask California's Republican Governor how far such ideological rigidity has got the Golden State back on the road to economic prosperity.The racist pathology and deceit of the mentioned Bradley syndrome/effect, is an obvious danger to Obama.Some whites cannot allow themselves to vote for a black man.An unfortunate and deep-seated legacy of Slavery. However,the depth of the Obama/Biden war-chest,aggressive ad-buys in Red-states, the increase of new voter registrations and the galvanizing of the African-American vote since his conversation in South Carolina, have put Wizard Karl R's low road former W victory formula, under pressure.Obama reminds us that he's been in the campaign for 19 months and always under-estimated.HRC will testify that the plan that Super Tueday would seal the Democratic nomination, was torpedoed by a bold and new electoral strategy by the Harvard Law graduate.Last election cycle in 2004 , Mr.Evil Bin Laden popped up that last campaign weekend to add to foreign policy and security debate. Let's see which Jack pops out of which box.

From Faith, Hope and Charity to Flower,Hope and Grand.

The epicenter of Los Angeles' banking and finance power is in the Bunker Hill area downtown L.A. We have reported on the Grand performances from the California Plaza on Grand Avenue.Along with Hope and Flower,all threeenvelope upscale and corporate Bunker Hill.In 1849 just two years after winning California from Mexico, the Christian Anglo settlers named the three hills-Faith,Hope and Charity Avenues. In time Faith became Flower,Hope retained its name, but Charity seemed too indulgent for the Protestant Industry and became Grand Avenue. Today Grand (north of 5th street and the Library) is the elite cultural center of Los Angeles exhibiting banking skyrise canyons. The Mark Taper Forum,The Walt Disney Concert Hall,The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Colburn Art School(Juilliard West) and The California Plaza all shout L.A's power, culture and dominance.We recently have been on assignment in this Financial/Cultural 'Hood, and have enjoyed the ambiance, aesthetics, the bold architecture and the multi-cultural populace occupying the corporate/banking towers.Despite the sophisticated veneer, one senses an imperceptible tension which is bordering on collective deer in the head-lights posture.The Naked City.The Naked Avenue.Similar to Manhattan. Millions of stories at the edge of the Economic Abyss. After all a few days ago Wachovia and WaMu(Washington Mutual) both had economic marriages of convenience. Despite the up-beat press releases to impress the share-holders, these folk on pay-roll in these Bunker Hill canyons are aware of the Corporate degradation in Wall Street, and the upper Corporate circles are unreliable and golden parachute obsessed.As Obama said at his nomination, its not about him or any one leader but it's about us all.The neighboring hill of Hope reminds them daily of America's spirit of resilience.

Golden Eagle Comments on the Wall Street Crisis.

We have a Vietnamese-Chinese Lady who was once a high-powered trader in the sophisticated markets from Bunker Hill high-rise offices. We started this discussion at our temple in China-Town and Golden Eagle has agreed to make a commentary here at TigerHawk, sharing her insights:

' It is unnecessary for the Federal government to bail-out Wall Street because:
Corporate CEOs took advantage of the lack of oversight and enriched themselves while running their companies into the ground.
The government has no business of becoming another investment bank itself. This is totally un-American and un-Capitalistic. I believe possible future profits of the proposed government bail-out would be spent on political pet projects( rather than down paying the budget deficit or national debt) which would benefit us the consumers or (Main street).

Proposed fix:
Create economic Oversight Agency by full time independent economists without political affiliation.
Create total transparency of all Wall Street transactions without golden parachutes for present or future CEOs.
Replace pseudo government agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
With independent investment Clearing-houses.
Maybe have private investment firms buy up bad portfolios, let them be insured at $70 Billion total and problems can be solved quickly.'

Golden Eagle

Ache',Paz Y Luz,

TigerHawk

Obama on the Economy:Strong Speech

2008-09-24T05:05:33+02:00

Wanted: Political Leaders

2008-09-02T17:45:00+02:00

POLITICS according to The New York Times:

(used with a sing. verb)
1. The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
2. Political science.

"Art or science of governing" Hmm.. It seems (bloody obvious) that the world is running out of good political leaders.

For less than a year, Japan had 2 Prime Ministers who resigned from office. They were Abe Shinzo and Fukuda Yasuo, respectively. What happened to Japan? Well, it's happening everywhere in the world.

Recession is pandemic. I've heard the U.S. of A owes People's Republic of China a big debt. You might want to check the following:
[link]
[link]

And let's not go farther. No need to bother crossing the Great Ocean when we have our own country. The Pearl of the Orient is still in big debt. I wonder how much every Filipino owes.

As for overseas policies, Pres. GW Bush is still unable to have his desire to help make a Palestinian State. I'm actually glad he's failing with that. Curse is him who will divide the land of the Jews. That makes the son of a former president fortunate. And I hope U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice will not enter the picture.

I think I should watch out for world leaders now and look for the one who is equipped with charisma, knowledge, wit, wealth and power to rule and please the world. Not that I will join his crowd.

Music:

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

5 in state House race focus on jobs, economy

2008-07-29T08:51:27+02:00

State Rep. Brian Palmer's advice to whoever succeeds him as the elected speaker for the 36th District in Lansing: be bold. "We need people who will take bold steps to turn things in the state around," the outgoing state legislator said. "We don't want more of the same. We need people to be bold and take a chance." Palmer, R-Romeo, is term-limited at three two-year terms. AdvertisementOn Aug. 5, voters in the 36th District will choose a Republican and a Democrat to face off Nov. 4. The district, which is viewed as Republican territory based on its voting history, includes the northern Macomb County communities of Bruce Township, Shelby Township, the village of Romeo and Washington Township. Those who vote in the Democratic primary will have three candidates from which to choose; those who cast votes in the GOP primary will have two. Jeff Grundy, 62, and Greg Moore, 55, both of Washington Township, and Robert Murphy, 51, of Romeo are running as Democrats. Their rivals from the Republican Party are Matthew Hedge, 39, and Pete Lund, 44, both of Shelby Township. All five say the top issues facing the district -- as well as Metro Detroit and the rest of the state -- are Michigan's stagnant economy, its growing unemployment and rising energy costs. Grundy believes lawmakers must step up efforts to retain businesses in Michigan and lure new ones to the state to improve the state's health. He also thinks his background as a business development manager equips him the best for that task. "We've had lots of lawyers and bean counters, but we haven't had enough real business people in Lansing," he said. Meanwhile, Moore's plan for helping the district's residents focuses on promoting education -- especially for children. "I'm also pledging to donate $10,000 of my salary to my district to help its citizens, if I'm elected," said Moore, who boasts more than 20 years experience in the health care industry. The base salary for a state representative is $79,650. And Murphy, a mediation specialist, believes his skill as a negotiator makes him the best-suited candidate. "My training and experience has been invaluable in resolving problems," Murphy said. "I'm going to work closer with our U.S. congressional delegation to get funding for my district and the state from Washington." If elected, Hedge, who has more than a decade of experience in corporate finance management, plans to introduce legislation to lower taxes and cut government spending. "We have to lower taxes across the board and everything will follow from that," he said. "That'll attract capital into the Michigan marketplace and allow us to compete with other states." Pete Lund is arguably the most well known of the candidates because he's served as a Macomb county commissioner for the last 10 years. He is also the owner of a direct mailing company and an adjunct professor of finance and economics at Walsh College. "I understand how to work with others, put coalitions together and get things done," Lund said. He said his top priority will be to push for the repeal of the Michigan Business Tax to attract businesses to the state. Palmer's other of piece of advice for his successor: "You're going to have to do those things, which are the right things to do but they don't get you re-elected," he said. "You have to make your own way."

Business Opportunities in India: 5 Key Sectors .

2008-06-13T12:45:00+02:00

It’s official! India is happening. With an economy growing at the rate of 9 per cent, business opportunities in India are increasing more than ever before. So much, so that Investors around the world are making a beeline for doing business in India. The FDI Confidence Index 2007 by A T Kearney shows India as second most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment.Obviously, opening up of the market in the beginning of the nineties is paying dividends. Higher income generated at the bottom of the pyramid has fuelled the high octane growth of business opportunities in India across all sectors. Lion’s share of the business opportunities in India exists in the knowledge intensive industries like, Information Technology. Its enormous talent pool available at a reasonably low cost helps India to edge out the competition. According to a NASSCOM-Deloitte study, this sector has contributed 5.2 per cent of India’s GDP in 2007.Some other sectors that offer maximum business opportunities in India are:Telecom: Five leading telecom companies in the world have already invested large amounts to cash in the business opportunities in India’s telecom market. The sheer population of India reflects the growth potential of the segment. Oil and Gas: With a 25-50 per cent lower capital cost alongside the strategic location on the route of Middle East crude for East Asian and Pacific-rim markets India is fast emerging as the global hub for oil refining.Infrastructure: Growing at a rate of 8.6 per cent (2006-7), this segment offers tremendous business opportunities in India.Retail: India tops the AT Kearney's annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) for the third consecutive year, maintaining its position as the most attractive market for retail investment.Apart from the above, huge business opportunities in India lie the sectors like, financial services, healthcare and real estate.In the post reforms period, setting up a business in India, is not a worry at all. The elimination of license raj has been able to cut off bureaucratic red tape to much extent. The liberal regime has shaped up an investor friendly economic climate over the years.

Center for Resource Solutions: Green-e Certified Renewable Energy Sales Increase in 2007

2008-06-05T14:20:56+02:00

According to preliminary data, the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) certified 15 million MWh of renewable energy sales in 2007, up more than 50% from 2006. This represents sales to more than 90,000 new residential customers and 50% more commercial customers, for Green-e certified renewable energy. The audited report will be released later in the fall.The CRS Green-e program in the US provides independent, third-party certification to ensure certified renewable energy meets environmental and consumer protection standards. The program currently certifies products for 190 participating vendors.For additional information click on this link

Money Woes - Profiles of Real People

2008-04-05T22:35:00+02:00

This series at CNN Money, which presents more than 50 brief, first-person profiles of individuals and families struggling financially with job loss, downsizing, reduced home values, student loans, gas and food prices, etc., is enlightening and disheartening at the same time. I empathised with the stories of many folks; this one really speaks to me.

immigrant efforts

2007-02-06T16:52:15+01:00

the second article in our series of interculturaliy in the world, i would like to present you something on how immigrants are effectively shaping a local economy by their energy and thrive.

this article has been edited from a herald tribune news magazine.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Immigrant entrepreneurs shape a new economy
By Nina Bernstein
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Manuel Miranda was 8 when his family immigrated to New York from Bogotá. His parents, who had been lawyers, turned to selling home-cooked food from the trunk of their car. Manuel pitched in after school, grinding corn by hand for traditional Colombian flatbreads called arepas.
Today Miranda, 32, runs a family business with 16 employees, producing 10 million arepas a year in the Maspeth section of the borough of Queens. But the burst of Colombian immigration to the city has slowed; arepas customers are spreading through the suburbs, and competition for them is fierce. Now, he says, his eye is on a vast, untapped market: the rest of the country.In the long run, as with bagels, "you're going to have arepas in every store," predicted Miranda, whose innovations include a "toaster-friendly" version (square instead of round), and an experimental Web site that offers online sales nationwide. "But I don't have the connections. I don't know the people who can advise how to take us to the next level."
As the flow of immigrants to suburban and small-town America outpaces the growth of bustling ethnic centers in New York, many foreign-born entrepreneurs like the Mirandas are facing an unfamiliar crossroads. In the city, rising rents and density hamper growth, while swelling ethnic enclaves in the suburbs generate competitors. Yet in other places, opportunity beckons as never before, as immigrants expand the tastes of mainstream America.
Whether these businesses exploit the new chances to break out or succumb to the new perils, the city's economy will feel the effects."Immigrants have been the entrepreneurial spark plugs of cities from New York to Los Angeles," said Jonathan Bowles, the director of the Center for an Urban Future, a private, nonprofit research organization that has studied the dynamics of immigrant businesses that turned decaying neighborhoods into vibrant commercial hubs in recent decades. "These are precious and important economic generators for New York City, and there's a risk that we might lose them over the next decade."
A report issued by the center Tuesday highlights both the potential and the challenge for cities full of immigrant entrepreneurs, who often face language barriers, difficulties getting credit and problems connecting with mainstream agencies that help businesses grow. The report identifies a generation of immigrant-founded enterprises poised for the big time — or already there, like the Lams Group, one of the city's most aggressive hotel developers, or Delgado Travel, with about $1 billion in annual revenues.

In Los Angeles, at least 22 of the 100 fastest-growing companies in 2005 were created by first-generation immigrants. In Houston, a telecommunications company started by a Pakistani man topped the 2006 list of the city's most successful small businesses.
But even in those cities and New York, where immigrant-friendly mayors have promoted programs to help small business, the report contends that immigrant entrepreneurs have been overlooked in long-term strategies for economic development.Some are doing just fine anyway. Lowell Hawthorne, the Jamaican-born chief executive of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery, has parlayed a single bakery, opened in the Bronx in 1989, into more than 100 franchise restaurants nationwide.
Other companies, like Rajbhog Foods, which started as a mom-and-pop Indian sweets shop in Jackson Heights, Queens, seem to be on the edge of a similar breakthrough, even as they struggle with rising costs and shifting immigration patterns.
"Two steps forward and then back one step," said Sachin Mody, the chief executive and son of the founders. "That is the hardest part, to keep hurdling and keep evolving."Mody said the company had about 70 employees and three plants and sold its vegetarian products to stores in 41 states and Canada. Its catering operation handles Indian weddings and conventions for as many as 10,000. But six years ago, in recognition of a changing market, it began opening franchise stores in places like Jersey City and Hicksville, on Long Island, where Indians have settled in large numbers.
In some ways, New York may have a head start on the growing pains of immigrant businesses. The nation's recent surge of newcomers started earlier in the state and peaked by the mid-1990s, when immigration was still growing rapidly elsewhere.

Now, some children of the early influx are trying to build on their parents' success — success that has increased the cost of doing business, by driving up rents and creating congestion.
One example is Jay Joshua, a Manhattan company that designs souvenirs and then has them manufactured in Asia and imported. Jay Chung, who arrived from South Korea in 1981 as a graduate student in design, started printing his designs for New York logos and peddling them to local T-shirt shops. His company is now one of the city's leading suppliers of tourist items, from New York-loving coffee mugs to taxicab Christmas ornaments.But frustration mixes with pride when the Chungs, both U.S. citizens now, discuss the company's growth.
Thirty years ago their wholesale district was desolate. Now hundreds of importers are there, said Chung, a leader of the Korean-American business association. Members face a blizzard of parking tickets and high commercial rents — nearly $20,000 a month for 1,400 square feet, or 130 square meters, he said.
Seeking to relocate the wholesale site, the association made a deal with the city for a redevelopment in the College Point section of Queens, only to have the city back out eight months later. Older, white residents had expressed fear that the area would become like Chinatown or Flushing."It was a disaster for us — not only financially, but our image," Chung said.
Apologetic city officials offered five other locations, and the group is negotiating for a private project in the Jamaica section of Queens that could yield a 13- story center in four years. But the episode underscores the importance of partnerships with the city — and the pitfalls.

Immigrant entrepreneurs seem ambivalent about getting more attention from the city. Some are leery of red tape, though they would welcome, say, a municipal parking garage. Others cite concrete help they have received from city agencies.
When Mr. Miranda's arepas company, Delicias Andinas, was struggling with high trash bills two years ago, he said, a city agent in an industry retention program referred him to a recycler. Now much of the company's garbage — mostly corn leftovers — is sold to hog farms."They helped us out to a win-win situation," said Mr. Miranda, now an American citizen who calls himself "a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker."
"For us, it was a big deal. Right now, I don't need money. I need knowledge."

edited by globalnomad