(Tokyo University, Japan) Friedman would probably agree with me that freedom must, of course, be exercised with responsibility, decency and good sense.

Seoul, Korea – I finished reading Milton Friedman’s ‘Capitalism and Freedom’ recently (University of Chicago Press 2002). This post captures some of the quotes that I find interesting:

On the importance of the economy in preserving freedom

“…freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood…also an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom” (p.8)

“…economic arrangements are important because of their effect on the concentration or dispersion of power…competitive capitalism…separates economic power from political power…” (p.9)

“…what the market does is to greatly reduce the range of issues that must be decided through political means…action through political channels…tends to require or enforce substantial conformity” (p. 15)

“…role of the market…permits unanimity without conformity” (p.23)

Friedman further points out that freedom cannot exist even in a socialist democracy. He observes that people need to “earn a living and finance their causes”, something possible only when power is distributed as in a capitalistic society. He notes that “It is more difficult to maintain numerous equipotent small centers political power in a single large government” (p. 16)

On Property Rights

“…what constitutes property and what rights the ownership of property confers re complex social creations rather than self-evident propositions” and “a well specified and generally accepted definition of property is far more important than just what the definition is.” (p. 26)

On Monetary Policy

“…any system that gives so much power and so much discretion to a few men that mistakes –excusable or not- can have far-reaching effects is a bad system” (p. 50)

Friedman also quotes Lenin’s famous dictum “the most effective way to destroy society is to destroy its money” (p. 39)

On International Trade Arrangements

“…our problem is not to “solve’ a balance of payments problem. It is to solve the balance of payments problem by adopting a mechanism that will enable free market forces to provide a prompt , effective and automatic response to changes in conditions affecting international trade…” (p. 67)

On the Liberal’s Philosophy

Friedman summarizes the thinking of the liberal…

“…at the heart of the liberal philosophy [is the] belief in the freedom to make the most of his capacities and opportunities according to his own lights, subject only to the proviso that he not interfere with the freedom of other individuals to do the same.”

The liberal will “distinguish sharply between equality of rights and equality of opportunity, on the other hand, and material equality or quality of outcome on the other”

“…one cannot be both an egalitarian…and a liberal” (p. 195)

I disagree with Friedman on the idea that we can easily separate equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes. Outcomes are fed back into the opportunities that a person has. A person who lives in Nepal, regardless of how smart, capable and hardworking he or she is, has far lesser opportunities to attain the same economic outcomes as someone living in Greenwich, Connecticut. So is it with a person born to poor parents in a rich country.

(Gyeong Ju, Korea) Whatever you think is your true self…whatever…really.

Seoul, Korea - When we meet strangers, we subconsciously shape ourselves to fit their expectations. We tailor our humor, our behavior and our speech in ways alien and awkward to ourselves. In doing so, we end up unhappy, as the joy of companionship turns into a nightmare of living up to a false identity.

There is no need to be witty for the sake of others, to discuss the topics that matter only to others, or to subsume individualism for the lowest common denominators. Sometimes it is better to remain in the margins and remain true to oneself, discussing the things that one is concerned about, then to pretend to be cooler, hipper or funnier than one really is.

Being an individual, and being respected as one, is a lesson that I must keep with myself at all times. I should stop living as others expect me to, and spend more time living as I believe I should.

(Gwanghwamun, Korea) - The town is painted red by a World Cup watching crowd

Seoul, Korea - I am struck by a bout of moodiness as I prepare to leave Seoul. I do not wish to forget friends, and yet I know that over time, some of them here will forget me. We will go our separate ways and never hear from each other again. We will drift apart and forget the memories that we shared. Some of us will move, change emails and phone numbers or never come into MSN again, and we will lose touch. It is tragic yet inevitable. I do no wish for it to happen, yet it is a sign of my maturity (or jadedness) that I accept it and learn to move on.

I hope it does not happen and really hope all of you, my dearest friends, will remember me and keep me as a part of your life. Let me know what happens to you wherever you are and I pray we meet again…soon. Go reds! Go Korea, for the awesome memories that you have left with me.

(Gyeong Ju, Korea) A beautiful moment in Seoul, clad in red

(Gyeong Ju, Korea) Like a dream, all in red

Gyeong Ju, South Korea - The response one hopes for in a speech

Seoul, Korea - The following is my closing address delivered at the International Youth Forum in South Korea. Pacing is of utmost importance in delivering a beautiful eulogy. I hope to work on this area by remembering the following points:

1. A slow speech that is easy to understand is more emotive. Avoid nervousness and unnecessary hastiness in delivery.
2. Place emphasis on appropriate words and pause at the right parts (to allow impact of words to sink in). These are related to point 1 as haste results in the loss of impact.

Thank you Joo Hee [Korean representative for closing address].

It is both my pleasure and regret to represent the foreign delegates in delivering the closing address. Over the last seven days, I learnt the secret of a good conference: it is the presence of good friends…or maybe friends and Soju [Korean alcohol].

Hence, my speech is dedicated to friends, who spent all day together, listening to speeches, boring or not; to friends who spent all night together, drinking or not; and even to friends who disappear midday for afternoon naps or long walks by the lake. (Yes. You know who you are!)

Whatever we did, we did together, and it is this shared experience that will sustain our friendships in the years to come.

Thank you!

(Seoul, Korea) My host family’s eight year old nephew who wrestles with me everyday. Life is so much richer now

Seoul, Korea - I will be away for a week discussing the Millennium Development Goals at a conference in Gyeong Ju sponsored by the National Youth Commission of Korea and the Asia Europe Foundation. Hence, blog-posts will be intermittent during that period. Upon my return, I hope to present some thoughts on the conference issues, as well as a summary of Milton Friedman’s “Capitalism and Freedom” and John Kenneth Galbraith’s “The Affluent Society” which I have just read.

In the meantime, I offer an update on my current status. I am currently residing in Seoul, trying to learn more about Korean language, culture, politics and economics. I spend a lot of time hanging out with my Korean friends here and learn from their perspectives. In addition, I played host to May from Hong Kong, Zi Shuang from Singapore, and Kiki from Shanghai. Previously, I stayed in Taiwan with Daniel and attended a World Bank conference in Tokyo.

What do I feel about staying in a foreign country (or countries) for such an extended period? While quite a lot of my Singaporean friends used to complain about how much they missed Singapore, I have to admit my birthplace has hardly crossed my mind, except for the concern which I feel towards my family or friends there. Having friends in Seoul makes the city amazing and I have settled down rather rapidly here. Is Seoul my final destination? I doubt so. But it is a place which I can see myself working in and staying in for sometime. At the end of the day, I can get used to any place so long as I have friends and work to do there.

In discussing the dictatorship of Park Geun Hye and the obligatory conscription policy here with friends, I was rudely reminded of the intersection between authoritarianism and conscription without democratic justification and conscientious objection options in my birthplace. It reminded me of why I left. I am a happier person now, for not having to live in the past.

(Seoul, Korea) Travelling the World on a Huntsman ticket

Seoul, Korea - When Pin told me to stop being a dumbass by vacillating over choosing the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at Penn/ Wharton, I did not believe him. I really wanted to do the liberal arts program at all those other wonderful schools which accepted me. I felt that a business program at the undergraduate level would not suit me. But I was wrong. The Huntsman program, and Penn, provides an amazing undergraduate education, and I would like to share some lesser known benefits of the program.

A key benefit of Huntsman is the incredible support given to the students to help them achieve their dreams, especially by the program director - Herman Inge. When I was trying to make a decision on which college to choose, I sent Inge an email outlining my interests in development issues at 9pm (EDT). In just an hour, I got a reply from her discussing the students who share my interests and what they are doing in development now. Within 24 hours, I had replies from two students and two alumni who are working in the development field.

As I write this, I am waiting for a phone call from Inge to Seoul, as she believes in discussing with each student their academic and career interests, before advising them on their course selection. I do not know if this is the prevalent practice among American universities, but I really appreciate the dedication which she brings to her work. Furthermore, it was nice of her to reply to my email on a Sunday night (sent hours earlier) asking for advice on university course selections.

Being in Huntsman also allows me to bypass the bureaucracy prevalent in most top universities. I was grateful for the offer to fedex duplicate copies of my course selection materials to South Korea when Inge learnt that I had moved out of Singapore, where I previously stayed in. It was also amazing of her to introduce to the other incoming Huntsman freshmen in Korea, who were so willing to help me with my course selection. She also remembers my proper name (which every other college has typed wrongly, using a database to spit out names on letters instead), as well as the name of all the other students in the Huntsman program.

The international outlook of my incoming Huntsman class was something I expected and have not been disappointed by. I have so far met some students who three or four years ago could not speak English, but are able to speak up to four languages now (shame on me in mastering Korean).

While the program is highly selective and the application process really tedious, it was definitely worth the effort I put in! I sincerely recommend this program to anyone applying to Penn with a strong interest in International Studies and Business!

(Samsung Leeum Museum, Seoul, Korea) Bringing tribute?

Seoul, Korea - I was with a friend who is a strong supporter of the Grand National Party when we passed by the Hyundai headquarters. Our talk shifted to the suicide of the Hyundai chairman this year and speculation on the reasons. Besides being investigated for alleged fraud, Hyundai has been under government pressure to increase investments in North Korea. Hyundai is a principal investor in industrial parks in the North such as Gaeseong.

I do not believe that Hyundai is investing in North Korea purely for economic reasons. I use economic reasons here in a narrowly defined sense as contributions to government agendas could bring dividends derived from political patronage. On their own, investments in North Korea are likely to be economically unjustifiable due to the political uncertainties (which as the recent firing of missiles show, can change rapidly) as well as the lack of institutions and infrastructure that support a capitalist system. I also believe that the government in the north is likely to exercise strict controls on foreign firms, and is in a position to extort from these firms. Thus, I suspect the government is supporting Hyundai, either with the promise of political support in pursuing its corporate aims, or with secret subsidies. Besides incentives, the government could be using threats to compel Hyundai, possibly through investigations into illegal activities conducted by the controlling family.

In my previous post on ‘Economic Nationalism and the Republic of Samsung’, I documented how Korean conglomerates possess strong political clout. However, the Hyundai case shows that influence is not unilateral, and the government frequently exercises public policy through the conglomerates, perpetuating the cycle of government-industry patronage in Korea. Such policy-making is ill-advised, as the government and industry becomes too closed, with power becoming too concentrated and interests too aligned. Governments might undermine investigations against powerful corporate allies who aid in their political agendas. They could also avoid democratic scrutiny by conducting foreign policy under the guise of corporate activity.

Update 1 Aug 2006 - After talking to Joo Kyung from Min Sa Go, I was informed that Hyundai’s founder was separated from his family during the Korean war. Hence, he had a personal interest the development of the North. However, recent reports indicate that Gaeseong is not performing well financially.

(City Hall, Korea) Nationalistic fervour in the world cup

Seoul, Korea - I met up with a friend who works at the National Assembly to learn more about the Republic of Korea, but ended up learning about the Republic of Samsung. Although I had long known the immense influence which Chaebols have on the government, it was on this trip that I learnt more about the mechanisms by which it exercises its power.

A long-term problem with Korea’s economy is the immense influence conglomerates have, which translates into an ability to pursue rent-seeking. The failure of the Assembly to pass pro-competition laws this year already reflects this fact, as well as the high levels of tariff. The conglomerates exercise their power through several mediums, and I thought direct bribery is the main modality. However, I was wrong.

While, bribery scandals take the headlines of newspapers (and thus have undue prominence), Chaebol power is actually exercised in more subtle ways. For example, Samsung controls the Joong Ang Ilbo, one of the three main press agencies of Korea. The collusion of business and media renders the support of conglomerates important to politicians. Furthermore, the economic size of Samsung allows it to create economic turbulence through business decisions, such as by shifting jobs out of the country. This makes finicky policymakers hostage to the demands of conglomerates. My friend informs me that the policymakers really fear Samsung - for good reasons.

However, my own analysis is that fear is not the only mechanism of control, as it is in the long-term self-destructive. Samsung also creates its own base of support through nationalistic fervor. I talked to Hanyoup, a Korean friend studying at Georgetown and saw the nationalistic face of Korea (the kind who mentions national pride in every sentence). In discussing Samsung, his tone was one of pride in discussing Samsung’s economic strength and how this has contributed to Korea’s publicity overseas. Samsung sells itself as the economic face of the Korean nation, a bearer of its national pride, and thus builds a cult of economic nationalism around itself. What if competition policies ‘hurt’ Samsung? You would not want that, would you?

Of course we all know how rent-seeking in the long-term ends up hurting the economy and consumers more.

(Seoul, Korea) May from Hong Kong visits us!

Seoul, Tokyo - I met up with Karen from Korea University and talked to an incoming Korean freshman at Williams from Minjok Leadership Academy. Both of them posed the same question. “Why am I not traveling around Korea when I am spending so much time here?” I feel that it is not so much the beautiful cities and landscape that make me happy on such trips. Rather, it is being with friends and feeling like I am part of the city that brings me great satisfaction.

This feeling manifests itself in the smallest things. After parting with May (who is visiting from Hong Kong) and Boran (who works for Samsung), I took the subway back, studying Korean along the way. I bought milk and cakes for the next morning’s breakfast, and it was at this point, where I felt a sudden rush of happiness and excitement mixed with poignant melancholy. I felt that I was part of the city by this mundane activity of buying groceries. I felt at home, or at least as much at home as a nomad can be. It is in these small things that I find the greatest amount of happiness on my trips.

Besides easing myself into Seoul, meeting old friends and studying Korean, I have also been helping some of my friends with their English. I really cracked up last week when I read one of my friend’s essay, a love story set in Australia. The male protagonist frequently told the female heroine that “he loves her more than the sunshine in May.” I pointed out that May is winter in Australia and we all collapsed into giggles. He must not love her very much.

(Myeong Dong, Seoul, Korea) An artistic rendition of myself which I particularly liked.

(Chonggyecheon Stream, Seoul, Korea) May’s farewell team the night before she was supposed to leave for Hong Kong.

(Houlong, ROC) Without globalization, how could I have met wonderful Hsin Yu?

Seoul, Korea - This is a short essay which I wrote for the International Youth Forum in Korea. It was written in a rush so I would like to apologize in advance for any mistakes.

I was born in Singapore but I currently stay in Seoul. My routine in Seoul includes morning visits to Korea University, where I would sink into plush comfortable red sofas at the business school lounge, and immerse myself in studying Korean. Once, I had to meet a friend in the city center after reading my books. I approached a Korean girl sitting at the table next to mine and asked for the best route to the city. When she learnt that I was from Singapore, she blurted out “do you know Wayne Soon?” I did. What were the chances of that happening? I also found out that one of my Korean friends was her ex-classmate in high school. I was reminded that the world is a small place – one defined by inter-connected nodes that bear little relationship to physical geography.

The world is small because economic life interacts with geography through the economics of agglomeration. Spatial concentration creates industry clusters, normally centered on the dense urban landscape of mega-cities. These cities maintain backward and forward linkages with other cities in a manner that diverges from their geographic reality: linkages tend to favor dense markets rather than physical proximity. As such, the map of economics shows New York being closer to Hong Kong than Hong Kong is to Ulan Bator (the capital city of Mongolia), even though geographic studies show the converse. These cities are nodes connected by the flow of capital between rich financial markets. Capital, information, goods and people flow between these two cities as if they were neighbors.

Thus, it is through open markets that I owe my friendship to my newfound Korean friend at Korea University. Open markets are the basis of a world without borders, as they build linkages between cities or nodes. Such a world is one in which geography is partly defined by markets, and where economic borders coexist with political and physical boundaries. Living in a node, I should be less surprised about my connection to someone staying in another node [Seoul] than if I was from the countryside in Korea and ran into the same person.