Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Dec 23, 2019

choi

(1) Min Jeong Lee, Heejin Kim and Sam Kim with Pavel Alpeyev, The Chemicals Between Us.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... de-south-korea-rich

Quote:

"Policymakers in Tokyo are exploiting a vulnerability of the development model that South Korea has used with enormous success since the 1960s: a focus on exports that helped take the population from rags to riches. South Korea's annual exports are equal to 40% of gross domestic product. This Achilles' heel was exposed in 2016, when Beijing orchestrated a boycott of Korean businesses to protest the deployment of a US-funded missile defense system. South Korea has also suffered collateral damage from President Trump's trade war with China, which has disrupted supply chains across Asia and depressed corporate investment. Exports [of S Korea] have contracted in each of the past 12 months.

"But for most of South Korea's technology ­sector, high-quality, competitively priced substitutes for Japanese materials are tough to find, says another person familiar with the matter. The country's trade deficit with Japan in materials, components, and equipment needed in the production of goods including semiconductors and displays amounted to $22.4 billion last year, according to the Finance Ministry [This report are written by S Koreans, from a S Korean standpoint; so the Ministry is S Korea's] * * *

"A bigger question is whether South Korea can lessen its overall dependence on trade. The Moon administration has mounted a bold plan to bolster domestic demand by raising the minimum wage. * * * Bloomberg Economics estimates GDP expanded 1.9% in 2019, largely on the strength of stepped-up government spending and interest-rate cuts.

Note:
(a)
(i) The color of title appears in original.
(ii) summary underneath the title in print: Japanese export curbs have exposed a vulnerability in South Korea's development strategy
(iii) Print and the online version are identical, except where I point out next.

(b) Quotation 2 in print starts with: "But for Korean companies that buy in bulk, high-quality, competitively priced substitutes for Japanese materials are tough to find, says another person familiar with the matter."

The subject of this sentence starts with "high-quality." In other words, "that buy in bulk" is a clause that modifies "companies."
(c) My view is different. United States did not make watch for decades, until Apple produced one. A nation can not make everything. "David Ricardo developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817."  en.wikipedia.org. Mr Ricardo was born in London of Sephardic Jews of Portuguese origin.

(2) Laura Millan Lombraña and Sebastian Boyd, Climate Change Primed Chileans for a Revolution.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... ans-for-an-uprising
("The trigger for the demonstrations was discontent with inadequate pensions, health care, and education systems. Less attention has been paid to the role an extended drought has played in priming Chileans for action. * * * A year ago, he had 76 cows and horses; only 30 remain and he expects to lose more over the South American summer [which is now, while northern hemisphere is in winter]")

Note:
(a)
(i) summary underneath the title in print: A long dry period has helped spark a revolt against the neoliberal economic model
(ii) Print and the online version are identical
(b) Spanish-English dictionary:
* laguna (noun feminine; from Latin [noun feminine] lacuna [hole], which also gives rise to English noun lagoon): "1: lagoon; 2: lake"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/laguna

(3) Kevin Orland, Wexit Wishes in Western Canada.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... considering-a-wexit

Note:
(a)
(i) The color of title appears in original.
(ii) summary underneath the title in print: Japanese export curbs have exposed a vulnerability in South Korea's development strategy
(iii) Print and the online version are identical
(b)
(i) Read the first 2 ½ paragraphs and view the map, and that is enough.
(ii) Oddly Americans do not talk about this -- tax paid to central government and receipt back. Taiwanese talk about this frequently.