Comments by "capmidnite" (@capmidnite) on "Asianometry" channel.

  1. I believe the Korean shipyards increasingly employ welders and other workers from countries such as Vietnam because young Koreans don't want to do such work anymore.
    5
  2. Kodak is a sad shell of its former self.
    5
  3. China invading Taiwan would be a disaster for the world economy (and China's manufacturing) as IT supply chains get abruptly disrupted. Even if the invasion was quick, short and minimally disruptive, TSMC might not be viable over the long term if key personnel flee to other countries. A company is not just the sum of its physical capital but also includes it intangible capital: the engineers and technicians who might be strongly anti-PRC.
    5
  4.  @greatwolf5372  The Korean manufacturers already have to import welders and other shipyard workers from countries such as Vietnam because young Koreans don't want to do such work.
    5
  5.  @francisdayon  Long term prosperity arises from creating a diversified economy that offers opportunities for skilled workers with a variety of talent and skills. You think real estate bubbles create wealth? Why don’t you read up on the Dutch Tulip Mania.
    5
  6.  @francisdayon  The “majority” of American build their wealth with housing bubbles? Historically, real estate has basically just kept up with inflation. Housing bubbles in the USA happen most in densely populated coastal areas such as the SF Bay Area, NYC, etc and benefit those who are already wealthy. I’m not if you really even are using the word “bubble” right or understand what you are spouting. Investors over the long term prefer steady growth not “bubbles” because bubbles inevitably end up popping. Like the Japanese bubble economy of the 80s and early 90s. Real estate prices took 20 years to go back to their previous levels.
    5
  7.  @francisdayon  You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. I am curious, you keep talking about “we” “over here” and “we are just a modern day colony.” What country are you from?
    5
  8.  @SMGJohn  Just how many steel and iron complexes do you think N Korea has? Hundreds? Tens? The Chollima iron and steel works is the largest in North Korea and the subject of numerous visits from the top leadership.
    5
  9. A list of the top 10 richest families in the USA is much different from the same list from 20 or 30 years ago.
    5
  10.  @srinivasgorur-shandilya1788  Weimar is a city in Germany.
    5
  11.  @inomo  What do you mean by "wrong" and "right"? Geographic labels of nations and cultures are often not precise or "right." Why is the Netherlands sometimes referred to as "Holland" when Holland is just a province in that country? Are Russians Asian or European (most of their landmass is in Asia)? Why are Japanese, Koreans and Chinese referred to as East Asian but Russians in Vladivostok aren't? Why is the West called the "West" when to an African it is NORTH of them?
    4
  12.  @inomo  I don't know why are you are so fixated on identifying what continent you are from. I've met Peruvians, Brazilians, etc that easily say they're from South America. Or Guatemalans, El Salvadorians that say they're from Latin America. Or Jamaicans that say they're from the Caribbean. For whatever reason, Mexicans and Canadians only say what country they're from so I guess they're stuck with the existential angst of being "American" but not a US American. You really are stuck in a quixotic struggle against this "American" terminology.
    4
  13. Depends on how far back you're talking about. The jump from carburetors to electronic fuel ignition was a huge improvement. But then cars started getting loaded down with 10 airbags, ESC, infotainment systems. And cars have subsequently gotten heavier and more complicated. Many consider 1990s cars to have the right balance of technology, just enough to be a significant improvement over what came before.
    4
  14.  @caonabocruzG  "but fixing the stuff is a nightmare and selling them for a good price after 5~10 years is a challenge." You must have owned only German cars because Toyotas and Hondas are still very low maintenance after 5 years. I have a 2004 Lexus RX with 95,000 miles and all it needs is regular oil changes.
    4
  15.  @موسى_7  Except in this case it’s not obvious because “chaebol” and “zaibatsu” are not similar at first glance, at least in pronunciation or English transliteration.
    4
  16. Not sure if the TCR was a "more aerodynamic" design. If you look at a bike straight on, a sloping top tube doesn't make it more aero. As you said, I think the TCR makes it easier for manufacturers to make more universal sizes (S,M,L) instead of 22 different frames. So-called innovations in the bike industry recently have been to make things easier or simpler for the manufacturer (cartridge bearings, PressFit bottom brackets, etc).
    4
  17.  @lengould9262  I think you're thinking of the light truck market, which was hit by the "chicken tariff." The American makers have a virtual lock on the full size truck market because a Made in USA identity is part of the full size truck image.
    4
  18. Probably should have mentioned the Showa Steel Works in Manchuko.
    4
  19. Leica, the other fine German optic company, competes with Zeiss in some products such as binoculars but not the semi-conductor stepper market. Leica however dominates the high-end German photography industry with its M-series cameras and lenses. Today, almost all Zeiss-branded camera lenses are made by Japanese companies. I wonder why Leica never tried to break into the stepper market. Maybe it only has room for one player, at least in Europe?
    4
  20. The old RCA building in Camden NJ is still standing, converted into loft apartments.
    4
  21.  @francisdayon  The Amazon HQ2 search was one very high profile case. Companies will naturally move to jurisdictions that offer a good business environment. In the past year over 100 companies moved from California to Texas without fanfare. They moved not just because of the efforts of one mayor of one city but because of the overall benefits of moving to Texas. Mayor of cities do not have control over state taxes or regulations.
    4
  22.  @SMGJohn  Heavy machinery is often salvageable after an aerial bombing raid. The Germans in WW2 got their aircraft factories up and running a in a couple days after massive Allied bombing raids. The fact remains the Chollima iron and steel complex was built by the Japanese.
    4
  23. The Japanese camera industry catching up with the Germans can be explained in a nutshell. They copied German designs mostly until the late 1950s. Then Nikon came out with their F series SLR and the rest is history.
    4
  24.  @RodrigoCh  True but I don’t think any other industry got dominated so swiftly and completely like the camera market by the Japanese. For example it took decades for Japanese car makers to establish themselves and there is plenty of competition from other countries. In contrast, the Nikon F was quickly adopted by professionals and German makers became a niche part of the market.
    4
  25.  @zukacs  A high end bicycle with a carbon fiber frame, as opposed to aluminum or steel alloy.
    4
  26.  @diavalus  And the sum can be greater than the individual parts. That's why people are fanboys of well-integrated products such as the iphone.
    4
  27. There's an interesting story of a Navajo Indian named Joe Kieyoomia who was captured while fighting in the Pacific Theater. His captors assumed he was a Japanese American and hence a traitor and tortured him for months until he finally convinced them he wasn't.
    4
  28. Most older fridges from any manufacturer tend to last.
    4
  29.  @grizwoldphantasia5005  I was referring mainly to the act of reaching into one’s pocket and taking out the phone or watch, as opposed to looking at one’s wrist to see the time.
    4
  30. I believe Hyundai shipyards in Ulsan offers factory tours. I went to the Mitsubishi Industries museum in Nagasaki, which is located inside the shipyard facilities. The museum contained displays of old machinery, tools and photos from Mitsubishi history and the building itself was a pattern making shop built in the 1800s. In the shipyard was a Giant Cantilever Crane imported from Scotland in 1909 and I believe it is the oldest still-working shipyard crane in the world.
    4
  31. There's actually a profound link between the early Soviet Five Year plans and East Asian economies. Nobusuke Kishi visited the USSR in 1929 and was quite impressed with their model of rapid industrialization, with a focus on heavy industry. As Minister of Industrial Development in Japanese-occupied Manchukuo, he was able to try out this model with ruthless disregard for Chinese workers. However, unlike the USSR, the Manchukuo model harnessed the talents of private capitalists, albeit under state guidance. A Korean serving in the Japanese Army in Manchuria witnessed this rapid development. His name: Park Chung Hee, future authoritarian President of South Korea. His Five Year plans for the South Korean economy closely resembled Kishi's Manchukuo plans. Future video on this topic?
    4
  32. I think Tern / Dahon are American companies founded by a Taiwanese American with Taiwan-based manufacturing?
    4
  33. How about an article about hydrogen flouride and how a couple years ago the Japanese government sorta banned the sale of this essential chemical to Korean semiconductor companies? The Koreans had their own manufacturers, except they couldn't make it pure enough. But the move might have backfired on the Japanese because the Koreans became less reliant on them.
    3
  34.  @inomo  What free, independent and sovereign country existed in the Western hemisphere before the US? I'm aware the New World was referred to as the Americas since the days of exploration. Anyway, the new country at its inception in 1776 was called "The United States of America" and its citizens became known as " Americans." Monroe Doctrine came in the 1820s.
    3
  35.  Zaydan Naufal  I wouldn't say Japan is necessarily "declining." More like seeing very sluggish growth, along with a rapidly aging population.
    3
  36. If this video was going to start with the history of the automotive, it would have been worth mentioning electric cars were competitive with the IC engine cars in the early days. Before the invention of the starter, they were preferred by female drivers for their ease of use.
    3
  37. 6:48 I think the Ship of Theseus analogy applies only to physical objects, not corporations and foundations which are essentially creatures of legal fiction.
    3
  38. Deer are a huge nuisance in the suburbs of East Coast America where I live. They have no predators and multiply like rabbits and eat everything.
    3
  39. There are still older apartment complexes in South Korea with the Daewoo logo on them.
    3
  40. Why is it evil sounding? Your remark has a whiff of anti-Semitism to it.
    3
  41. My 20 year microwave is going strong but the interior looks cruddy.
    3
  42.  @Schinshikss  South Korea, Taiwan and Japan of course also had the advantage of being military wards of the USA since WW2.
    3
  43.  @Schinshikss  One critique of Studwell's land reform analysis is that correlation isn't causation. And are small farms the most efficient? The most efficient and productive farmland in the world is in the American Midwest, where most of the land is owned by huge corporations that employ wage labor. Studwell's thesis is ultimately one unproven thesis among many trying to explain the rise of the Asian tigers.
    3
  44. @NoodleDance "but I imagine SK got a lot of help from the US. Just a hypothesis." Since the Korean War, the USA has guaranteed South Korea's national security. The Korean construction industry got its start and know-how from the US Army Corps of Engineers who gave Korean firms many projects. During the Vietnam War, Korean firms sold tons of supplies to the US forces. The USA also opened its market to Korean imports.
    3
  45.  @fannyalbi9040  North America includes Canada, Mexico (and the smaller countries below it) and the United States. Canada is a sovereign nation.
    2
  46.  @موسى_7  You can "believe" what you want, North and South America are separate and there are 7 continents. Some people say "Eurasia" is one continent but it is widely accepted Europe and Asia are in fact separate, to give another example.
    2
  47.  @inomo  You must sound a bit idiotic telling people everywhere you go you are "American" and then having to clarify you're not from the United States.
    2
  48. You seem hung up on the wrongness of calling the USA "America." So tell me, why do people refer to the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking countries when the languages spoken in Spain are Castilian, Catalan and Basque? That seems wrong. We should be referring to "Castilian-speaking countries."
    2
  49. It also helps that their national defense has basically been outsourced to the United States military.
    2
  50.  @restojon1  I always wondered how they managed to convince Daimler Benz to strike up a partnership with them.
    2