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This is the year in which Europe will either fall apart or emerged stronger. I give it 75% that it emerges as a stronger union but the risk of collapse is still there. Germany has the key to solve the problem because of the size of its economy, its saving rate and its export volume. Germany has to decide on whether it continues to transfer some of its wealth in order to create markets for its exports or it let’s Europe fall apart and ends up with an overvalued currency and deteriorated markets. Already today it started paying negative interest rates which is a prelude in my view to a huge rise in the DM should it be born again. Tough choice. I think Germany can actually both save Europe and make money by buying underpriced Italian and Spanish bonds and selling them after stabilization. It can do what the FED did with many financial institutions, make a profit by providing much needed liquidity at a critical time.

Posted by David Oliver - September 13, 2007 6:25 am - #
I was wondering why my reply to “Gadgets and Computers in China” wasn’t published?
While not as prominent as some of the western and Japanese brands there are Chinese brands such as Lenovo, Aigo and Haier that are well known in China. One problem that all brands have here is that there are always cheaper substitutes. While I would stick to a well known name when buying a laptop, if its a product I don’t use so much then I will buy something cheaper. For example recently I was looking for a webcam in one of the malls and was shown some made by well known brands, after I said they were too expensive they showed me the cheaper ones with similar functionality made by companies I had never heard of so I bought one of them instead.
Another issue for brands is fakes or “unauthorized products”. There have been numerous cases where the contract manufacturer makes additional products in addition to what was ordered by the brand owner and then sells them through the same distribution channels at a cheaper price. What do you think – if a product comes off the same production line in the same packaging but was not authorized by the brand owner (and they make no money) then are those products fakes, real or somewhere in between?