Diary of a Hedgehog: Biggs' Final Words on the Markets

The “Atlantic Crisis”

In mid-June I went on a trip to Asia. First stop was Korea, then Hong Kong, Indonesia, and finally Singapore. As always, there is nothing like getting out of NYC and being on the ground talking to real people. Thanks to my friend James Cheng, the brilliant head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management Asia, we had particularly stimulating meetings in Hong Kong and China. For example, out of Hong Kong, James arranged a cruise of successful young entrepreneur Michael Lee Tze Hau’s yacht up into the islands with a half-dozen Hong Kong and Chinese private equity guys and their girlfriends. Six hours with this bunch was worth more than 10 three-day bank conferences and all the economists’ blather. They were the essence of Silicon Valley mentality, which is what breeds innovation, creative destruction, and dynamic growth. Here is what I wrote at the time.

June 21, 2011

They are calling it the “Atlantic Crisis” in Asia; 1998 was the “Asian Crisis” when the Asians themselves were the principal perpetrators. This one is potentially much bigger and made in the USA and Europe. It took years for the Asians to pick up the pieces and for equities to recover. Our rehab may be longer and more painful, but they mostly think their economies and markets are going to be fine, even bubbly, as ours were in the late 1990s and 2006–2007. I agree with them.

Here I am in Indonesia being ...