Maybe Heiko is right after all?

Heiko (back in Germany) will tell you that Globalisation is not the best thing we have ever come up with. While it is a bit too late to reverse this phenomenom, one has to pause and think about this.

America seems to be falling apart and we all feel the result of it. Established banks all of a sudden collapse, stock exchanges are in turmoil and people around the globe are freightened (those with internet access and money to invest that is). I drove past the AIA office in Singapore this evening. At 22:00 in the evening people were lining up, the que measuring 100 meters, to terminate their contracts and cutting their losses.

Wasn't this kind of scenario what caused the great depression in the past century (the 1930s that is. We should all remember that from History lessons in school). Let's just hope that the interconnectedness will decelerate the fall. Let's hope that the Chinese demand for goods and services from all over the world is going to buffer this global recession. Some say that the recession will not hit Asia so hard as there is a lot of trade going on inside the ASEAN and South East Asia. Let's hope.

That said, one has to wonder, if investments are ever safe. Personally I am saving a lotof my income, hoping to retire early and with a modest amount of disposable income. The last thing I would want to do is to push shopping carts around when I am 70...

As an observation... Singapore used to be "free" from beggars and homeless people. In 2000, living here the first time, beggars were something you just did not encounter. Within two days I was approached twice now, being asked for "donations". This is something new for Singapore.
Maybe this is a sign?