South Korea’s Currency Shows Strength
The ripple effects and knock-on effects of Washington’s recent dysfunction continue to flow out across the world. Damage wrought by the shutdown and debt ceiling brinkmanship have had a significant impact on the U.S. economy, although it is still not clear just how significant. Hence, fears of the Fed’s taper are now very much put on hold, even with both Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen both seeming to be in favour of reducing the quantitative easing program. The withdrawal of funds from emerging markets , a feature of the taper-fearing global financial landscape that persisted until the Fed’s recent surprise delay, has thus gone into reverse. Not surprisingly, funds are not simply returning to whence they came, but trying to pick the places that seemed less naked during the recent volatility. One such destination seems to be the South Korean won , a currency that has seen its value measured in U.S. dollars jump over the past few months. In fact, on Thursday the...