Something Strange Is Happening With North Korea’s Currency
October 15th, 2021
Via Bloomberg, a report on Kim’s strange currency surge: In normal economies, currencies weaken in times of difficulty, but something counter-intuitive is happening in North Korea: the won is surging just as things are getting worse. Kim Jong Un’s country has been hit by the toughest sanctions in its history, massive flood damage and an unprecedented pandemic that cut […]
Read more »North Korea: More Connected To Global Markets Than You Might Think
October 13th, 2021
Via North Korean Economy Watch, a report on how North Korea is more connected to global markets than often thought: After a hiatus during the summer following my PhD defense, I now plan to get back to posting regular analyses and news content here. First up, an interesting example of why the North Korean economy is […]
Read more »North Korea Has Asia’s Hottest Currency
June 12th, 2021
Via Asia Times, a report on how – if Chinese border traders reflect market reality – the won is up 33% against the yuan and 18% to the buck in three short weeks: Something weird recently happened to what had been one of the world’s least coveted currencies. If you were North Korean and wanted […]
Read more »North Korea’s Oil Procurement Networks
April 26th, 2021
Via The Diplomat, an interesting interview on the subject of North Korea’s oil procurement network: Briefly explain North Korea’s fuel-procurement strategy. North Korea is completely dependent on foreign sources of fuel for its economy, military, and weapons program. The U.N. Security Council first imposed caps on North Korea’s fuel imports in 2017, but it has […]
Read more »Two Koreas, One Market
April 23rd, 2021
Via NK News, a report on a South Korean minister’s dreams of merging its economy with the North: North and South Korea should unify their economies while maintaining separate political systems, South Korean unification minister Lee In-young said on Thursday. “Our approach now should aim more at the ‘one people, two countries, two systems, and one […]
Read more »North Korea’s Economy: Recentralized And China-Reliant
April 10th, 2021
Via The East Asia Forum, a report on North Korea’s economy: In North Korea, many enjoy making money for themselves by selling products in private markets. Under Kim Jong-un, expanding these markets became a source of tax revenue for the regime. But this changed in the past year with the outbreak of COVID-19. The closure […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.