It wasn't all that long ago, no more than five years, that economists were saying similar things about California. Our state government was running a deficit, home prices were deflating so quickly that homeowners were going broke, and people were fleeing the state. California would never again be the Golden State. But those of us who have lived in California for a while knew better. Our economy can be cyclical, but we are a state of well-educated, energetic, ambitious people supplied with ample resources.
Downturns simply present the chance to buy real estate at bargain prices.
Arthur Q. Johnson, a certified financial analyst with Brandes Investment Partners, says the situation in Asia is similar. From 1985 until 1995, Asian economies for the most part maintained an export-led focus for growth. By pegging or aligning their currencies with the U.S. dollar among other perceived stable denominations, Southeast Asia was successful at increasing its exports to and attracting direct foreign investment from established industrial economies such as Japan and the United States, who were anxious to relocate their factories to low-cost places. Fixed exchange rates coupled with low labor costs gave Asian economies a competitive edge in the global marketplace. Annual increases in gross domestic product in most Southeast Asian countries were two to three times as great as the more mature industrial economies.