tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post3139514797450580320..comments2024-03-08T06:18:28.125+11:00Comments on Bronte Capital: Lessons in my laundry: Hong Kong editionJohn Hemptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03766274392122783128noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-48226277549331485902019-03-08T18:12:06.471+11:002019-03-08T18:12:06.471+11:00Migrant workers in Asia are essentially slaves. Wi...Migrant workers in Asia are essentially slaves. With the exception of Singapore, multiracial meritocracy doesn't exist, not even in the most democratic Asian societies such as Japan. Receiving countries exploit migrant workers because it is a source of cheap labor. Sending countries also benefit from this exploitation (To be honest, I forgot how they benefit from it and I am too lazy to do the research to find out.) <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-88931738051427124122012-05-08T13:32:31.394+10:002012-05-08T13:32:31.394+10:00This is such a complex topic. While success at con...This is such a complex topic. While success at condition stage and individual investment progression, both your companion and the maid's kids, are created possible by this, we are never sure if the globe is better off as a whole. For one thing, we can't be sure if those kids raised without moms won't do damage to the community and their loved ones.nastol02http://www.nunezlaundry.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-52851346368687729362012-04-19T09:54:36.102+10:002012-04-19T09:54:36.102+10:00John, I will be visiting HK soon. Any bar recomme...John, I will be visiting HK soon. Any bar recommendations?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-33055343669865642972012-04-17T17:00:43.858+10:002012-04-17T17:00:43.858+10:00"consciously trying to pick up additional com..."consciously trying to pick up additional commercial languages (think India)" <br /><br />I am totally lost on this one ? What does picking up additional commercial language have to do with India ?<br /><br />Hope you clarify.<br /><br />Regards<br />RajaRaja Pandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02623082490628245667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-31173312317754230502012-04-17T13:58:49.684+10:002012-04-17T13:58:49.684+10:00Good God, man! Thank God you're back! I seri...Good God, man! Thank God you're back! I seriously thought something had happened to you since it was so long since your last post. Phew. Now I can relax in the knowledge that the coolest stock blog is still a rocking'...Rob Bakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-54173744835256953972012-04-17T10:24:32.483+10:002012-04-17T10:24:32.483+10:00John,
And interesting post which challenged my vie...John,<br />And interesting post which challenged my view of income inequality too. I am always interested in working out ways to minimise the mundane tasks in order to maximise thinking time. <br /><br />Sure, here in Australia we don't have an excess of migrant workers, but we will shortly have an excess of retirees who really can't afford to retire. And a young adult population who really can't afford to enter the real-estate market. I am seeing a lot of Gen-Y-ers staying at home a lot longer than what was the case even 10 years ago.<br /><br />Perhaps a social contract of sorts could see multi-generation family-like units exist with the older generation taking on domestic duties while both members of the younger couple pursue careers?<br /><br />But then again, I don't think I could cope with having the parents around constantly...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-82376404803969377092012-04-17T02:13:22.273+10:002012-04-17T02:13:22.273+10:00Why don't you just buy non-iron dress shirts? ...Why don't you just buy non-iron dress shirts? These are one of the great inventions of the past 20 years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-80662023325894449232012-04-16T19:49:52.970+10:002012-04-16T19:49:52.970+10:00The maid and the expat are peoples at different st...The maid and the expat are peoples at different stages of their personal and national economic development. What you see is just a snapshot of a moment in time and will not last for long. For example, the money the maid sends home will be invested in education and a better future for her kids, so that when they grow up they will have more choices than their mother. So that when YOUR kids grow up, they might not find any philipina maids left to employ. In economic speak, labour is priced in the free-market based on the maid's productivity and supply of labour, that capital the maid earns is reinvested to further increase productivity (her children's education) for a better future. Now if we can only get the central banks to stop debasing her hard won capital.Tuvaorbstnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-66992888436027509332012-04-16T19:15:20.689+10:002012-04-16T19:15:20.689+10:00John
you are confused. migrant workers are a pro...John<br /><br />you are confused. migrant workers are a profoundly democratic institution -- or maybe that's not the word that either you or I want to use here -- maybe "liberty" is -- when you don't like a place, you pick up and move -- that may not be a democracy, but it certainly is freedom. think about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-3450312236021755672012-04-16T15:58:01.408+10:002012-04-16T15:58:01.408+10:00The problem about maid in Asia, a lot of time they...The problem about maid in Asia, a lot of time they don't know how to wash something properly.My friend's maid destroyed his designer clothes. <br /><br />Also not all the dry cleaners in Asia are good....another friend of mine found a hole on his shirt when he picked up his clothes. It was the most expensive shirt he has every bought. He wore it only one time.<br /><br />Another point, if you want to save money don't dry cleaning everything. Most dry-clean-only clothes, you can hand wash. People just don't tell you it. Dry cleaning is not dry at all (a chemical bath). It is not good for you and your clothes.<br /><br />I know you don't feel comfortable with maid. But I love them. not because I am a spoiled brat. But they make the house less quite. My parents were never home. They were always busy with their businesses. The maid was like a friend, a family member. Depend on the owner, in many cases, the maid would have a better life than if she stays in the village. She makes a lot more money to send home help raising her children....and it gives her the opportunity to live a better life.CamMi Phamhttp://www.cammipham.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-61123597164699577612012-04-14T10:41:20.288+10:002012-04-14T10:41:20.288+10:00John,
Your feelings of being uncomfortable with d...John, <br />Your feelings of being uncomfortable with domestic migrant help will only last about a week.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-14325978355414702822012-04-14T09:34:40.372+10:002012-04-14T09:34:40.372+10:00I live in Chicago and I DO have an ironing board.
...I live in Chicago and I DO have an ironing board.<br />I do however know a surprisingly large number of young singles and couples (<30yrs) that employ a nanny and/or housekeeper. <br />Very different to Oz.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-68056830858420520592012-04-14T01:51:52.324+10:002012-04-14T01:51:52.324+10:00As a Brooklynite, let me assure you that the full ...As a Brooklynite, let me assure you that the full gamut of prices exist here, from semi-sweatshop Chinese laundries to "organic" cleaners who will swab out the bloodstains with free-range unicorn tears and feed you a cappuccino while they do it. By staying in Brooklyn and finding your drycleaner, you've illustrated all sorts of things about price signaling, etc.<br /><br />I think you're exactly right that a well-developed, fairly unregulated economic environment (in which neither prices nor personnel qualifications are set, or excessively set) with high population density generates a profusion of choices which include lower prices. I'm amazed that people in Pittsburgh or Richmond often have to pay more for oranges than I do.Aharonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-15174592222799604222012-04-14T00:27:26.339+10:002012-04-14T00:27:26.339+10:00Having lived in India, NYC, London, HK and back ag...Having lived in India, NYC, London, HK and back again to London, I can honestly say that having someone to take care of your chores is a great blessing, maybe not appreciated enough by those who haven't yet tasted it yet.<br />I get your points on democracy etc, but really it really adds value to society if you have a migrant worker to help you out. Your time is better used and her/his time is better used (what would she/he have done in Phillipines/Indonesia/etc ??). As I see it, it is a gain for both parties and hence a net gain for society.<br /><br />The challenge for the govts is having the institutional framework to have both the benefit of having low migrant workers along with reduced cost (no social security or other govt costs associated with low cost labor) - which is the reason only the dictatorial city states (Dubai, Singapore, HK) can manage it. US is a different matter altogether.<br /><br />And to be fair, the HK govt does provide subsidies to the lower end of society with lower transportation cost, electricity subsidies, excess tax paybacks etc - not all of which go to migrant workers, but at least it is something...<br /><br />However, I think there is another reason this exists. If you are a (high value) expat and you didnt have all the low-cost help, why would you ever move to the city states. The value proposition just wont make sense. The govts realise that they have to offer quality of life (which means an institutional framework for importing low cost help easily) to get the high value workers to come. and so...<br /><br />my $0.02<br /><br />@quagmire vixen - not true. In HK, you can stay till your visa expires. first hand experience!Sabyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07402922192050600307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-33649623668140710232012-04-13T23:41:28.086+10:002012-04-13T23:41:28.086+10:00While fairly affluent now, I'm grateful for co...While fairly affluent now, I'm grateful for collectivist institutions - land grant universities, Catholic schools, public schools, unions and social security that don't exist in third world countries - and that allow/allowed a small cadre of us poor folks to ascend the ladder. While it may be bias, I've argued that the ascent of the west over the last few hundred years had as much to do with "social investment" as capitalism. Unfettered capitalism gets you to a Morrocan soukh - to get Silicon Valley you need 50 years of government technology seed money (computers were all still paid for in one way or another by the government when I went to college) and a bunch of techno geeks educated at public expense. The analogy I attempt to draw is to equate classical economics to Newton's laws and game theory / social investments to modern physics.Bob Schriverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03032869236732750105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-7924454007218857592012-04-13T18:07:27.234+10:002012-04-13T18:07:27.234+10:00I'd suggest laundry prices are as much centere...I'd suggest laundry prices are as much centered around demand as a cheap pool of labor. I say this having lived on the east of the US - where one can get drycleaning done in hours for next to nothing - and the west of the US where it costs more but overhead and labor often cost less. Demand however is far less (though rising in Silicone Valley as the unproductive classes take over). My experience of Oz has been far less of a demand for laundering as well a more ingrained DIY ethic.<br /><br /><br />Really though this post is about global labor market arbitrage (that's the way to phrase it so the USAns don't froth at the mouth, Income Inequality is the new Socialism) All of your examples successfully exploit differences in world labor markets; from personal experience the maintenance man at my Washington, DC apt complex was formerly an MD in Serbia. Such global imbalances will shrink and for quasi-independent groupings of any size (not a Singapore, Hong Kong or Switzerland) managing this is the task of the 21st century. There's little reason an American lawyer should make 10 or 100x his developing world contemporary other than luck and rent seeking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-38567254914829698242012-04-13T15:06:35.976+10:002012-04-13T15:06:35.976+10:00Singapore. Closer, cleaner, more civil (but barel...Singapore. Closer, cleaner, more civil (but barely). Certainly more democratic by some measures -- 40% of all residents voted (93% of eligible citizens), compared to 0.01% for Hong Kong. Productivity though... less so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-21665349422532996942012-04-13T14:45:51.038+10:002012-04-13T14:45:51.038+10:00Hey , I live in HK too. But another layer of truth...Hey , I live in HK too. But another layer of truth of an expat high life being: Not a lot of them can survive the 7 year residency requirement to become a local resident , you can be terminated at no cause with discretionary severance pay and need to get out ASAP if you cannot get another job right away as your visa condition has been breached.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11827806295476702715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-25779622156271088552012-04-13T13:05:38.537+10:002012-04-13T13:05:38.537+10:00John,
This is such a complicated subject. While ...John, <br /><br />This is such a complicated subject. While achievement at state level and human capital development, both your friend and the maid's children, are made possible by this, we are never sure if the entire world is better off as a whole. For one thing, we can't be sure if those kids brought up without mothers won't do harm to the society and their families. <br /><br />I don't know how to manage the trade-off.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14682393043392310140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-56415361719253418082012-04-13T12:42:18.048+10:002012-04-13T12:42:18.048+10:00I think I'd like to have my laundry done too, ...I think I'd like to have my laundry done too, and as an Australian I completely understand how you'd also feel a bit uncomfortable about it. Have a look at the attached column by Michael Sandel in the Atlantic, and ask yourself at what point you would draw the line. What part of society shouldn't we leave to market forces?<br /><br />http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/04/what-isn-8217-t-for-sale/8902/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-89070355553040255402012-04-13T12:24:30.826+10:002012-04-13T12:24:30.826+10:00And of course, if you are really well off from the...And of course, if you are really well off from the right sort of work, then you don't even need to hire immigrants.<br /><br />A rich software geek typically doesn't wear ironed clothes, and so a clothes washer and dryer do the whole chore. No need for a lady living near the laundry room.<br /><br />Same well off person buys most things via the web.<br /><br />So, in some cases, while increases in wealth make it easier to secure the services of other people, that same wealth can make it possible to do so with less contact, and without directly hiring anybody.<br /><br />The kind in inequality you complain of at least creates jobs...Bryan Willmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-46644285526946777822012-04-13T11:36:26.731+10:002012-04-13T11:36:26.731+10:00As a recent arrival to Australia from Hong Kong, I...As a recent arrival to Australia from Hong Kong, I can relate to this post on an intensely personal level. The lack of migrant workers available here has had a profoundly negative impact on my wife's quality of life(and therefore my levels of happiness!). In Hong Kong she was able to work out three times a week, get a job, spend time with friends and attend cooking and language classes and taking our child for swimming and craft lessons(our live-in maid taking care of 100% of domestic chores). In Australia her life has become almost entirely dominated by grocery shopping, house cleaning and child care. This leaves her tired and irritated in the evening, longing for her old ex-pat life and disinclined to get dressed up and head out for dinner dates as we used to do frequently in HK. Just as well really, as the babysitting costs here are eye-watering - again something the live-in maid did as part of her job description in HK. Without making any judgements about the moral and economic arguments around migrant workers, the simple fact is that for a professional couple with children moving from Asia to Australia, your standard of living takes a significant nose-dive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-34633208312834652832012-04-13T11:34:11.026+10:002012-04-13T11:34:11.026+10:00@Anonymous 3:14am
What a piece of self-satisfied c...@Anonymous 3:14am<br />What a piece of self-satisfied claptrap. Your three little tips for avoiding poverty kinda missed the point that this post was about migrant workers, who didn't necessarily have US style opportunities. People can be as virtuous as possible and still be utterly poor if they were born in the wrong country. Migrant work helps alter this, but it doesn't completely offset the differences in outcome given effort.<br /><br />As for inequality of outcomes mapping entirely to your list of personal virtues, I call shenanigans. Yes, grit, persistence in education and other qualities matter. But a thick-as-a-brick boy from a wealthy North Shore family, to make a Sydney reference, might well get into a good university on the back of a private school spoon-feeding... Um, education ... and make a nice living in a non managerial position in the finance sector. Meanwhile a smart, diligent kid born to the wrong parents (poor, indifferent, drug-addicted, whatever) will struggle to get to the same point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-63204629478495362722012-04-13T11:06:05.060+10:002012-04-13T11:06:05.060+10:00Hope you gave her a nice tip for the extra work sh...Hope you gave her a nice tip for the extra work she did.SiamTwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05740428481765120225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-84171078756626412182012-04-13T10:46:46.419+10:002012-04-13T10:46:46.419+10:00What happens if the immigrant can no longer work?
...What happens if the immigrant can no longer work?<br /><br />In the US, living too long is a major source of poverty for women, even those who did everything right along the way. I don't know if that is true in other places.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com