[IWAR] ECONOMIC CRISIS tracking on the net

From: 7Pillars Partners (partnersat_private)
Date: Mon Jan 19 1998 - 10:24:36 PST

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    January 19, 1998
          
          TAKING IN THE SITES / By SREENATH SREENIVASAN
          
    Tracking the Asian Economic Crisis
    
         T he economic crisis in Asia has generated a great deal of interest
         in news about the region, and many people are increasingly turning to
         the World Wide Web for timely information.
         
         As in most recent crises, the turmoil in Asia highlights the best of
         the Internet (global reach, firsthand sources, instant access) and
         the worst (irrelevant search results, selective updates, repetitive
         data, inaccurate rumors). As with most subjects, it is best to have a
         map and some experts on hand to help you out.
           ________________________________________________________________
         
         Visitors can find out how the Malaysian ringgit is doing against the
         South Korean won or even the Cape Verde escudo.
           ________________________________________________________________
         
         "The Web has been most useful for keeping track of the crisis," said
         Nouriel Roubini, a professor of international economics at the Stern
         School of Business at New York University. "The amount of data and
         information available is quite impressive."
         
         Professor Roubini maintains a site for his class that even people
         without an MBA will find helpful in learning about the crisis. What
         the site lacks in fancy design it makes up in analysis, extensive
         links and a detailed chronology. The main question his site tries to
         answer: "What caused Asia's economic and currency crisis and its
         global contagion?"
         
         Even economists who suffer from information overload can find the Web
         has a purpose when it comes to the crisis. "You are going to pick up
         a wider range of perspectives with the Internet than with other
         systems," said Ronald R. Reuss, chief economist for Piper Jaffray, a
         brokerage firmed based in Minneapolis. He uses the Web mainly to
         supplement the more sophisticated information resources -- like
         Bloomberg News and Reuters -- he has at his disposal.
         
         Rajiv J. Chaudhri, a former Goldman, Sachs semiconductor analyst and
         now president of Digital Century Capital, a technology hedge fund,
         keeps a close eye on the events in Asia.
         
         "For me, the Web is a very important research tool," he said. "I need
         to know what is happening there because it impacts a lot of
         technology companies here." His Web visits include English-language
         papers published in Asia.
         
         RELATED ARTICLES
         
         New York Times Index: The Financial Crisis in Asia
         Several news sites, both here and abroad, offer good starting points.
         For example, The New York Times on the Web has a section dedicated to
         the topic. It has articles dating back to December as well as opinion
         articles and forums in which visitors can discuss the crisis.
         
         The search engine Yahoo offers a collection of the latest news items
         relating to the situation. An online news agency based in London
         called Out There News has a handy country-by-country guide so you can
         see that despite being called the "Asian financial crisis," it has
         not yet affected the entire continent.
         
         Several Asia-based news sites worth visiting are linked from the
         Times. Also, check out the site of The Far Eastern Economic Review,
         the Hong Kong-based publication owned by Dow Jones & Co., which
         provides coverage of different sectors of the economy. Articles from
         The Asian Wall Street Journal are available on The Wall Street
         Journal's Web site -- for a fee.
         
         To go beyond the headlines, some sites provide tools to analyze the
         data. Indonesia Net Exchange carries stock quotes, research reports
         and links to listed companies and the Jakarta Stock Exchange. And
         Bloomberg's site offers some resources that are accessible without
         paying the $1,200 a month for a dedicated terminal. For instance, an
         online calculator gives rates for more than 215 currencies. So
         visitors can find out how the Malaysian ringgit is doing against the
         South Korean won or even the Cape Verde escudo.
         
         To learn about how the crisis is affecting the United States, a site
         called the Dismal Scientist, which bills itself as the "Web's
         authoritative source for economic information," has a section dealing
         with the effect of the crisis on different regions of the country.
         
         T he sites of the international organizations that are such crucial
         players all have Web sites, but they vary in usefulness.
         
         The International Monetary Fund site has a section called "IMF
         Bailouts: Truth and Fiction" that answers critics unhappy with the
         assistance packages provided to South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand.
         The World Bank basically has an archive of news releases and
         statements by its top executives on the crisis. The Bank for
         International Settlements, a sort of central bank for the world's
         central banks, has comprehensive reports on the assets and
         liabilities of banks of the affected countries.
         
         Getting worthwhile information from the pertinent institutions in
         Asia is difficult because the sites do not have easy-to-find sections
         on the subject at hand. A visit to the Asian Development Bank in
         Manila, the Bank of Thailand in Bangkok or the South Korean Ministry
         of Finance and Economy in Seoul yields little that is current or that
         has been updated in recent days.
         
         For another perspective on the situation in Asia, check out The
         International Workers Bulletin, the journal of the World Socialist
         Web site. It addresses "the urgent need for a revolutionary socialist
         response to the crisis of the world capitalist system," and has a
         series of articles about the consequences of the situation for
         workers.
         
         Asia Online, a site on the Asian Buying Consortium, has a forum
         specifically to discuss "Asian market rumors" where advice is freely
         offered by other Web surfers.
         
         The difficulties in Asia are sure to be a major topic of discussion
         at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The
         conference attracts some of the biggest names in business and
         government, and its Web site may be worth keeping an eye on when the
         conference starts on Jan. 29.
         
         TAKING IN THE SITES is published weekly, on Mondays. Click here for a
         list of links to other columns in the series.
    
    Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company
    



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