WE DELIVER, WHATEVER

One of my favorite ‘YouTube’ commercials is called “We Deliver, whatever”. Trying to get people’s attentions, this advertisement used funny situation techniques. I personally liked this advertisement with three reasons. First reason is that it gives happiness and smiles to people. Within 30 seconds, it is really hard to give impression or happiness to others. But this commercial did show them. Secondly, it made me to trust the DHL Company. They sent everything including “actions”, which means there are no impossible things that people cannot send. We can definitely see their commitments of the company. Lastly, I am personally a fan of the woman in this commercial. There are not many mail services’ commercials in Korea, so this advertisement really succeeded. I think this advertisement deserves the ‘prices’.

 We Deliver, Whatever

Sam Jeong

Verizon

Don't be afraid of "Dead Zones"

The advertisement that I chose is about Verizon. The Verizon dead zone commercial series includes "Creepy Lady", "Store Guys", "Freeky Hallway Brothers" and "The Old Motel Guy". The type of these commercials is comedy. At first, they developed in a frightening way like thriller movies. The technique that they used is dialog and music. The dialogs were inspired by famous scary movies, such as ‘Wrong Turn’ and ‘The Shining’. The music is effective and helps to create a frightening feeling among audiences. The characters in these commercials first warn new people about ‘Dead Zones’, which is scary, but suddenly everything changes into comedy. Their reply to these warnings is ‘We have the Verizon that works’. However, the scary characters who failed to be impressive still want to be mean. Therefore, they continue to mention negative but funny things, such as ‘Oh, but towels are kinda scratchy’ (Old Motel Guy) and ‘Well, you’ve got crabgrass’ (Creepy Lady). This change from horror to comedy is attractive to audiences. I like this series of commercials because they grab the audience’s attention by changing from scary to funny.

Giselle Nekui

McDonald's baby ad

When I saw this advertisement the first time, I did not know what it was advertising. It made me want to keep watching. The baby does not say anything; it just laughs and cries on a swing. There is a lullaby playing but no dialog. As you can see in the advertisement, when the baby can see the McDonald’s logo, he smiles, but when he cannot, he cries. It repeats again and again. The advertisement means that even though the baby is too young, he like McDonald’s. I like this advertisement because it makes me think about my childhood.

Jieung Im

LG cell phone commercial

The advertisement that I chose is a cell phone commercial; the genre is drama.
The commercial appears to be a jewelry advertisement since I thought it was for a necklace from
Tiffany the first time. It uses music and a logo and sets up a situation. Audrey Hepburn goes to a show window of a jewelry shop and looks in with interest. There is a displayed cell phone with other jewelrys. At the end of the commercial, the logo comes up, and she says, " I'm Audrey Hepburn.I'm Black Label. Secret." I think this commercial is excellent because the cell phone looks very elegant, luxurious, and beautiful. The image is connected to Audrey Hepburn who is still remebered as one of the most elegant and beautiful acresses even after decades.

Nokia

xxxxxxx

''CHA CHA MEAL''

BANDER AL-ASEERI

Advertising companies direct big portion of their campaigns towards children. They evoke certain emotions in viewers that can be associated with the marketed product. This Mc Donald’s ad. is for their Happy Meal. It can be classified as a comedy, where there was no dialogue , and the main theme is a family having lunch. It starts with a child approaching the dinner table holding a big stereo on his shoulder dressed in hip-hop fashion, dancing rhythmically to a trendy song called “Cha Cha Slide”. While the father is looking amazed, the little boy starts eating his meal following the lyrics and rythm of the song; then the father begins to like the song and starts moving too. It’s amusing how the boy synchronized his movements to the song while eating. The popularity of “cha cha slide” has increased after this ad. Where as it has been often played at parties and gym clubs, now after the ad children and family member will perhaps remember the Mc Donald’s Happy Meal every time they hear this song.

Doublemint Gum Commercial

Noor Al Moataz

I chose this commercial because my favorite singer, Chris Brown, stars in it. The dialog is in the song Chris sings. The action that is taking place is the hip-hop star dancing. The visual element that was used in order to enhance the commercial was the music playing iwith the lyrics that sent out the message to the vieweers. It is evident that the advertisment appeals to todays youth. This is because producers have chosen a popular young star to represent the product they wish to sell. I presonally like this commercial because Chris Brown is my all-time favorite singer. Although he might not know it, we will end up married one day.

 

The Development of Money in Jamaica

People are created to live together, like bees living together in groups. We work in different fields, so we can help each other to make our lives more enjoyable and comfortable. In most areas and cultures of the world, people used the barter system which means exchanging goods among ourselves. Some had crops and others had lifestock for example.

I chose the development of money in Jamaica for this essay for several reasons. The first is because I couldn’t find enough material talking about money in my country, Saudi Arabia. The second reason is because I found many interesting things in the roots of Jamaican currency, and since none of my classmates is from Jamaica, it will be something new for us all.

First of all, I want to give brief description of Jamaica. It is the third lardest island in the Caribbean and the largest English-speaking one. Jamaica is about 160 kilometers south of Cuba. The population was estimated 8 years ago at 2,652,689. It is primarily of African with mixed race people.1

Secondly, there are some interesting facts about Jamaica. One is that, it is in third place on the list of countries of the Miss World competition, but considering the size of Jamaica, that is an achievement. Another is that, the tip of the the blue mountains in Jamaica was the first land sighted by Christophor Columbus. Finally, Jamaica was the first commercial producer of bananas in the Western Hemisphere.2

Like other cultures, the first Jamaicans, the Taino Indians, used the barter system. When the Spanish arrived in the 1490s, trading began. They used beads and trinkets. By the early 1500s, coins were in use on the island. They were called maravedis and were made of copper. Theses coins were stamped with different symbols which indicated different values.3

By the 17th century, Jamaica became an English colony. At that time, it received a large supply of coins, but the most popular were the Spanish silver dollars or eight-real coins. These stayed until 1839 when Jamaica adopted official British paper currency.
In the early 19th century, the British introduced a single form of currency for all of its colonies, silver coins called anchor money.3

In December 1840, British currency became that of Jamaica by law. There was no usage of Spanish coins except of Spanish doubloons. In the years following, after the freedom of slaves, Jamaicans were in need of money in small denominations. In 1869, the first Jamaican coins known as pennies and ha'pennies were made from cupro-nickel alloy.3

In conclusion, we can see how money developed in Jamaica, and what affected this development. There were many factors that contributed to this like the presenee of the Spanish and later as a British colony. Their independence furthered this development, and we can now see the island influence on their coins and bills.(483)


sarah bahammam

The Development of Paper Money in Ancient China

One of the oldest countries in the world, China had been the leader of cultures in the world before the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) rejected connecting to any culture from the Western. Therefore, the period from the Tang Dynasty (618-907)to the Song Dynasty is the golden age of Chinese culture. There were many amazing innovations created during this period. One of the most important innovations is fei qian, which made China the first country to use paper money. During the Tang Dynasty, as the predecessor of paper money, fei qian was created for three main reasons: outflow of the coins, convenience, and security. Fei qian became more and more popular and evolved into paper money during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The Tang Dynasty was one of the most enchanting times in Chinese history. China was the commercial center of Asia, and the ample interactions between it and the Asian countries instigated the outflow of coins from China. However, “the outflow of the coins caused money shortage in China so during the reign of Emperor Xian Zong the government practiced the earliest transfer method, fei qian, namely flying money.” There were two types of fei qian. In the beginning, it was created by some private banks. Businessmen could cash it in the banks and get a receipt. Afterward, they could travel to any place in China and withdraw their money from one of the bank’s offices in China with the receipt. Obviously, except for the problem of the outflow of the coins, fei qian was more convenient and secure than coins.

As mentioned, China was the commercial center of Asia during the Tang Dynasty, so it was kind of ridiculous that businessmen carried bags of coins to travel hundreds kilometers to other countries for trading. Therefore, the government created the official fei qian. Basically, these two types were similar. The only difference between them was the private one did not charge any fee for cashing fei qian.Although fei qian dealt with some economic problems, it could not solve the new problems of the rapid development of the economy.

In the ancient China, the main material of coins was bronze. During the Tang Dynasty, because of the development of the economy, countless coins were consumed which created a shortage of bronze. After the Tang Dynasty collapsed, there were many wars for governance, and it aggravated the problem of the shortage of bronze. Therefore, when the Song empire took over China, the government improved the fei qian and created the paper money named Jiao Zi.

“Jiao Zi was the earliest paper currency in the World.” Actually, in the beginning, Jiao Zi was created by some businessmen. However, it did not work very well because there was lack of official power to control the amounts. After several years, the problem of lack of bronze became more serious than before. In order to cope with this problem, Jiao Zi was presented again. Contrary to the last time, the Jiao Zi was made by government. The “Song government set up an office in Chengdu to handle with the issuance of jiao zi. In the next year, stately jiao zi was issued.” This is the first time that people used paper money made by the government. Three types of currency were created by the Song Dynasty. The paper money, however, was not successful during this period, perhaps because only “issued small amounts, used in a limited area, and good for a specific time period.” During the last years of the Song Dynasty, because of the weakness of the army, the government spent a lot of money and gold to made peace with other countries, which directly caused inflation. Finally, the Jiao Zi and the other types paper money lost value and disappeared, accompanied the Song Dynasty’s collapse.

Although the Song Dynasty’s paper money was gone, it also existed during The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The Yuan Dynasty was the zenith of using paper money in the ancient China.”Throughout the dynasty, paper notes were used and the system was developed and perfected.” The Yuan Dynasty, however, triggered too many wars invading other countries including western countries, and it impoverished the Yuan Empire. It persisted only ninety years, and the superior system of paper money went into the grave as well.

The development of paper money in ancient China was about 300 years. From the fei qian, the forerunner of the paper money, to the Jiao Zi, the first formal paper money, and then it ended on the perfect system of paper money during the Yuan Dynasty. Although the paper money did not work very well, it not only played a vital role in the history of Chinese economy, but also captured an important position in the history of human culture. (804)

Development of Currency in Thailand

Development of Currency in Thailand

Similar to other countries in the world, bartering or exchanging goods was the only way of trading in Thailand before the 1st century. Afterward, there was gradual progress of using media of exchanging from ancient beads or seeds, old coins, copper money, bullet money, new coins, printed paper notes to the present Thai Baht. There were many kinds of media of exchange in the period of early Kingdoms. Also, the three important Kingdoms were “Sukhothai”, from 13th - 14th century, “Ayutthaya”, from 14th – 17th century, and “Rattanakosin”, the Kingdom at the present time. In each period of time there was a change of currency as described in the following essay.

First of all, people in the time before the Kingdom during the 1st - 7th centuries usually used “Metallic coins” which originated from Funan Kingdom in Indochina. After that, the “Dvaravati coins” which came from the Kingdom of Dvaravati, existing from the 6th – 11th centuries. Then, various currencies with different appearance were used in Thailand: for example, “Sandal wood flower coins” or Dok Jan coins, cowrie shells, and baked clay coins. Before the beginning of Sukhothai period, the Kingdom of Lanchang introduced money in metal like silver and copper for trade in Thailand.

Secondly, dwellers in Kingdom of Sukhothai, located in the northern part of present Thailand normally used bullet money or “Pod Duang”. This type of money was composed of 89-95 percent silver and marked with the stamps of the King, the government, and the private silversmith. Each bullet money has various purposes for production and differences in shape and size. Pod Duang was first used in this period until Rattanakosin era. Therefore, this type of money had been utilized for over than 600 years, which makes it the most enduring currency in Thailand.

Moreover, Pod Duang as also used by people in the beginning and middle period of Ayutthaya Kingdom. Since the Thai government participated in the Bowring treaty in 1860 and trading with other countries increased, foreign currency like Mexican, Peruvian, Dutch, Chinese, metal as used to make coins so that The Royal Minting Department of Thailand forced re-stamping on all foreign coins taken into Thailand.

In the present era, the Kingdom of Rattanakosin, bullet money as outlawed at the beginning of this period because the silversmith could not provide enough coins due to high demands of foreign trade. The new types of money which were minted coins and paper notes were introduced into the country.After that, Queen Victoria of Britain the first made bank notes known to Thailand in 1857. The Thai government bought a minting machine from Great Britain. Nowadays, Thai modern currency was streamlined to 25, 50 Satang coins, 1, 2, 5, 10 Baht coins and 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000 Baht bank notes.

It can be shown from these historical periods that Thailand’s currency has been developing for over than 1,000 years. The improvement of money in the country is mostly from trading and influence of foreign countries. Moreover, modern Thai currency can be used to purchase goods in many countries in the Asia Pacific region like Columbia, Laos, Myanmar, as well as India.

AKBANK: A Turkish Bank Commercial

Sevtap DUMAN

AKBANK: A TURKISH BANK COMMERCIAL

This commercial is about a bank and the type of genre is comedy. It introduces to us attributes of the bank by figures. The interesting part of this commercial is they are making those figures by dancers’ bodies and motions. Dancers’ synchronization is the most important feature in this advertisement. I like it not because it is interesting, and it also shows Turkish culture with those figures and the music, used in the commercial. Drinking tea, sharing happiness, trusting friends, and having luck are part of Turkish culture so customers want those from their bank. Furthermore, the colors, white and red, used in the commercial are on the Turkish flag. The combination of music and scenes, give Turkish people a warm feeling about that bank.

The History of Money in Turkey

Sevtap DUMAN

The History of Money in Turkey 

In retrospect, Turkey has had a long history of using money. Regions of land have effected the development so that as time went by, the currency in Turkey has changed. The country first used gold; a much later the Turkish Lira was used and banknotes were introduced.

Turkey lies in Mesopotamia, where the Lydians used the first coins. Lydia was a kingdom located on Manisa, which is one of the Turkey’s modern cities. It was an Iron Aged kingdom where they invented coins around 660 BCE. Eventually in the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror established the biggest mint in Istanbul around 1476 CE. He wanted a golden coin with his picture on it. The mint has been renovated now, and when it opens, it will be one of the most technological mints in the world.

After the Ottoman Empire, the lira was introduced in 1844. In those days, the hierarchy of money was gold, silver and copper. Wealthy people, those people who wanted to save money used gold liras. It was the proof of their wealth. Silver kurus was the coin for the middle class. Copper para had the least value, that is, 40 para was equal to 1 kurus and 100 kurus was equal to 1 lira. After 1923, the Latin alphabet was used on the coins.

Finally, the first banknotes were used in 1862. On those banknotes were Turkish and French words in Arabic script. After 1937, only Turkish words were used. Each note carried a picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. By time higher denomination notes were introduced, the Turkish Lira reached its zenith having 6 to 8 zeros on the banknotes. However, the government decided to ignore last 6 of them because of inflation and minted New Turkish Liras without zeros at the end of the numbers. At this point, 1 000 000 Turkish Lira became 1 New Turkish Lira.

Turkey’s monetary development has a long, famous history because of its region. At first, they used gold coins then minted banknotes, and finally the Turkish Lira, which was changed to New Turkish Lira. As in other countries, of the currency of Turkey will continue to change as the country develops. (383)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia#Geography

http://www.darphane.gov.tr/dizayn-ehistory.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_lira

Bahrain’s Societal Differences

Noor Al Moataz
EAP 020
9/29/08

In every society, social status plays a big role in daily life. Coming from a stereotypically materialistic upper class in Bahrain, I recognize the difference between classes. There is an obvious gap between high-income and low-income status. This has lead to stereotyping based on both financial and social status, which has been growing slowly over the years.
There are many differences between the upper and lower classes. These differences are applied to social aspects, such as work, home, and socializing. These aspects play such a big role in daily life that they define a person’s function in society, giving them a status to either uphold or change. Inevitably, these are the core reason as to why people are labeled in such high or low regard.
The population of Bahrain is only 718,306. About twenty five percent of the population (179,576) consists of expatriates who have come to Bahrain from India, Pakistan and the Philippines, to find suitable jobs in order to provide for themselves and their families. A majority of these expatriates are considered to be lower class. This is because they work as servants for wealthy upper class families in society who provide them with minimum wages. Comparing the expatriates’ jobs to the jobs of their counterparts shows the evident contrast between them. The upper class members of society earn between BD 1500 to BD 10,000. The lower class, on the other hand, earn between BD50 to BD250. This makes it difficult for the lower class to transcend into the upper class.
Of course, jobs affect an entire household. Work is the main item that segregates the upper class from the lower class. Having a big and high-income job defines one as a well-off person who is able to provide a substantial amount of societies luxuries for their family, such as a good education and other indulgences like having expensive cars, a large house, and lavish vacations. Having the advantage of possessing such luxuries builds one’s reputation. This social status defines a person and shows where one stands in society via the way others perceive them. Usually, people who are considered upper class surround themselves with people with similar backgrounds. This concept is also applied to the lower class. Unfortunately, this causes a huge rift between the classes, causing them to avoid socializing with each other.
In conclusion, I believe that the gap between upper and lower class exists in every society and culture; mainly due to the way things have gone in past generations. Therefore, the vicious cycle will never end until people decide to put a stop to social “discrimination” based on financial status. People sometimes find it reasonable to avoid associating with those of less “status” than themselves since that association is detrimental to their own. In countries, where the society is small and closed, and very fierce, the barriers between classes are easily visible, but hardly reconcilable.

The Saudi food market potentials

Bander AL-Aseeri
EAP 050/020 1/10/08

Food Market Potentials in Saudi Arabia

I was planning to go grocery shopping last weekend , so I went the supermarket grabbed a trolley and began to venture. Moving from one aisle to another, I browsed between racks, which were piled with different items. Looking at some of the food products, I came across Kellogg’s corn flakes, Green Giant canned food, Philadelphia cream cheese, Actinia diary products, and many other products seemed familiar. It was like I were almost walking into a grocery store in Riyadh.
Not far from where I live, there's UNO Grill famous for it’s menu, TJI fridays, Chilis and other famous fast food restaurant chains also available in Saudi Arabia. These are examples showing that the Saudi food market is open to foreign investment in different forms of national and international trade either importing or franchising.The Saudi economy for the last decade has undergone major reforms.1, 2 While witnessing an economic boom as a result of the increase of oil prices, not to mention the overall increase of prices affecting the majority of consumers, the Saudi Riyal is pegged to U.S. Dollar at fixed exchange rate at 1 $ U.S. equal to 3.75 Riyals.2 This could be one of the reasons that inflation wasn't exacerbated and kept steady yet growing annual demands.


Other means that have certainly aided in expanding the consumer base is the changing life style, the fast moving pace of our activities, and the trend of moving to live in big metropolitan and urban cities migrating from rural areas. These factors played a major a role in altering Saudi eating habits, although the awareness of the consumer created a flourishing market, and investors had to respond accordingly by supplying the need for the consumers constantly.

The interest in the Saudi food market is driven by a number of reasons. It got the attention and attracted foreign investors who definitely saw the promising opportunities and sought to invest in this market. That was seen through the new encouraging regulations by the government on food trade and the reduction of taxes. However, the main reasons could be, first the Saudi population is growing at 3% per year which means demand will grow proportionately. In addition huge supermarkets and malls that have food courts the are newly constructed. Finally the Saudi market imports $ 8 billion U.S. worth of food and beverage every year. The Saudi market is the biggest importer of food with a 66 % of all Middle East’s entire annual imports .3

The Saudi food market posseses huge investing potentials and is constantly growing. While the Saudi economy is not the bigest in Asia, it is considered one of the largest consuming markets on the continent and the biggest in the Middle East. The rate of consumption reaches peak during the pilgrimage (Hajj) season. These elements does show opportunities for a rising future of the Saudi food industry and in the midst of the current economic boom it could definitely make it one of the fastest growing markets in the world.


1 www.saudiembassy.net/ReportLink/Reform%20Dec%202003.pdf
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Saudi_Arabia
3 www.labia.org.bra/annexes/Brochure_Saudi Food2008_Int.pdf

Mutual Funds in Thailand

Mutual Funds in Thailand


When people have excess money, they want to make it grow. A lot of means can lead them to reach their goals. For example, some people deposit their money with different kinds of financial institutions; others prefer to invest directly into stock exchange markets by purchasing shares of listed companies. However, there is another way that has become more important to financial markets, especially in Thailand. It is a mutual fund. The structure of the mutual fund is not complicated to understand; furthermore, it provides a lot of advantages for investors.

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment that pools money from many investors and puts it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. It will have a manager who trades the pooled money on a regular basis. After realizing capital gains or losses, the mutual fund is passed out in the form of dividends to the individual investors.

Over the past decades, the mutual fund has become popular for four major reasons.
1. It can help investors reduce their risks. If they invest directly into only one or two stocks, they can get the loss when a price of each stock falls. On the contrary, since the mutual fund is a pool of money, a manager can manage his fund by purchasing a variety of securities. This method can reduce risk from holding only one or two securities in investors’ portfolios.
2. A capital gain from selling shares of the mutual fund or a dividend that investors receive has a tax exemption. Thus, people can earn the full amount of money without withholding tax.
3. People can save time for following volatile stock exchange markets since the manager who are professional in fund management will be a person who keeps constant tabs on markets. The fund manager will adjust a portfolio for the strongest possible performance.
4. The management fee on each fund is quite low. It is normally lower than the brokerage fee that people pay for brokers when they buy or sell securities.

As of June 2008, there were more than 1,000 mutual funds in Thailand, with total net asset value over 1.6 trillion baht. This kind of investment has grown rapidly over the passed seven years. In 2001, only 291 mutual funds were registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC). The total net asset value was only 360 billion baht. The SEC anticipated that the total funds and their net asset value may reach 1,500 and 2 trillion baht respectively by the end of the next two years. These amounts demonstrated that people chose the mutual funds as one tool to increase their wealth.

Even though there are many ways people can increase the value of their money, they have paid attention to investing in the mutual funds. Because of the simple structure and many benefits it provides for investors, these can let the mutual fund market in Thailand grow quickly. It will not be surprising if one sees the amount of mutual funds and net asset value grow in the next few years. (527)

The "Science" of Money

The “Science” of Money

People work for this, pray to get this, sometimes fight because of this. Can you guess what it is? It is money. In modern society, people cannot live a normal life without money. Even with the invention of the credit card, people want to get more. Although people like money, they may not know about how it is made.

Most people think bank notes are made of paper, but generally they are not. In the Republic of Korea, cotton is used to make currency. That is because cotton is an efficient material which is not easily torn. Clothes and money are similar in this aspect. Money made of cotton is darker than normal paper. In some other countries, they make money out of particular combination of plastic, called polymer. It is twice as expensive and four times as durable as cotton. Also, it can be made transparent on a small portion of the bill, which means that money made of polymer prevents counterfeiting. The biggest demerit is that ink can be erased at high temperatures. Nowadays, money made of polymer has an upward trend in many countries.

Each country applies optional techniques to avoid counterfeiting according to the manufacturing cost, the amount of current money, and technical expertise. Korea is number three in scientific techniques of making currency. There are 21 techniques to make bills, but only 10 techniques are open to the public. One of the popular ones is the watermark; it is that a particular picture appearing when light shines through it. Its fundamental principle is a difference of thickness. Another technique is the hologram, which has different figures according to one’s view, preventing color reproductions. Although these techniques are expensive, many countries have introduced them to prevent counterfeiting.

When note-issuing banks make money, people think about which color is suitable. There are some specific qualifications in common use. For example, most color printers do not print yellowish green but yellow. Also, red gets faint and blue becomes dark using a color printer, so if people use yellowish green to issue money, counterfeiters cannot forge it. In other words, it is easy to prevent counterfeiting by not using particular techniques. That is why yellowish green is the major color in the won and U.S. dollars. The last step in making money is which ink people use. Ink used to make money emits an ultraviolet light. Therefore, it is useful to distinguish whether it is counterfeit or not. The most powerful ink is OVI ink, which changes color depending on one’s viewpoint.

People use paper money several times in a day. Currency hides secrets of scientific techniques, and it prevents people from counterfeiting. It is difficult to detect the forged notes with the naked eye. Using specific techniques, forged notes can be seen with ease. After these techniques are known , people can appreciate all the more keenly the science of money.


Jieung Im

Economic Life of South Korea

Economic Life of South Korea

Money was invented to help people live more easily and comfortably. However, as money and societies were developed, needless power was given to it. Sometimes it controls people’s lives and countries, even though it is a just one of the tools people use in their lives. It affects the economy of South Korea greatly. Money thoroughly gave good effect on economic growth in the country. However, it had to suffer from economic hard times, and to find solutions to overcome them because of the powerful tool.

South Korea has been continuing economic growth despite hardships. It became an independent country in 1950’s from Japan, and had to go through tough economic situations in 1950’s. Thus, the country had to be helped by U.S. and others, and it was a poor agricultural nation in the period. In 1960’s, the government began to build the basis for an industrial country. Many factories of cement, metal, and oil started to be built; so many people could get jobs. There were no more citizens who were suffered from hunger. South Korea became an industrial country in 1970’s and became to have freeways, trains, and ports. Also, people achieved the goal of getting income of $10 billion from exporting. Nowadays, the main exports are cars, ships, semi-conductors, computers, and other electronic products. South Korea ranks number one of producing of semi-conductors in the world.

South Korea had to suffer from economic hardship like the International Monetary Funds (IMF) crisis. This was happened in 1997,and it was the biggest economic chaos in South Korea. The turmoil had not come suddenly since the economy had been unstable for fifteen years at that time. At the time the rate of growth was only 6.7 percent, so the IMF could not trust South Korea to borrow their money. Finally, the financial chaos caused so many bankruptcies of large and small companies, currency crisis, international debt, and high interest rates. The turmoil was the most serious hardship that South Korea faced when they tired to rebuild their economy and develop their business. The years of IMF crisis were the darkest period of economy life of the country.

South Korea did not give up and found ways to take money back home. During the financial tumult, all the Koreans suffered seriously, so they had to work together to save their country. One of the solutions that they found was the “Collecting Gold Movement.” All the citizens of Korea brought their gold out and donated them to the country. People donated their jewelry and even their wedding gifts. So, 3.5 million people participated, and could collect $21,003,000. Companies decreased workers’ wages, and the government helped companies to do business freely to increase profit from exports, deleting some legal rules that restrained them. The citizens, companies, and government worked together to find solutions and to overcome their economic hardships. 3

South Korea was a poor country four decades ago. After the independence, they worked hard to achieve economic stability. Even though the nation had to face the financial crisis in 1997, they found solutions to rebuild the economy. In 2004, it became a member of the “Trillion Dollar Club” of world. Money is just a tool, which makes people live more comfortably, but the existence of money is inconsistent. Therefore, the amount of money that people have right now is not important. The poor have to work harder to earn money, and the rich have to work harder to keep their money. However, the most important fact is money is not the most powerful dominance and cannot control people, since it is a just tool that people made and control.


In Young(Anna) Hwang

The Development of Currency in Korea

The development of currency in Korea largely depended on the historical issues. Many obstacles such as division of the Three Kingdoms, Japanese occupation, and Korean War that led to the division of South and North Korea affected the development of money. One event after another actually slowed or changed the forms and values of currency.

The idea of trading goods and use of money was started beginning with the Three Kingdoms, which was around 57 BC. The Three Kingdoms of Korea were composed of three countries, Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje. People in these three countries were all from the same ancestors, but lived apart and fought each other in economic, geologic, and military issues. However, all the citizens and royal family in these countries used the same type of money such as coins and the same methods of trading.

Around 57 BC to 87 BC, Goguryeo, the strongest and most developed country, traded efficiently with the other two nations. Because Goguryeo was located in the upper part of Korea and surrounded by many rocky mountains, they usually traded different types of minerals especially iron and copper for mainly grains and silk goods. They sometime traded goods for land or place. About 78 BC,1 Goguryeo gave free iron to Silla, located in the south part of Korea, and asked them to allow Goguryeo workers to build a Buddhist temple on Silla’s property. The requests succeeded, and finally Goguryeo took ten years to build the famous temple. As in this example, the development of trading goods in Korea developed in various ways over time.

Korea started to develop different types of money after the Three Kingdoms, during the period of Joseon. Korea developed its society and actual currency that all citizens used.2 There were no more public or formal trades between people or countries, but uses of money progressed. However, the development of money in Korea fell into misfortune when Japan conquered it. Not only did many innocent people die, but Korea’s economy, society, military, and currency were also demolished.

Because the currency was lost, people started to trade each other informally and secretly. They did not wish to use Japanese money so they developed a “black market” which Japanese soldiers did not know about. These trades were maintain with not only clothes and food, but also books and newspapers which were printed in Korean. Citizens had no hope of re-attaining their own society or even their currency.

However, in August 1945,3 Japan was defeated by the Unitied States, and finally Korea got its country back. A few years later, the happiness throughout the country did not last because of the Korean War. North Korea invaded the south with forces. At this time, money was not demolished, but remained undeveloped. When the Korean War was over in 1953, the society of South Korea was developed gradually, and the use of money increased.4 People started to get money from work, and uses of banks increased. It was the start of the development of modern currency.

In conclusion, it is clear that the trading goods or use of money started to develop a long time ago. Before the arrival of money, Korean traded goods such as mining, silk materials, grain, and sometime land. These developments were not just happen but with many efforts of citizens overcoming harsh historical events such as invasions, wars, and divisions. So people must understand how honorable the efforts were to make living easier for modern Korean society. (599)

Sam Jeong

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea
2 http://www.paulnoll.com/Korea/war-Korea-money-choices.html
3 http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/history.htm
4 http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org/

The Decline of Middle Class in Japan

Japan used to be called “the only successful communist country in the world.” That is because the majority of people were in the middle class and few people were extremely rich or poor. There was complete equality, which the Communism nations tried to achieve. In contrast, however, the gap between rich and poor is getting wider in Japan today, causing serious problems. Looking back, Japanese society has gone through three phases after World War Ⅱ: equal society, a decade of recession, and today’s increasingly unequal society.


In the post-war era, equality was at the core of Japanese society. Everyone earned roughly the same amount of money and their lifestyles were similar. People used an expression, ichioku-sohchu-ryu, to describe society, which meant, ‘100 million completely middle class’ or ‘a nation of middle-class people.’1 Equality mentioned here is not only in terms of income and wealth, but also in terms of opportunity. Everyone got equal educational and occupational opportunities. Everyone had opportunities to benefit from social welfare. Thus, Japanese equality was handed down over generations, enabling the nation to revive from the loss of the War.


In the 1990’s, however, Japan suffered from a serious recession and could not avoid changing its social systems. During this recession, companies were forced to cut costs for employees and started to hire temporary instead of full-time workers so that they could save money. This trend led to the creation of a lot of young people known as freeters, who did not have regular work. As for the government, it tried to reform the economy to get over the economic crisis and ended up widening inequality.2 As a consequence, Japanese society changed its way into a increasingly unequal society.


Nowadays, Japanese society is accelerating the speed of division into haves and ‘have-nots’, causing serious problems. The situation is especially hard for freeters. Some of them cannot even afford to rent a room, so they use round-the-clock cafes or McDonald’s restaurants to spend nights. They are so-called “net café refugees,” a new type of working poor. This trend is becoming more and more common because of the economic crisis, as well as the decreasing value young people put on the adjustment to Japan’s traditional work ethic.3 It is estimated that this kind of working poor will expand in the future.


As society changed in Japan, the gap between rich and poor increased and the social situation worsened. Japan once boasted of its complete equality within the nation, but today people fear increasing inequality. Rich people make a further fortune while poor people have difficulty in making ends meet. This trend led to change the lifestyles of freeters and may have a negative effect on the entire Japanese economy in the near future.

Hiroaki Minami

1 http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2006-07-23-japan-usat_x.htm
2 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070815123710.uge33ya9&show_article=1
3 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/28/asia/AS-GEN-Japan-Net-Cafe-Homeless.php