Perspective on What the Thai Coup Means for Foreign Investors and the SE Asian Governments Who Love them from PESEKSeptember 25th, 2006 by Adamu |
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...[P]olitical events [like the recent Thai coup] create havoc not only for economic growth and interest rates, but also for big business deals.The risk is less about financial contagion in Asia than a less tangible political funk that hovers over markets and discourages investors. Reading an economy is hard enough; having one’s finger on the pulse of every political zig and zag a world away is an entirely different thing.
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...[G]eopolitics are a big risk to a region that is still figuring out how to compete with a booming China, which itself may be subject to political upheaval one day.
Voters and military leaders may have valid reasons to want to oust elected leaders. Doing so undemocratically can set economies back even more than questionable politicians can. It unnerves the same international investors that companies and governments are trying to impress.