Won decline was surpriseBy Erik Slavin and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, January 3, 2009
Predicting most worldwide foreign currency trends is, at best, an educated game of darts.
Predicting the Korean won’s value against the dollar in 2009 is more like trying to throw a bull’s-eye in a dark room while a bullet train speeds by outside.
On Nov. 24, the currency slipped to 1,512 won to $1, a 38 percent drop since Jan. 2.
Stars and Stripes spoke to several economists covering the exchange rates during the year, and none saw that coming. In a March 24 story, one economist saw the won’s drop to 982-to-1 as an excessive fall that would correct itself by the end of the year.
In the last days of the year, the won was at 1,306 per dollar, but most economists agree the value gyrations haven’t stopped.
Rest of article at:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59752