Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia One of my favorite stories about starting a business overseas - in a frontier market, in this instance - is from Chris Tell. It goes like...
Is Cambodia the perfect frontier market to invest in?
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia The twenty-minute tuk-tuk ride to Phnom Penh's north end was littered with new restaurants. Every time I'd tilt my head to look somewhere...
The growing impact of emerging economies consumers
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia I got to talking with one of my waiters the other day, and discussed what life is like here. Service staff can make as little as $80 a month,...
Why Chinese millionaires are internationalizing their assets
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia It's an open secret in many parts of the world that the leaders at the top, and their families, have offshore bank accounts to protect...
Why I choose flight over fight
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia Last month in Vietnam, a local business owner told me a story about doing business with the Vietnamese. He talked about just how important...
The government slaves that couldn’t get a Cambodian passport
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia I'm not a big fan of the United Nations. If you don't know just how ridiculous, condescending, and useless the UN is, go take a tour of their...
Don’t let travel warnings stop you from visiting Cambodia
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia I believe we are creatures of habit. As human beings, we're easily influenced by what other people tell us. Despite a desire to cater to...
Expat entrepreneurs and venture capital in Vietnam
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Like most entrepreneurs, I still remember exiting my first business. I got what was, at the time, a lot of money for me. While I...
Are white people and expats in Asia really worshipped?
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam I spent Sunday night excitedly watching a discussion unfold on Facebook. The only thing missing was popcorn. (Microwaves aren't so...
Are Taxes the Price We Pay for Civilization?
Last updated October 15, 2020 Dateline: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. claimed: “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized...
The free market, not government, created this recycling program
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam It was a long day of interviews, meeting new contacts, and visiting with expat entrepreneurs here in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday. After...
Keynesian economics would hate Vietnam’s savings rate
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, US President George W. Bush had a stroke of genius. No, it wasn't going in and bombing a...
Geoarbitrage and the ultimate productivity hacks
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Notorious American industrialist J. Paul Getty once said, "I would rather benefit from 1% of the efforts of 100 people that from 100% of...
Bitcoin banned in Thailand: desperate government at work
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam I've told you that throughout history, the players may change, but the playbook of desperate government stays the same. Just a short...
Shadow statistics: why government statistics are lies
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The idea of a census has been around for thousands of years. The Babylonians are believed to have taken the first government census over...
How cheap is the cost of living in Vietnam for expats?
Reporting from: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam It must have been my lucky day. But I'm not a thief, so I left empty-handed. Walking down one of the main streets in Ho Chi Minh City's...
Nationalism made them slaves in life… and death
Reporting from: Hue, Vietnam The Citadel here in Hue is the central part of the city, and the basis from which the rest of the city grew. As the capital city of Vietnam’s Nguyen...
Hong Kong Banks don’t want your money
Dateline: Hong Kong I must have passed by a hundred beautiful women on the streets of Hong Kong today. You could throw a stone and hit a dozen Hong Kong banks at any point on...
Are Macau casino chips better than fiat currency?
Reporting from: Macau Take Las Vegas and multiply it by three. Here on a peninsula in the South China Sea, Macau is the world’s largest gambling mecca with revenues that put...
Is everything the financial media says wrong?
Reporting from: 37,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean It’s been a busy day of flying. I’m now relaxing in the new 787 Dreamliner on our twelve-hour flight from Denver to Narita...
