Commodities and Asians: Apparently, We All Look Alike.

December 13, 2006- I remember a King of the Hill Episode (an American TV show) where the main character asks his Laotian neighbor, “Are you Japanese or Chinese?” The neighbor answers, “Laotian”, to which the Caucasian character immediately replies, “So. Are you Japanese or Chinese?” As I’m recalling this from memory, that might not be the exact transcript, but it’s very close. Although this episode was poking overt fun at the often-joked about inability of some Caucasians to distinguish among the many different Asian ethnicities, and the consequent marginalization of all Asians to either the category of Chinese or Japanese, too often in economic discussions, all of Asia is lumped together as well. Read more …

1 comment December 13th, 2006