Oblivious or Perceptive?

October 12, 2008 – I’ve been speaking with some of my Chinese friends about the economy. They’re all high income, well-educated 30-somethings. I specifically ask them whether they notice any signs of slowing in Shanghai. Of course, everybody has read about factory closings. But many of them feel optimistic that the slowdown won’t hurt them too much. That cheered me a bit, until I remembered one thing. None of them has ever seen an economic downturn in their lives.