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Is South Korea Asia’s Canary in the Coal Mine?

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Is South Korea Asia’s Canary in the Coal Mine?
A shopping district in Seoul on July 13, 2022. South Korea's central bank delivered a historic half-point interest rate hike to tame fast-growing inflation. Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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The expression used in the title conveys a sense of foreboding and early warning of trouble. It comes from the time before electronic sensory equipment when coal miners used these fragile birds to warn them of the presence of deadly methane gas in the mine shaft. If the bird collapsed, the miners had an early warning of extreme danger.

Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."
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