Chinese Time in Honolulu!
September 5th, 2008 categories: The Market
I am reading James Clavell’s book Taipan (not yet done though). On page 209, Dirk Struan, the Taipan, says, “I am committing The Noble House to Chinese Time.” This struck me as a wise move that we should all heed. Let me explain.
The majority of our culture is committed to short-term reactionary herd thinking. If the real estate market is up, then everyone is euphoric and riding a wave of optimism. If a bad report is made or interests rate should move up, then the crowd becomes negative and we see the Country wide negativism sweep us into an economic downturn. We blame big oil, lobbyists, the Democrats, the Republicans, mortgage companies, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and so on. We are the problem! We suffer from myopic, “Henny Penny”, quarterly thinking. It is the opposite of thinking in Chinese Time.
You are thinking, “OK Keahi, what is Chinese Time?” This is my definition. Chinese Time is thinking long-term. I am talking about thinking in terms of how what I do today may affect my son and daughter’s, sons and daughters. Why is this important?
Sure Honolulu real estate values are lower than they were in 2005, but they are significantly higher than they were in 1998 and they are geometrically higher than they were in 1988. Go further back and you will see that if you invested in Honolulu real estate in 1958 and held until today, you would be considered a genius. Think about this…50 years from now, it is safe to say that today will be considered on an equal footing as 1958 is considered by us. You could be considered a genius in 2058! And still, in 2009, you might not look that bright.
Here’s my point. Let’s not be Chicken Littles! Let’s be prudent and be willing to adopt a Chinese Time attitude. Let us be driven by long-term outcomes. Let us be far-sighted and understand that another book says in relation to the bumps we may experience, “This to shall pass.” Think about it.
The gardenia in today’s picture was found at my neighbor’s home.
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Keahi -You are so right we should be taking the long view instead of reacting to every “blip” in the market. Gardenias only grow in pots in my neck of the woods.
Always good reading!