Taiwanese Disease, Formosan Flu: Central Bank as Information Gatekeeper
If an economy were a body and its policies were cells, then the rumoured “Formosan flu” afflicting Taiwan might be best diagnosed not with a stethoscope but with an information scanner. In The Economist’s recent cover story (which dubbed the situation “Taiwanese disease” or “Formosan flu”) it was the persistent undervaluation of the New Taiwan dollar that served as symptom and signal. The magazine’s use of its own Big Mac Index, an informal gauge of purchasing power parity that suggests Taiwan’s currency is around 55 % undervalued relative to the US dollar, turned what might seem like a quirky economic snack into a sprawling public health narrative of economic strain. But what if this isn’t simply about price mechanics or exchange rates? What if Taiwan’s central bank isn’t just a macroeconomic organ but an information gatekeeper, curating the very signals that shape how the domestic body hears itself, thinks about itself and behaves?
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