| 6. Tapping into what is perceived as a neglected domestic market, a crop of newly-minted plastic surgeons in the United States purporting to be experts at Asian cosmetic surgery will add to the already sizable increase in self-proclaimed "specialists" who have materialized in recent years.
7. The cost of plastic surgery will rise modestly in the East while trending lower in the West, the result of supply and demand but also of advancing Asian economic parity.
8. Stimulated by the recession's effect on disposable income and the consumer's newfound reluctance to spend, marketing of less expensive but unproven or ineffective minimally-invasive treatments now strongly hyped in the West will gain traction in the East as well.
9. A backlash against undergoing surgical Westernization, while still a minor force, will take firmer hold in East Asia as the region continues to make strong gains in economic might, world status, and global cultural influence.
10. While seemingly inexplicable (but, of course, clearly related to item 9 just above), the number of American women of European descent asking their plastic surgeons to make them look "more Asian" will increase.
11. An avalanche of breakthrough press releases on new miracle stem cell rejuvenation therapies will… um, let's not even go there.
12. Continuing threats of hostilities between the two Koreas will place a serious but temporary damper on some of the above.
We'll be revisiting all of these topics over the course of the year. Here's to your health and good fortune in 2011.
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