Asian Contagion The Causes And Consequences Of A Financial Crisis [Paperback]

For much of the second half of the twentieth century, the Asian economic miracle has fueled the greatest expansion of wealth for the largest population in the history of mankind. In the summer of 1997, thirty years of economic boom came crashing back to earth. The reality of unrestrained speculation, inefficiently regulated currency exchange, banking instability and bad loans have struck the much-vaunted Asian Tigers like Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, and, finally, Japan, casting a shadow of uncertainty on a region recently to the fore in the world economic system. Recovery depends largely on reform within the Asian economies themselves and a cold assessment of the structural weaknesses that lay under the surface, but only now have come to light. The implications for world economies and, more broadly, the dynamics of world politics, are tremendous.Preface -- Introduction: The Roots of the Crisis -- Japans Key Challenges for the 21st Century -- Reflections of a Market Participant: Japanese and Asian Financial Institutions -- China and the Asian Financial Contagion -- Domestic Follies, Investment Crises: East Asian Lessons for India -- The Financial Crisis in South Korea: Anatomy and Policy Imperatives -- Thailand: From Economic Miracle to Economic Crisis -- Indonesias Crisis and Future Prospects -- The Philippines as an Unwitting Participant in the Asian Economic Crisis -- Viet Nam: Ordeals of Transition