Southeast Asia's Economic Crisis: Origins, Lessons, and the Way Forward

"This volume will be a useful reference for years to come" (Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies).

In the early 1990s, the World Bank labelled seven East Asian economies -- among them, four in Southeast Asia -- as "miracle economies", which had achieved extraordinarily high rates of economic growth for several decades. In 1996, on the eve of ASEAN's thirtieth birthday, Southeast Asia was experiencing unprecedented harmony and prosperity. For the first time ever, the region's six main, internationally-oriented economies were all growing vigorously. By 1998, however, Southeast Asia was suddenly in crisis, the largest country -- Indonesia -- deeply so. This volume, comprising a set of specially commissioned papers, examines the origins, lessons, and future path of the crisis. Why didn't economists foresee the sudden and catastrophic events of 1997-98? How can seemingly robust and vigorous economies fall so far, so swiftly? Do we, in consequence, need to change the way we view the world? Is there anything to salvage of the "East Asian miracle"? Is Southeast Asia about to experience its own version of the "lost decade", analogous to that which afflicted much of Africa and Latin America in the 1980s? This volume consists of authoritative and focused contributions by 15 distinguished specialists from eight countries, all of whom have been working in and on the region for several decades.