The characteristic feature of the recent Global Economic Crisis is the speed and extent of the shock transmission. The development of cross-national production networks in recent years has significantly deepened the economic interdependency between countries, and a shock that occurs in one region can be swiftly and extensively transmitted to the rest of the globe. The sudden contraction of world trade and output is a negative outcome of this intertwined global economic system. Based on the method known as international input-output analyses, this book provides a detailed examination of the mechanics of shock transmission by probing the labyrinth of complex supply networks among nations.

This book examines five countries in South East Asia that are instructive case studies of how the region has had to negotiate pathways of development beyond crises and traps. At two ends of just one decade, 1997–2007, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam all had to weather the shocks of an East Asian financial crisis and a global financial crisis. Some economies might have buckled completely under those shocks and been condemned to long-term stagnation. Yet these five economies, part of the larger Asian region, emerged with continued if slower economic growth. An important theme of this book is that their resilience has been partly derived from the pursuit of growth and competitiveness along less known or recommended pathways. The chapters of this book take a novel approach to South East Asia’s search for growth and improvement. They do not begin by evaluating how far macro-level performances would take a particular country towards high-income status. Instead they provide original insights into actual cases of intermediate ways of achieving growth, upgrading and income improvement in non-privileged sectors. Such cases may hold more relevant lessons for the majority of developing countries than the experiences of highly developed economies.

'This book provides a coherent and current account of how India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and the People's Republic of China coped with the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s and the recent global economic recession, and how they may address future challenges in maintaining growth in difficult times. It features a valuable overview of issues from a regional perspective, five chapters on general elements and obstacles in development, and individual chapters on the experience of each of the six countries. Every chapter is replete with relevant institutional and statistical data. The volume fills a void in the literature and is highly recommended for graduate students and for economists concerned with contemporary Asia.' – Peter Drake, The University of New England and Australian Catholic University, Australia 'To understand what makes Asia tick in the face of continuing global uncertainty and instability one has to go beyond numbers into the region's psyche and idiosyncrasies. This volume provides an interestingly intrusive and refreshingly insightful analysis of a highly complex phenomenon that defies generalizations as shown by the diversity of individual country experiences.' – Mohamed Ariff, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), Malaysia The center of global economic activity is shifting rapidly towards Asia, driven by a combination of the economic dynamism of the People's Republic of China, India, and other middle-income Asian countries, and sluggish growth in the OECD economies. The rapid growth and rising global prominence have raised a range of major challenges for Asia and for the rest of the world. This comprehensive, forward-looking book examines these issues through in-depth studies of major Asian economies and an analysis of the key development policy options. The contributors, leading international authorities in their field, explore cross-cutting thematic issues with special reference to developing Asia. They address a broad range of subjects including: investment and productivity, savings and the savings–investment relationship, financial development, the provision of infrastructure, and governance and institutions. Detailed country studies focusing on the People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand not only provide an analytical narrative for each case study, but also draw attention to the similarities and diversity within the region. This challenging and thought-provoking book will prove an important point of reference for scholars, researchers, and students in the fields of economics, development economics, and Asian studies.

'The volume is certainly interesting and well-informed and would make a valuable addition to reading lists for courses on East Asian economic development.' - Anne Booth, Asia Pacific Business Review As Southeast and Northeast Asia recover from the Asian crisis and return to a state of growth, the authors of this book assess the lessons to be learned from the crisis to achieve sustainable development in the future. While the importance of each factor contributing to the crisis varies from country to country, their collective experience has created unprecedented turmoil in current thinking on development policy.

This book provides an analysis of the global economic crisis from an Asian perspective. It examines the impacts of the policy measures adopted, the remaining challenges in rebalancing the global economy, the next steps in regional economic integration in Asia, and issues related to reform of the international financial architecture.

The financial crisis that began in Thailand in mid-1997 has now become a global one. It has consumed governments upset defense planning and the regional standing of major powers in Asia, and is forcing us to rethink Asia's entire past and future political trajectory. The security implications go beyond merely the crash of unsound financial systems. Governments have fallen across Asia and in Russia. Civil violence is currently taking place in Indonesia, a key Asian state. Defense research, development and procurement have been postponed in most Asian countries. The crisis and its reverberations have shaken financial markets and governments as far away as Brazil. In order to assess the dangers posed by this crisis to Asian and U.S. security interests, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) cosponsored a conference with the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Reserve Officers Association in Seattle, Washington on June 9-10, 1998. This conference represented a unique opportunity to conduct such an assessment since it brought together participants from government the military, academia, international financial institutions, and Asia.

South Asia: Beyond the Global Financial Crisis (K Shanmugam); South Asia and the Global Financial Crisis: Impacts and Implications (A Palit); Global Crisis, Financial Institutions and Reforms: An EME Perspective (D M Nachane); Socio-Economic Developments in South Asia: Issues and Outlook (M S Aiyar); Political Developments in South Asia: Issues and Outlook (S Aziz); The Major Powers and Conflicts in South Asia (T V Paul); Religious Extremism and Terrorism in Pakistan: Challenges for National Security (R B Rais); Prospects for Conflict Resolutions in South Asia (D Jayatilleka); India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: 'Trilateralism' in South Asia? (I A Chowdhury).

This study examines the social impact of the Asian financial crisis which began in July 1997. Several countries experienced an economic shock of unprecedented severity after decades of uninterrupted growth. The severe rise in unemployment and its repercussions in the worst-affected countries (Thailand, Republic of Korea and Indonesia) overwhelmed the underdeveloped systems of social protection. Higher unemployment and inflation combined to push many people into poverty. A central policy message is that current programmes of policy and institutional reform following the crisis, should include a basic rethinking of the social dimension of the future model of development. The author also argues for the introduction of unemployment insurance, the expansion of social assistance and the strengthening of active labour market policies.