This book explores the struggle between China and the United States to expand their influence in Asia through economic assistance and defensive alliances. It brings together the diverse viewpoints of scholars from various countries on how Asian countries will exploit this geo-strategic competition to pursue their national interests, while also balancing their relations with the two great powers. The book offers a valuable asset for all those who have an interest in great power politics and international relations, especially academics, policymakers and security experts.

Asia’s recent economic performance has been remarkable. However, the rapid growth that Asia has experienced cannot be taken for granted. This volume analyzes Asia’s need to rebalance its growth model toward domestic demand and what that rebalancing would entail. It discusses the nature of the challenge across economies in the region.

The paper shows that Asia's degree of financial integration, both with the world and within the region remains low by various measures. The paper also provides empirical evidence that greater financial integration can support economic rebalancing in statistically meaningful ways. The implication is that in the debate on managing capital inflows the longer-term benefits of financial openness for broader-based growth should not be forgotten.

The Asian model of export-led growth served it well in the post-war period, but prolonged sluggish growth of the developed economies following the global financial crisis, together with growing inequality and rising environmental problems, point to the need for a new growth model. The purpose of this book is to describe the challenges facing Asian economies in the post-global financial crisis environment and to identify structural issues and policies that can help guide Asian policymakers to expand the growth potential of domestic and regional demand in coming years, and thereby create a basis for balanced, sustainable, and inclusive long-term growth. These issues and policies span a variety of dimensions, including macroeconomic policy (monetary, fiscal, and foreign currency management), real sector issues (trade and industrial structure), infrastructure development, labor market and social policy, financial sector reform and regulation, and regional cooperation and architecture. Key recommendations to achieve these goals include measures to: deepen social protection to support social resilience; increase infrastructure investment to create a “seamless Asia”; enhance productivity in the services sector; establish a region-wide free trade agreement to encourage intraregional trade in goods and services and investment through economies of scale and dynamic efficiency of a larger market; promote a shift to a low-carbon society and support green growth; and deepen and integrate financial markets to facilitate the recycling of Asia’s high savings for investment within the region.

The purpose of this electronic book is to provide policymakers and their advisers with up-to-date, comprehensive analyses of the central facets of global economic imbalances and to identify and evaluate potential national and systemic responses to this challenge. To break down the many facets of this collective economic challenge, leading experts were asked to address one of the following policy-relevant questions. 1. How large are contemporary current account imbalances? Why do they persist? 2. What are the systemic costs of imbalances? 3. What are the lessons from previous attempts to rebalance the global economy? 4. What would rebalancing entail? Which policies must change? Is collective action needed? 5. What is the political viability of proposals to rebalance national economies? 6. Are new system-wide accords needed to promote rebalancing or to discourage persistent imbalances? www.voxeu.org/reports/global_imbalances.pdf

A Brookings Institution Press and Asian Development Bank Institute publication Persistently large external imbalances in the world economy contributed to the outbreak of the recent financial crisis. The current account imbalances were particularly severe among the economies that border on the Pacific—the United States ran large deficits, with offsetting surpluses in East Asia. The depth and breadth of the global recession also demonstrated the need for a coordination of national policies to achieve a sustained recovery. While the magnitude of global-trade disruption led to some reduction in the size of the imbalances, closer examination suggests that the progress may prove temporary. On the other hand, significant changes in the underlying patterns of saving and investment suggest that some of the recent rebalancing may prove to be more permanent. Are such imbalances really a problem? If so, why and for whom? What should be done about them—if anything—and what does the future likely hold for transpacific trade relations? In this timely book, Asian and American economists explore those important questions. Copublished with the Asian Development Bank Institute, Transpacific Rebalancing is coedited by Barry Bosworth—long one of the Brookings Institution's leading economic analysts—and Masahiro Kawai, dean of the ADBI. They brought together leading economists from either side of the Pacific to analyze such issues as: • The impact of exchange rates • The policy choices facing the "Asian tigers" • The specifics and effects of trade imbalances in specific countries including the United States, South Korea, Thailand, India, and China Contributors include Hwee Kwan Chow, Susan M. Collins, Barry Eichengreen, Joonkyung Ha, Yping Huang, Ginalyn Komoto, Jong-Wha Lee, Rajiv Kumar, Deunden Nikomborirak, Gisela Rua, Lea Sumulong, Chalongphob Sussankam, Kunyu Tao, Willem Thorbecke, and Pankaj Vashisht.

This book provides a multifaceted analysis of the so-called US 'rebalance' (or 'pivot') toward Asia by focusing on the diplomatic, military, and economic dimensions of the American policy shift in the Asia Pacific region.

The idea that China’s economy needs to rebalance is no longer controversial inside or outside the country. Whether it be the increasing recognition of income inequality at home; the still large external surplus; the focus on consumption and industrial upgrading in the policy discourse; the economic, political and social tensions associated with the major decline in housing affordability; the profound conflict between industrialisation, urbanisation and the biosphere; the profitability gulf between the top SOEs and private firms; or the uni-directional pressures pushing on the real exchange rate; the evidence in favour of a highly imbalanced structure is omnipresent. Rebalancing and Sustaining Growth in China brings together some of the world’s leading observers of the Chinese economy to debate the multifarious questions pertaining to rebalancing. How are we to make sense of the many, often contradictory, proposals that seek the same ultimate objective of a more sustainable growth model? What mix of policies will be most effective in addressing the required structural change without sacrificing prosperity along the way? Where should we look for root causes, and how can we avoid getting distracted by symptoms? How do China’s unique internal migration dynamics – and the Lewis turning point – constrain its options? What role will and should financial, fiscal and welfare reform play in the process? Where do water and energy security fit in? Can China innovate before it gets old – or can China get smart before it gets rich? And are intergenerational issues being taken into account?

This book aims to identify and analyze the impact of the 2007-09 global financial crisis on Asian economies and to assess the short-term and longer-term policy responses to the crisis in terms of their effectiveness and sustainability. It draws lessons on how best to avoid and/or mitigate future crises and to identify structural policy recommendations that can help guide Asian policymakers to expand the growth potential of domestic and regional demand in coming years, and thereby create a basis for sustainable and inclusive long-term growth. Organized into four parts, it offers an accessible explanation of the causes, consequences, and contagion mechanisms of the crisis. Part 1 provides an overview of the major issues and presents policy recommendations. Part 2 reviews the crisis in the US and its transmission to Europe. Part 3 focuses on the impact on Asia. And Part 4 concludes lessons of the crisis for Asian countries. The volume highlights that Asian economies have already recovered strongly from the global financial crisis, reflecting their aggressive moves to ease monetary and fiscal policy as well as the underlying fundamental strength of their economies. However, the biggest challenge lies ahead. It asserts that, given that it is unlikely that the US and Europe will be engines of global growth, Asian economies should contribute to global economic adjustment by creating their own growth engines.

The recovery of the Asia-Pacific region from the global economic crisis of 2008_2009 is underway but incomplete. Risks range from slow growth and persistent unemployment to re-emerging international imbalances and financial volatility. While early policy responses to the crisis were successful in avoiding a larger calamity, new policy strategies are now needed to resolve imbalances among the United States, China, and other economies, and to build robust demand in the medium term. This report, drafted by an international team of experts for the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), provides a policy framework for completing the recovery and achieving sustained growth beyond it. The report identifies priorities for replacing stimulus programmes with structural reforms, and for launching new growth engines to drive investment and employment throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Led by Professor Peter Petri (Brandeis University/East-West Center), the team included eminent scholars from China, Japan, the United States and other countries. The report presents a regional strategy as well as separate, detailed analyses of the challenges facing China, Advanced Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, and South America. It concludes that inclusive, balanced, sustained growth in the region is feasible, but will require structural reforms that change economic relationships within economies and among them, and substantial international cooperation in implementing coherent national policies.